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DJ General Strike’s Top 40 Protest Songs of 2025

January 9, 2026 Shouts - Music from the Rooftops! 1 Comment

Happy New Year comrades. This is DJ General Strike, host of the weekly protest music radio show, Protest Tunes on 91.3 KBCS FM in Seattle, WA. I broadcast 2 hours of radical protest music of all genres and eras every Wednesday at 9 PM. 2025 was a great year for protest music, as there was certainly a lot to protest this year in the US, given the rise of MAGA-fascism under Trump’s second term. The massive No Kings Protests in June and October inspired many great protest songs, as did the ICE-Out movement against Trump’s immigration crackdown, the cover-up and eventual limited release of the Epstein files, the ongoing genocide in Gaza, the cost-of-living crisis exacerbated by Trump’s tariffs and DOGE cuts, and the attacks on the transgender and LGBT community.

Over the last year, I’ve compiled a playlist of over 1,100 of these protest songs, which you can listen to in its entirety here, and I’ve made 4 shows on my top protest songs of each season, or what I call “Molotov Hot Tracks.” I’ve painstakingly narrowed that high volume of songs down to my top 40 protest songs of 2025. I aired most of these songs on my show on New Year’s Eve, which you can listen to an archive of here.

The songs are organized by genre below for ease of listening (and alphabetically within genre), and you can also listen to all 40 on this Spotify Playlist. Without further ado, here’s my top 40 Protest Songs of 2025.

Folk

1. Hundred Year Hunger by Billy Bragg

Billy Bragg is an English protest singer-songwriter, author, and activist. The song about the Gaza genocide and the historical events that led to it was inspired by the book Hundred Year Hunger by E. Mark Windle. The song is also a benefit for the Amos Trust’s Gaza Appeal. This single was released on September 8th to coincide with the humanitarian aid Global Sumud Flotilla for Gaza.

2. Little Flame by Carsie Blanton

Carsie Blanton is a singer-songwriter and guitarist based in New Orleans, US. About this song, just released December 5th, she said, “I’ve been learning a bunch of protest songs, and I had that itchy-brain feeling that I might be searching for a song that didn’t exist yet. I wanted to tie together the loose ends of history into one long tapestry of solidarity; a kind of unified theory of liberation movements.”

3. Everyone’s in the Street by Dispatch ft. Ani DiFranco

Dispatch is an indie/roots band from Boston, US, and this track features Grammy-winning feminist folk-rock singer-songwriter, author, and activist Ani DiFranco. This song connects modern protest movements to the legacy of social change activism. Dispatch said, “This song pays homage to some of the great activists of our time, John Lewis, Delores Huerta, Alice Stokes Paul, and Lois Curtis. It highlights the importance of gathering in community to pursue justice and wage peace.”

4. No Kings by Jesse Welles ft. Joan Baez

Jesse Welles is a protest singer-songwriter and guitarist from Arkansas, US. He released a solo version of this song the day before the October No Kings protests, and in early November, he performed it live with legendary 84-year-old folk singer and activist, Joan Baez, at his San Francisco Fillmore concert. A couple of weeks later, they recorded the duet in-studio and just released it on December 12th.

5. Amerikkka’s Veins by Jordan Smart

Jordan Smart is a singer-songwriter currently based in Ludlow, US. This song is the opening track on his album Confessions of a CEO. Jordan recorded the tracks between one and three takes at Small Blue Studio in Lexington, Kentucky, with J. Tom Hnatow. This is a powerful anthem against police brutality, inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement.

6. Heavy Foot by Mon Rovia

Mon Rovia is a child refugee of the Liberian Civil War, who was adopted at age 7 and brought to Tennessee, US, and created a sound that he dubbed “Afro-Appalachian.” About this song, he said, “Heavy Foot’ lays bare the scars of a broken system, all under the weight of a heavy-footed government. Yet, through this gravity, it sings of unbreakable unity—reminding us that in the face of oppression, our love and solidarity can defy the forces that try to hold us down.”

