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DJ General Strike’s Top 40 Protest Songs of 2024

January 9, 2025 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. 2024 was an active year for protest music, in light of the Presidential election in the US and the General election in the UK. Many great anti-war songs were also released against Israel’s ongoing war/genocide in Gaza. Over the last year I’ve compiled a playlist of over 800 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 narrowed that high volume of songs down to my top 40 protest songs of 2024. I aired most of these songs on my show last Wednesday, New Year’s Day, which you can listen to an archive of here. I’ve organized these 40 protest songs by genre below for ease of listening (and alphabetically within genre), you can also listen to all 40 on this Spotify Playlist. Without further ado here’s my top 40 Protest Songs of 2024.

Folk

Grammy winning feminist folk-rock singer-songwriter, author and activist. One of the first artists to create her own label in 1990, she is called ‘the mother of the DIY movement’ and has sold over 5.5 million albums on her own Righteous Babe Records. New Bible is an anti-capitalist song, the 2nd single off of her album Unprecedented Sh!t’, Ani’s 23rd release, released July 12th.

Carsie Blanton is a singer-songwriter and guitarist based in New Orleans, US. Blanton says she “writes anthems for a world worth saving.” About this song this single released May 31st, she said it’s “a “f— the democratic party for sitting on its hands during a genocide” kind of a song.”

Petrie is an English folk singer-songwriter and guitarist from Leicester, England. She began performing in 2006, but in 2010 the advent of the Conservative-led coalition government influenced her, as a socialist, feminist, and lesbian, towards an increasing emphasis on political songwriting. This track is off of her new album Build Something Better, released March 8th.

Welles, is a singer-songwriter and guitarist from Arkansas, US, who was the frontman of the bands Dead Indian, formed in 2012, and Cosmic-American, formed in 2015. In 2024, Welles garnered attention on social media for authoring and performing satirical protest songs, like this viral anti-war-on-Gaza song, which satirizes common justifications for war.

Seth Staton Watkins is a folk singer from St. Louis, US, who is best known for his renditions of traditional Irish rebel tunes. He records and produces all of his music in his home studio. He released “Stand Together”, a rewrite of his 2023 song “It’s Not the Poor Folk”, this November in the wake of Trump’s electoral victory.

Sister Wife Sex Strike is a Seattle-based anarchist folk punk band comprised of Sister Pigeon and Sister Moth. The band’s name is inspired by a real life sex strike that they went on in 2021. They released this anti-Zionist single on July 4th, off of their new album Sister Wife Sex Change, which dropped August 2nd.

Rock and Roll

Frank Turner is an English punk, folk and indie-rock singer-songwriter who began his career as the vocalist of post-hardcore band Million Dead, then embarked upon a primarily acoustic-based solo career following the band’s split in 2005. This anti-authoritarian song off of Turner’s new album Undefeated, is a rewrite of an old unreleased song of his, called Practical Anarchist.

MC5 (Motor City 5) was an American rock band formed in Lincoln Park, Michigan, in 1963. The last two members of the band, Wayne Kramer and Dennis Thompson passed away this year, while they were working on their all-star comeback album Heavy Lifting which features guests like Tom Morello, Slash, Vernon Reid, and more. The album was released this October, timed to the band’s posthumous induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Primal Scream are a Scottish rock band originally formed in 1982 in Glasgow by Bobby Gillespie and Jim Beattie. Primal Scream had been performing live from 1982 to 1984, but their career did not take off until Gillespie left his position as drummer of The Jesus and Mary Chain. This epic nine minute track compares settler colonialism in Ireland, Scotland and Palestine.

R&B/Pop

This Welsh musician, composer, producer, filmmaker and author performs solo and with rock band Super Furry Animals, who obtained mainstream success in the 90s, and the electro-pop band Neon Neon. He’s considered a figurehead of the era known as Cool Cymru, a Welsh cultural movement in music and film in the 1990s and 2000s. This anti-government corruption song is off of his newest album Sadness Sets Me Free released last January.