7. Fire In America by Sasha Allen

This viral protest song by transgender singer-songwriter and former The Voice finalist Sasha Allen uses far-right activist Charlie Kirk’s assassination in September as a lens to examine the perpetual cycle of violence in America. The song sparked controversy after MSNBC’s Joy Reid praised its lyrics, leading to widespread conservative backlash online.

8. If the People Unite by Seth Staton Watkins

Seth Staton Watkins is a folk singer from St. Louis, US. Though from the States, he primarily sings and is best known for his renditions of traditional/rebel Irish tunes and sea shanties. He records and produces all of his music in his home studio. He describes this anti-Trump rallying cry as “a song to succor a weary soul through the bitter cold of winter”.

Rock

9. A World of Love and Care by Ezra Furman

Ezra Furman is a Jewish transwoman and Boston, US-based singer-songwriter and author, who previously released three albums as Ezra Furman and the Harpoons. This utopian song about building a better world is off her new album Goodbye Small Head, released in May.

10. The List by Moon Walker

Brooklyn, US-based indie-rock artist Harry Springer composes, produces, and performs all of Moon Walker’s music in his bedroom. He started Moon Walker at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, to pass the time and make some extra money selling songs to music libraries. Since then, Moon Walker has had viral success on TikTok and has now amassed over 100 million streams and sold out shows across America. He released this single about Trump’s Epstein Files cover-up in October.

11. Big Crime by Neil Young & The Chrome Hearts

Young is a Legendary singer, songwriter, and musician formerly of bands Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. This song, released September 8th, lambasts Donald Trump, features his backing band, The Chrome Hearts, and was recorded during a sound check at a concert on Chicago’s Northerly Island.

R&B/Pop

12. Build A Ballroom by A Gift from Todd & Ken Sandberg

@ken.sandberg
Singing along with Build A Ballroom by @agiftfromtodd #singalong #duet #buildaballroom #acapella
♬ original sound – Ken Sandberg

A Gift From Todd is a Baltimore, US-based artist and content creator. This viral a capella protest song against Trump’s demolition of the east wing of the White House to build a $300 million ballroom funded by private donors was first shared on TikTok in October. It gained significant traction on social media, leading to various duets and collaborations, notably this version with actor, singer, and podcaster Ken Sandberg, which they released together in November.

13. Sleeves Up by Crys Matthews

Crys Matthews is a former drum major and classically-trained clarinetist turned folk singer. Matthews says she is using her voice to answer Dr. Martin Luther King’s call to be “a drum major for justice.” She was born and raised in a small town in North Carolina by an A.M.E. preacher. She released this post-Trump-election call to action on inauguration day.

14. Pretrial (Let Her Go Home) by Fiona Apple

The three-time Grammy-winning genre-bending singer-songwriter and pianist released this rallying cry for pretrial reform in May, her first original song in five years. “Pretrial (Let Her Go Home)” is a protest anthem shaped by Fiona Apple’s activism, including years of court watching, community organizing, and listening to the women impacted by pretrial incarceration in Prince George’s County, Maryland, as a volunteer with the organization CourtWatch PG.

15. Lady Liberty by Galactic & Irma Thomas

Galactic is a funk band from New Orleans, US, formed in 1994. Irma Thomas is an 84-year-old pillar of American R&B and blues history known as the “Soul Queen of New Orleans”. They released this single about the erosion of democracy under Trump in January, off their collaborative album Audience With The Queen, which dropped in April.

16. Reparations by Kirby

Kirby is a soul singer-songwriter from Mississippi, US. Before pursuing a solo career, she was a songwriter for stars like Ariana Grande, Rihanna, Beyoncé, and Paul McCartney. This track, calling for reparations for slavery, was inspired by her grandparents’ story and her ancestors who were slaves on the Dockery cotton plantation. It’s off her sophomore album, Miss Black America, released in August.

Reggae/Ska

17. Last Call In America by Fishbone ft. George Clinton

Fishbone is an all black ska/funk/rock fusion band formed in 1979 by brothers John and Phillip Fisher and their friends in junior high school in Los Angeles, US. This song features the godfather of funk, George Clinton, and is off their newest album, Stockholm Syndrome, which dropped June 27. The song speaks directly to the current social, economic, and political climate in America under Trump’s second term.

18. World Citizen by Irie Souljah & Kabaka Pyramid

Irie Souljah is a Spanish Reggae artist, born and raised in Barcelona, who relocated to Jamaica in 2014. After dropping out of music school in his mid-teens, he started going to street parties with his friends, where he discovered reggae icons and started the band, Mystic Souldiers, which became one of the biggest reggae acts in Spain. The track features conscious contemporary Jamaican reggae artist Kabaka Pyramid. This single, released in July, critiques anti-immigrant policies around the world and calls for truly open borders, where every person is considered a ‘world citizen’ with freedom to move and migrate as they need or desire.

19. The Way You Tune It Out by JER

JER is a YouTuber, musician, composer, and music educator who hosts the YouTube channel Skatune Network, where they post ska covers of popular songs, earning the fan nickname “The CEO of Ska”. They also play trombone for ska-punk band We Are the Union. They released this single, about normalizing and turning a blind eye to injustice, in June, off their album Death of the Heart, which came out in August.

20. Street Cry by Young Veterans, Sizzla, Luciano & Turbulence

Young Veterans Music is an independent record label operating out of Kingston, Jamaica. They brought together 3 prominent conscious Jamaican reggae artists for this song; Luciano, Jamaican second-generation roots reggae singer whose lyrics promote consciousness and eschew slackness (vulgarity); Sizzla, a contemporary reggae artist noted for his high number of releases (56 albums to date); and Turbulence, a reggae artist known for mixing roots reggae with elements of dancehall and Rastafarian spirituality. Released in August, the song calls attention to the struggles of the poor and the need for systemic change to end poverty.

Hip-Hop

21. Inamo, Customs Enforcement by Bambu

Bambu is a Filipino-American community activist and rapper from Los Angeles, US, now based in Oakland. Bambu utilizes his music as a tool for a larger goal – to reach and support youth who face issues of poverty and gang violence that he experienced, and move them to question what goes on in the world, with the eventual goal of organizing and activism. This song against Trump’s immigration crackdown (inamo is a curse word in Tagalog) is off his newest album, They’re Burning the Boats, released in October.

22. Sick, Sad World by Bob Vylan

Bob Vylan is an English political punk-rap duo based in London, also known as The Bobs, as both of them go by the stage name Bobbie Dylan (with different spellings). Their leading the crowd in the Gaza solidarity protest chant “death, death to the IDF” during their performance at Glastonbury Festival this June resulted in their visas for an upcoming tour in the US being revoked. They released this single about the cost of living crisis on October 10th.

23. rage by Dezi

DEZI’s an Los Angeles, US-based alt-pop/hip-hop artist whose music comes from embracing every aspect of her identity. “My whole life is about riding the in-between. I’m Cuban American, I’m bisexual, I’m very femme but also very masc. For a long time, I felt like I had to choose which parts of myself to show, but now I’ve stopped trying to be some sort of perfect package.” About this song, she said, “It’s a song for the people who feel their best isn’t enough, who were sold an unattainable dream due to the systems our government created.”

24. THREAT LEVEL ORANGE by Earth to Eve

Earth to Eve is the solo project of Los Angeles, US-based indie-pop artist Eve Weisberger. Almost every aspect of her songs, the writing, lyrics, production, mixing, and mastering, is all done by her alone. She released this viral anti-Trump protest song this July, which was designed to be sung easily at protests.

25. No Kings In The USA by Gangstagrass ft. Allison Russell

Gangstagrass is a Bluegrass and hip-hop fusion group, best known for the theme song of the FX show Justified. Founded in 2006 by US producer Rench to “make super funky jams of hip-hop and bluegrass that bring together the best of both worlds.” They released this song featuring Canadian roots artist Allison Russell, to coincide with “No Kings” protests on June 14th.