Shaina Taub is a Vermont-raised, Brooklyn-based composer, singer-songwriter and performer. This song is newly written for Taub’s musical about the Women’s Suffrage Movement, “Suffs” upcoming Broadway run. Taub wrote the music, lyrics, and book for the musical and also stars as Alice Paul in “Suffs”.

The 74 year old living legend, had his first Billboard No. 1 hit at the age of 12, and has won 25 Grammys (the most by any solo artist). This is Stevie’s first new song since 2020, and it encourages people to get involved and seize the crucial moment that the U.S. and the world find themselves in right now.

Sunny War is a Blues/Folk/Punk guitarist from Nashville, US. “Walking Contradiction” is the first single from her album Armageddon In A Summer Dress, which drops on 21st of February 2025. Sunny War wrote its songs after moving into her late father’s 100-year-old house in Chattanooga. A big fan of Crass, the influential British anarcho-punk collective, she recruited Crass’ Steve Ignorant to perform on this track.

Reggae/Ska

DJ Pamplona is an independent audio engineer from Rio de Janeiro Brazil, of the group Dub Ataque. He is now based in Florida where he owns his own studio and record label, Pamplona Beats. This anti-war-on-Gaza song features Soom T, a Scottish reggae singer of Indian origin.

Zion I Kings, a family of producers and musicians from three respected roots production houses, finished and released this posthumous track by the late Peetah Morgan in July. Peetah, who passed away on February 25th, was the lead singer of Grammy-winning contemporary reggae band Morgan Heritage, formed in 1994 by five children of reggae artist Denroy Morgan.

The Undercover Hippy is UK based singer-songwriter Billy Rowan, who spent 7 years DJ’ing and MC’ing on the Drum & Bass circuit, then started The Undercover Hippy as a solo act in 2007 and now plays with a 5 piece band. 100% of proceeds from this track are donated to Palestinian charities: Sanabel Team, The Sameer Project and We Are Not Numbers.

Jazz/Spoken Word

aja monet is a poet, writer, lyricist and activist based in Los Angeles, US. She was the youngest poet to ever hold the title Nuyorican Poets Café Grand Slam Champion at the age of 19 in 2007. This song was inspired by Langston Hughes’ 1938 poem, “For the Kids Who Died.”

Meshell Ndegeocello is a singer-songwriter, poet, and bassist. Her music incorporates a wide variety of influences, including funk, soul, jazz, hip hop, reggae and rock. She’s been nominated for 11 Grammys, and won two. This epic 8 minute track is off of her new album, No More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin, which pays homage to the eminent writer and activist, James Baldwin.

Hip-Hop

Abe Batshon is a Palestinian American songwriter, artist and entrepreneur born in San Francisco and raised in Hayward, California. This single, released in February about the war in Gaza, also features Lebanese singer Samer and Detroit-based Palestinian-American hip hop artist Sammy Shiblaq.

Arrested Development was formed in Atlanta, US, in 1988 by rapper and producer Speech and turntablist Headliner. They were the first hip hop band to win a Grammy for Best New Artist, in 1993. This track is from their new album Bullets In The Chamber, released in January, which is so full of great protest songs, it was hard to pick just one.

Brother Ali is a blind, albino rapper, community activist, and member of the Rhymesayers Entertainment hip hop collective from Minneapolis, US. In this track Ali, who is Muslim, and anti-zionist Jewish producer unJUST tackle Israel’s assault on the Palestinian people. They released this single in March, off of their collaborative album Love and Service which came out in April.

Eddie Mack is an Arab-American Hip-Hop artist from Detroit, US. Mack engineers and produces and writes all of his own music. His distinct sound combines vintage Hip-Hop tracks with contemporary production methods. This sequel to his October 2023 protest song against Israel’s war on Gaza, The Sound Of War, was released in August.

Harris J, AKA “the Muslim Justin Bieber” is a young British Muslim artist whose debut album, Salam, was released in 2015. This song features rapper Lowkey, an Iraqi-British rapper and activist from London. These two London-based Muslim artists collaborated on this anti-war track against Israel’s war/genocide in Gaza.