26. 3.5% by Hyphen

Hyphen is an English rapper and songwriter of Indian origin who was working in finance and feeling depressed and lacking purpose, and started making music to help him deal with depression, which gave him a new sense of purpose. This track is inspired by the 3.5% rule, developed by political scientist Erica Chenoweth, which suggests that when about 3.5% of a population actively participates in a nonviolent protest movement, it’s highly likely to succeed in achieving major political change. This song is off Hyphen’s new EP, This Might Be It, released in August.

27. EVERYTHING’S ON FIRE by Lil Darkie

Lil Darkie is an experimental rapper, producer, and visual artist known for pushing the boundaries of genre and expression from Long Beach, US. Blending elements of hip-hop, punk, metal, folk, country, and electronic music, his work is raw, aggressive, and unapologetically honest. This track, about the rising cost of living and rising fascism in the US, is off his new album USD, released July 24th.

28. fucked up by Macklemore

Four-time Grammy-winning hip-hop artist Macklemore came up with the persona “Professor Macklemore” for an art project involving a superhero while attending High School in Seattle, US. He rose to international success collaborating with producer Ryan Lewis as the duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. Macklemore released this protest single against Trump’s second term and the genocide in Gaza in February, with all proceeds going to UNRWA.

29. START A FIRE by The Neighborhood Kids

The Neighborhood Kids are a conscious hip-hop collective from San Diego, US, on a mission to spark unity and drive social change through music. DAMAG3 is a transgender alternative hip-hop artist who started out making music in their bedroom outside of New Orleans, and released their first songs in 2021. The Neighborhood Kids and DAMAG3 released this collaborative anti-capitalist call to arms in July.

30. Sirens by SkyDxaddy

SkyDxddy is a pop/hip-hop singer/songwriter who calls her genre “Traumacore.” She says about herself “I started making music after everything I went through, so many people go through trauma, of all kinds. And we’re bred not to talk about it. That’s so harmful. My music allows the listener to feel it, process it, and feel power from the fact that they made it out.” This song about militant resistance to violence against women, is off SkyDxddy’s debut album, TRAUMACORE: RAW AND UNCUT, which she released this May.

Metal/Hardcore

31. PO$T AMERICAN by Dead Pioneers

Dead Pioneers emerged as an extension of vocalist Gregg Deal’s performance art, blending music with critical cultural commentary. Rooted in themes of identity and resistance, the band’s sound acts as a platform for addressing the complexities of Indigenous experience. They released this single against white nationalism and American patriotism in January, which is also the title track of their newest album released in April.

32. Clockworked ft. LANDMVRKS

Stray from the Path is a Political hardcore band formed in 2001 in Long Island, US. “Their music fuses hardcore with metallic precision, hip-hop swagger, punk urgency, and political commentary.” This song against apathy and conformity to rising fascism is the title track off their new and final album, Clockworked, released May 30th, and features French metalcore band LANDMVRKS.

33. Scene 1 by SUMAC & Moor Mother

Pacific Northwest trio Sumac is a post-metal supergroup formed in 2014. It features the Vancouver, Canada-based Nick Yacyshyn, Seattle, US-based Brian Cook, and Vashon Island, US-based Aaron Turner. Moor Mother is a Jazz poet, rapper, musician, and activist from Philadelphia, US, of the bands Irreversible Entanglements and 700 Bliss. This song against European colonialism and anti-black racism is off their collaborative concept album The Film, released in April.

34. HOSTAGE (they will not erase us) by TX2

TX2, AKA Timothy Evan Thomas, is a queer musician who blends hip hop, metal, and punk rock from Fort Collins, US. TX2’s first went viral on TikTok Tok and he now has 1.3 million followers and 45 million likes on the platform. TX2 also started the “X Movement”, which is all about bringing awareness to mental health issues, and has been donating proceeds from this song to The Trevor Project, the leading suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for the LGBTQ+ community. About this track, which is a rallying cry for equality, visibility, and justice, for the queer and trans community, which he released in April, TX2 said, “This is our anthem. They will not erase us.”

Punk

35. Down to Riot by Cheap Perfume

Cheap perfume is an unapologetically political feminist punk band out of Denver, US, formed in 2015. About this single, released July 18th, off their album Don’t Care. Didn’t Ask (released this October). Guitarist-vocalist Jane No said, “This working-class anthem was inspired by hearing so many people after the pandemic complaining that ‘No one wants to work anymore.”

36. Protect Trans Kids by Evan Greer & Ryan Cassata

This song is a collaboration of two trans activist-musicians: Ryan Cassata, a trans masc singer-songwriter, actor, YouTuber, speaker, and activist based in New York, US; and Evan Greer, a trans fem digital rights activist, writer, and musician from Boston, US. They released this punk anthem this Trans Day of Visibility (March 31st). About the track, Greer said, “The goal of this song is to remind people that it’s actually pretty f–ing simple: Let [trans] kids be kids. Stop bullying them. Just leave them alone.”

37. BRAINROT by Grandson

Grandson is an American-Canadian singer, songwriter, rapper, and activist based in Los Angeles, US, who began releasing music in 2015. BRAINROT was his first new release in two years since the Venom film theme song, and the lead single off his album INERTIA, which dropped in September. About the song, Grandson said, “‘BRAINROT’ is about the distraction of the internet, the way our attention span is weaponized and attacked by technology companies to prevent any real momentum building on the pressing issues of our generation.”

38. Bad Apple by Lambrini Girls

Lambrini Girls are an English punk rock duo formed in Brighton by Phoebe Lunny and Selin Macieira-Boşgelmez, who are both LGBT and neurodivergent. They took their name from Lambrini, a brand of sweet sparkling pear cider, associated with low-class women. This anti-police brutality track is off their album Who Let the Dogs Out, released in January.

39. Not In Your Mouth, None Of Your Business by Peaches

Peaches is a queer feminist Canadian electroclash musician, performance artist, director, and producer known for her sexually transgressive persona. She began her musical career in the 1990s as part of the folk trio, Mermaid Cafe, and is now 59 years old. She released this single in October, the lead single off her first album in over a decade, No Lube So Rude, due in 2026. This song is a rousing battle cry for bodily autonomy and a protest against the Trump administration’s attacks on trans and queer people’s freedom.

Jazz

40. A Plea by Flea

This Eight-minute jazz single was released on December 2nd by the Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist, and second-best bassist of all time (according to Rolling Stone). He was first called “Flea” as a teenager for his seeming inability to sit still, and the nickname stuck. This track is the first preview of his forthcoming solo jazz album. Flea describes the song’s lyrics as “yearning for a place beyond, a place of love, to help us all to live harmoniously and productively in a way that’s healthy for the world.”

News

Sexism permeates every layer of the music industry – new report echoes what research has been saying for years

February 5, 2024 Shouts - Music from the Rooftops! Leave a comment

Image free of licensing under CC0 1.0 Deed CC0 1.0 Universal

Laura Hamer, The Open University

The landmark Misogyny in Music report from British MPs on the women and equalities committee, published on January 30, shines an unsettling light upon the gender discrimination, sexual harassment and abuse which is rampant across the music industry.

The cross-party inquiry heard evidence from a wide range of witnesses connected to the music industry. The findings are deeply disturbing, highlighting that women working within the industry face “limitations in opportunity, a lack of support, gender discrimination and sexual harassment and assault as well as the persistent issue of unequal pay in a sector dominated by self-employment and gendered power imbalances”.

The report calls out the widespread misuse of non-disclosure agreements, which silence victims and protect perpetrators, meaning that: “People in the industry who attend award shows and parties currently do so sitting alongside sexual abusers who remain protected by the system and by colleagues.” The inquiry also found that the issues are “intensified for women faced with intersectional barriers, particularly racial discrimination”.

This report follows a raft of recent investigations into discrimination within the music industry.