Kimmortal is a Queer Filipina emcee and singer-songwriter based in Vancouver, BC. Their debut album Sincerity was entirely crowd funded by her community. In this follow up to Kimmortal’s November 23’ single against Israel’s war on Gaza, Stop Business As Usual, they feature Toronto R&B/Hip-Hop artist Phoenix Pagliacci of TRPP and transgender American-Peruvian rapper Bobby Sanchez.

The Seattle star rapper released this follow-up to his viral Spring protest single on September 20th, and performed it live for the first time in Seattle the next day at the Palestine Will Live Forever benefit concert. The track features Palestinian-American artists Anees and Amer Zahr, Gaza-born rapper MC Abdul, and the LA Palestinian Kids Choir. Just like the first song, Macklemore is donating the proceeds from “Hind’s Hall 2” to UNRWA.

Considered one of the pioneers of female rap, MC Lyte first gained fame in the late 1980s, becoming the first female rapper to release a full solo album in 1988. She’s back after ten years with a brand new album, called ‘1 of 1’. In this song MC Lyte, Stevie Wonder, and Common address systemic injustice and the pervasive impact of racism on African Americans.

Rapsody began her career at North Carolina State University, where she joined hip hop collective H2O and its spinoff group Kooley High, despite not having rapped before. She launched her solo career in 2008. This song off her new album Please Don’t Cry is about the police murder of Breonna Taylor, and samples Bob Marley’s “I Shot the Sheriff”.

Metal/Hardcore

Formed in LA in 1990 and fronted by rapper Ice T. who first established himself as a rapper then co-founded the group with lead guitarist Ernie C out of their shared interest in heavy metal music. Body Count have been credited for paving the way for the rise of rap metal and nu metal, even though Ice-T does not rap in most Body Count songs. This track critiques the American two party system, comparing the Democrats and Republicans to warring gangs.

FEVER 333 is a political rap-core trio formed in Inglewood, US, in 2017 by members of Letlive, Chariot and Night Verses. Originally named The Fever, 333 represents the band’s three core principles of community, charity and change. This anti-police brutality single, released in August, is off of their new album ‘Darker White’, released on October 4th.

English rapper and songwriter of Indian origin. Hyphen had an usual start in music – he 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. He released this immigrant rights, anti-1% single this October.

Ren is a Welsh songwriter, musician, rapper, producer, director and disability rights activist, he has had chronic Lyme disease for over 10 years. He was a member of the indie hip-hop band Trick The Fox and the British busking band The Big Push. He released this anti-capitalist single on October 18th.

Serj Tankian is an Armenian-American musician and activist, best known as the lead vocalist, primary lyricist, keyboardist, and occasional rhythm guitarist of the heavy metal band System of a Down, formed in 1994. Tankian says he wrote this song during the early days of System of a Down. It’s about the Armenian genocide that took place during WWI, and how it still impacts his family and the broader Armenian community.

Tom Morello, is a guitarist, singer-songwriter, and political activist, best known for his tenure with Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave. This new solo single, off his upcoming solo rock album, Morello calls the song “a salute to the transformative power of music”. It features a guest guitar solo by his 13-year-old son, Roman Morello.

Punk

Destroy Boys are a teen punk band from Sacramento, US. Their name was taken from words that singer Violet Mayugba wrote on her chalkboard at home during a period of relationship troubles. This feminist anti-assault/harassment anthem from their new album, Funeral Soundtrack No. 4 features fellow feminist punks Mannequin Pussy, from Philadelphia, and Scowl from Santa Cruz, California.

Dropkick Murphys are Celtic punk band from Massachusetts, US. About this song, frontman Ken Casey says, “For nearly a decade, the division between red and blue, right and left, has grown deeper, darker and uglier…Nobody enjoys this more than the billionaires, who are making record profits off the blood, sweat, and tears of the working class… They love it when we fight amongst ourselves, because their biggest fear is us joining together to come after them…THE REAL ENEMY.”