A culture of discrimination

In September 2022 the Independent Society of Musicians published its report, Dignity At Work 2: Discrimination in the Music Sector. The report was based on survey responses from 660 people in the music industry.

It found that 66% had experienced some form of discrimination and 78% of that discrimination was committed against women. Of the discrimination, 58% was identified as sexual harassment, with 76% of workers within studio or live music event settings having experienced discrimination. It also found that 88% of self-employed respondents did not report the discrimination which they had experienced (94% had nobody to report it to).

Important recent research reports have also been produced by Black Lives in Music, Donne Women in Music and Women in CTRL. The findings also echo a number of the themes which have emerged through the work of the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)-funded Women’s Musical Leadership Online Network, which I lead with Professor Helen Julia Minors of York St John University.

Further problems for the industry

Gender discrimination permeates every layer of the music industry. Although representation of women has increased in recent years, men still dominate leadership roles.

The persistent gendered associations of certain musical instruments and genres still prevent women from taking them up or performing them professionally at the same rates as men. Historically, women were encouraged to play “ladylike” instruments, such as the piano or harp, whereas wind and brass instruments – which require the distortion of the facial muscles – were strongly discouraged, as were the lower strings and percussion.

Although many of these historical restrictions have evaporated, they linger on in the present day for the drums, bass guitar and brass. Jazz, heavy metal and rap (despite having many women artists) are still often seen as masculine genres.

The industry remains male-dominated and beset with unequal working practices. Many of those working within it are self-employed, working on precarious contracts which often involve antisocial hours without the same protections as those working for companies.

Self-employed musician-mothers are often unable to take maternity leave of any significant length and childcare costs are exorbitant. The sexualised reception and constant scrutiny in media and social media endured by women within the music industry is exhausting, threatening and degrading. The widespread sexual abuse and harassment which so many women are subjected to is a shameful open secret.

The Misogyny in Music report is an urgent call for change.

Recommendations from the report

The report includes 34 recommendations. It calls upon the government to legislate to “ensure freelance workers are provided with the same protections from discrimination as employees”. It also asks for an amendment to section 14 of the Equality Act “to improve protections for people facing intersectional inequality”.

The report urges the government to “bring forward legislative proposals to prohibit the use of non-disclosure and other forms of confidentiality agreements in cases involving sexual abuse, sexual harassment or sexual misconduct, bullying or harassment, and discrimination relating to a protected characteristic” (characteristics protected by the Equality Act, such as age and race). It also suggests a retrospective moratorium on those already in place.

The report signals the establishment of a new Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority (CIISA) to act as “a single, recognisable body that anyone in the industry can turn to for support and advice”.

It considers the additional requirements which it would be useful to introduce for spaces within which it is known that abuse takes place, recommending that studios and music venues, the security staff that work at them, and artist managers should all be licensed.

What’s clear from the report is that the behaviour of men lies at the heart of these issues. Preventative measures, however, risk normalising these kinds of behaviour because they place the burden of responsibility on women to avoid becoming victims. Alongside legislative reforms, a deep cultural change is needed within the music industry to ensure it becomes a safer, inclusive and supportive space for women.

Laura Hamer, Senior Lecturer in Music, The Open University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

News

Best Of Protest Music 2021: A Turbulent Year Reviewed

December 23, 2021 Shouts - Music from the Rooftops! Leave a comment

In the United States, the year begins with an insurgence when violent protesters storm the Capitol, an event that leaves five people dead and a divided nation terrified.

In Afghanistan, the Taliban make a swift takeover of the country which leads to many countries’ military operatives and other staff leaving in a chaotic fashion. The United Nations describes the current situation in Afghanistan as a humanitarian disaster.

See also: Action For Afghanistan: Racetraitor, Disappear, Life Force, Eighteen Visions And More On New Benefit Compilation

In Russia, opposition leader, Alexey Navalny, is sentenced to years in prison prompting protests around the country. Members of activist music collective Pussy Riot have been detained and jailed for actively using their voices in protest of the oppressive Russian regime. Some of them have fled Russia because of constant harassment from authorities and threats to their safety.

While the supreme court in Mexico rules that penalizing abortion is unconstitutional, state officials across the U.S. border in Texas put a new law into effect which bans abortion after six weeks.

Artists around the world are facing harassment and persecution for their art. While looking only at recent headlines on the page of Freemuse, a watchdog organisation dedicated to raising awareness about artists at risk and oppression of artistic freedom, one can see Turkey, Yemen, Kenya, and more countries detaining and sentencing artists for their words and work. In other countries, like Colombia, musicians have been murdered.

In India, tons of new protest songs have sprung up in support of Indian farmers protesting new laws that they say will destroy their livelihood and put the country’s agricultural sector in corporate hands. Although the Indian government has fought the protests by, among other things, shutting down music online (to which YouTube obliged) it hasn’t stopped the news from spreading. Heck, even Rhianna turned Twitter upside down while publicly voicing her support for Indian farmers.

See also: Farmers In India Are Protesting And Their Soundtrack Keeps Growing

The planet is overheating; we have not reached gender equality in most places; people are still racist as hell; everyone is at war; and animals, nature, and people around the world are being tortured on a daily basis.

But luckily, so that we all don’t tumble into a pit of depression, there are artists, journalists, and activists working hard every day, spending all their efforts on making this world more beautiful, more informative, and more just. The job for the rest of us is to be aware of that, to share that hard work, point it out, share arts, share beauty among each other, and stand together against tyranny wherever it rears its ugly head.

And Bandcamp, the world’s greatest online music service, has decided to help artists make the world more beautiful by waiving their revenue share on the first Friday of every month. This is a massive help for musicians around the world who have lost their income due to venues closing down because of COVID.

Below are some of our favorite protest albums released in 2021, and additionally you can check out our Spotify playlist, Selected Protest Music of 2021, which counts more than 100 releases from this year in over six hours.

We want to pay it forward by Shout!ing our praise and support for these artists from every rooftop we can. While in reality there are too many to count, some of our favorite releases of the year include: wildlife electronica taking a stand for endangered wildlife; all-female garage rock that kicks patriarchy in the teeth with infectious grooves and epic riffs that appear out of left field; a mesmerizing new release from the poet and multimedia pioneer of the Black Quantum Futurism movement; a compilation from Detroit featuring a wide array of musicians and audio samples taken from Black Lives Matter protests; hardcore political punk from Tunisia; transcontinental experimental jazz that calls global listeners to action; a Herculean feat of screamo from Galicia, Spain; punk rock from Florida whose melodies cling to you like the southern humidity out of which it’s born; pared down British indie-folk brimming with deftly-penned lyrics; a one of a kind, genre-, species-, and gender-bending release from Switzerland that exposes horrors against animals, and more!

Thank you to all the musicians who have kept us engaged and called to action throughout the darkest moments of the year, and thank you to all the Shouts! supporters out there for joining us here on the rooftops of our crumbling empires and faulty institutions. May they collapse, and may we compassionately and fiercely rebuild what is broken, hand in hand, with speakers blasting the whole time.

Written by Halldór Kristínarson and Nathaniel Youmans.

Black To The Future by Sons of Kemet

From the jazzy side of this year’s releases comes Black To The Future, a stunning piece of protest work by Sons of Kemet. This album will make you move your feet and want to get up and join the fight: “Another track, Hustle, has a deep, strong beat to it that makes one want to stand up and march in rhythm. The chorus, “Born from the mud with the hustle inside me”, repeats in such a way that it becomes a mantra that one can imagine thousands of people chanting on the street while demanding change.” – from our article about the album.

Blood Lemon by Blood Lemon

This all female garage rock group gives patriarchy a damn good kick in the butt on what is one of our favorite releases of 2021. Tackling subjects such as environmental inaction, colonialism, political faults of their own government and more, this three-piece pummels through your eardrums in a highly enjoyable manner. If you love riff filled, heavy, riot- grrrl rock then you need to hear Blood Lemon’s self titled debut album.