Punk rock band from Santa Cruz, US, formed in 1986. Known for their energetic sound and thought-provoking lyrics, the band briefly disbanded before reuniting in 2012. They released this protest single as a call to action ahead of the U.S. election on October 22nd.

Lady Parts is a band created for the British sitcom, We Are Lady Parts, created, written, and directed by Nida Manzoor, who alongside her siblings, also writes and supervises the music for the show. The series follows a British punk rock band named Lady Parts, which consists entirely of Muslim women. This track is off the show’s soundtrack, We Are Lady Parts (Music From The Original Series – Seasons 1 & 2) released May 31st.

Lambrini Girls are a queer feminist three-piece punk band from Brighton, UK, known for their energetic, emotive lyrics and political commentary. About this single released in February the band said “’Gods Country’ is our long, overdue call-out of the government and rise of the far right… We have the audacity to call our country ‘Great’. So we ask you, ‘Are you sure?”

This 7-member Irish Folk Punk Band from Germany, started out as a duo, playing in small barns and pubs as “The O’Reillys,” and a little later mutual friends joined them as the “Paddyhats” and turned the duo into a full band. This anti-fascist song is “directed against political and social currents that endanger democracy – and calls on people to speak up, rise up and fight together for freedom and justice.”

Pop punk band with grunge influences founded in Baltimore, US in 2019, after the three members met at Johns Hopkins University. Pinkshift has used their platform to advocate for racial diversity, Palestine, and gender inclusivity. This anti-Trump song began its life as an “anti-fascist poem” written by vocalist Ashrita Kumar.

Essay, History

Beats of Defiance

December 7, 2024 Shouts - Music from the Rooftops! Leave a comment

From the streets of Khartoum to exile abroad, Sudanese hip-hop artists have turned music into a powerful tool for protest, resilience, and the preservation of collective memory.

The streets of Khartoum in December 2018 were not just crowded—they were buzzing with life. Voices rang out in defiance, marking the end of three decades under Omar al-Bashir’s authoritarian grip. It was a revolution, but it was also a revelry of the spirit. A hidden energy, repressed too long, spilled onto the streets, transmuting protest into art. The sound of resistance in Sudan was not a single note but an orchestra of beats, rhymes, and chants—and the sound of Sudanese hip-hop. Hip-hop had simmered underground for years, but now, it erupted into a national chorus, becoming a vehicle for the expression of the hopes, grievances, and dreams of Sudan’s youth.

Ayman Mao was among the first to carry the torch. His track “Dam” (Blood) from 2016 had already gained traction; a gritty and furious indictment against the powers that exploited the people: “How much did they buy you for, so that you can turn it into blood?”

Mao’s words resonated with thousands, transforming his lyrics into rallying cries for those now gathered in protest. This was not just a song but a haunting reminder that their blood had been shed during their resistance against the Bashir regime. As his lyrics bounced from building to building, they fused with the chants of the crowd, a single voice shouting enough.

Mao’s impact was only the beginning. Flippter, a Sudanese rapper who had long explored themes of alienation and struggle, joined the front lines with his track “Hatred.” “Might get a bullet for these simple words,” he rapped, fully aware of the risks. In his track “Blue,” he describes a homeland that feels foreign, echoing the sense of displacement that Sudanese youth felt under a regime that cared little for their voices. With each verse, Flippter exposes not only his anger but also his refusal to be silenced, a poet who embraced the pen as a weapon. Sudan’s youth found something vital in Flippter’s words—an unflinching mirror reflecting both their frustration and their resolve.

Diaspora voices joined in, with artists like AKA Keyz, who, from afar, could still feel the pulse of the homeland. His track “No Options Left” became an anthem of its own, a bleak yet determined reflection of the state of Sudan. “No options left,” he repeats, voicing the despair and hopelessness that Sudanese youth felt as they watched their nation unravel.