Territorios by Tenue

“Rarely do rage and patience find such companionship in one another as they do on this album; this is a kind of musical maturity not often seen in screamo, and another reason why Tenue are in a league of their own. You, listener, will feel catharsis, exhaustion, rage, amplification, and augmentation in this album, amidst its blasts and d-beats, its frenetic rising and swelling and exploding guitar work.” – from Nathaniel Youman’s review of the album.

Black Encyclopedia of the Air by Moor Mother

From sounding like a proper MC to a soothing, yet fiery, wizard, Moor Mother is bound to move you on her latest album, ‘Black Encyclopedia of the Air’. The multi-disciplinary artist and activist has created a piece of musical work that sounds like nothing else you’ll have heard this year.

Connectivity by Grace Petrie

Grace Petrie is no stranger to making protest music, and her years of development shines through on her latest effort. With her wit and grit on top of her socially driven lyrics and with her acoustic axe up front, she rages on against injustice in the most entertaining of ways.

Life In Warp by A lake by the mõõn

“In what strikes the ear first as swathes of digitally manipulated noise and vaguely industrial, futuristic electronic free-balling, “Life in Warp” affords its listener a vivid and disorienting experience haunted by the sounds of a wide array of endangered animals from around the globe. The result is something like wildlife-electronica—replete with walrus beats and humpback whale drones—but is so much more serious, devastating, and deferential.” – from Nathaniel Youman’s review of the album.

ANTI by D.O.G.

Hardcore and protest has always gone hand in hand. Whether the music is used to fuel rage against the system and the ones in power or against a personal sorrow we all can relate to, hardcore music is there to provide the soundtrack to the protest – and a friends-filled pit to mosh it out in. D.O.G. have a statement in their name which appearantly stands for Death Of God, Decency Over Government, Debt Of Guilt. The music follows the name as they protest with blasting, groovy riffs and ragged screams. A wonderfully heavy effort.

Dirty Water by Debt Neglector

We covered one of the singles off of Debt Neglector’s album back in October as they wrote a song about their furry friend, and whenever a song is written about dogs we automatically get excited. Obviously it doesn’t hurt that the music Debt Neglector make is extremely fun punk rock that makes you want to jump and sing along. All proceeds from the sale of the album will be split evenly between Flint Kids Fund (flintkids.org) and Sylvester Broome Empowerment Village (www.sbev.org).

No Justice, No Peace by Various Artists

This compilation of Black Lives Matter protest audio and thematically related songs covers a wide breadth of genres and styles, all from Detroit artists. As an album, it well represents the strange, unpredictable, unjust at times, year of 2021. All proceeds from the album sales will be donated and split between General Baker Institute and one more organization to be determined.

Purple Grass by Soya The Cow

A gender and species bending drag cow and an animal liberation soldier, Soya the Cow is one musician to keep an eye on. On her catchy, debut pop album she explores the world of animal rights activism and pleads to her human friends to slow down and explore with her a beautiful, alternative world where humans and animals live together as friends – not as consumers and meals.

Znousland 3 by Znous

Political metal music and Tunisia are not two things that are exactly swarming global radio stations, as far as we know. But we are very glad that we came across heavy makers Znous from Tunisia. Their album, Znousland 3, is a pure banger and critical dissection of Tunisian society. Stories of Tunisian female field workers and their exploitation, slavery in north Africa, racism, songs to the inner spirits and “spit on the face of one of the most toxic, ignorant, macho, criminal and disgusting politicians in Tunisian history” – this is some of what you’ll hear (in Tunisian with English lyrics) mixed up with straight up, riffs-and-solo -filled metal.

Brainwashed by The Anti Virals

The Anti Virals were fed up, and that is a good thing for the rest of us. Sometimes, frustration leads to wonderful music. In this particular case it is danceable, singalong punk rock, made in protest and solidarity as the band members explained on their FB page: “We are the voice for those who may feel bullied by this world! We are that thing you wish you could say but are afraid to. We are going to say it for you!”