These modern voices were joined by icons from the past, blending tradition with rebellion. A.G Nimeri’s “Sudan Without Keizan” echoed across the revolution, a song imagining a Sudan freed from the grip of corruption, racism, and religious manipulation. “Sudan without merchants of hell and heaven,” he sings, condemning those who used religion to justify violence and control. Nimeri’s music bridged generations, evoking a Sudan that existed before Bashir’s rule while dreaming of a future without it. His song, like so many others, became a soundtrack for revolution, articulating the shared yearning for a new Sudan.

The roots of Sudanese hip-hop stretch back further than the 2018 protests. In the 1990s, American rap tapes circulated as bootlegs, slipping past government censors and sparking the imaginations of young Sudanese. By the 2000s, artists like the group NasJota had fused hip-hop with traditional Sudanese sounds, blending Arabic and English lyrics to create something distinctly Sudanese. Their success was short-lived, however, as government censors quickly silenced their socially conscious lyrics. Artists like Mao were forced into exile, but the spirit of protest they had ignited continued underground, shaping a generation of young people who saw music as a form of rebellion. By 2018, Sudanese hip-hop had made such an impact that GQ produced a list of almost 20 rappers that it wanted its readers to know about, including Bas and Flippter.

In 2019, as the protests reached their peak, Sudanese hip-hop transformed from an underground movement to the heartbeat of the uprising. Mao’s “Dam” and Ali G’s “Taskut Bas” (Just Fall) blared from speakers in protest camps, the lyrics striking raw nerves as they condemned corruption, repression, and violence. But hip-hop was not just the backdrop; it was the movement itself, a thread weaving together thousands of voices in a shared demand for freedom.

Then, in 2023, hope turned to tragedy as violence erupted once again. The simmering tensions between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces ignited into civil war, and the country was engulfed in chaos. Artists found themselves displaced, with some forced to flee. But even as studios lay abandoned and streets emptied, the music continued. Hip-hop artists in exile, in Egypt and across the diaspora, kept creating, their voices reaching back home and keeping the spirit of the revolution alive.

New platforms like Rap Shar3 (Streetrap) became vital spaces for Sudanese rappers in exile, where artists poured their anguish into verse. Hyper’s song, echoing Sayed Khalifa’s iconic chorus, reflects on those days of revolution with both nostalgia and bitterness. “Those were days, O country, days like the dream,” he sings, mourning what could have been, even as he curses those who have ruined those dreams.

And new voices emerged—Veto, Awab, Ghayaz—documenting in verse the personal toll of war. “My brother was shot dead but is not buried yet,” Veto raps, his words an indictment of those in power. It’s a painful, raw reminder that for many Sudanese, freedom remains distant, as if glimpsed only briefly before being snatched away again. These songs became not just records of protest but oral histories, documenting the suffering of a people in real-time.

Sudanese hip-hop has emerged not only as a form of rebellion but also as a repository of the nation’s collective memory. What began as borrowed beats from American rap tapes has evolved into a genre that is uniquely Sudanese, defined by the local language, the rhythms of traditional folk music, and the cadences of Sudanese Arabic. The genre has forged its own identity, producing a sound that resonates deeply with listeners across Africa.

Now, as Sudan stands at a crossroads, the role of hip-hop has never been more critical. These artists—both those at home and those in exile—continue to create, documenting their stories and struggles. In doing so, they ensure that even as the country spirals, the voices of Sudan’s youth will not be forgotten.

This article was written by Ibrahim Osman and re-published here from the Africa Is A Country website under a CC BY 4.0 Attribution 4.0 International license. Cover photo: Flippter and fans. Image © Flippter via Facebook (Fair Use).

News, Protest Tunes, Review

DJ General Strike’s Top 40 Protest Songs of Summer 2024

October 3, 2024 Shouts - Music from the Rooftops! Leave a comment

Greetings 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. Every quarter, I put together a radio show and playlist of my favorite new protest songs released that season, which I call “molotov hot tracks.” This Summer saw the release of many great protest songs, most notably songs about the upcoming US presidential election and songs against Israel’s ongoing war/genocide in Gaza. I aired most of these songs on my show last Wednesday 9/25, (during the station’s Fall fund drive) which you can listen to an archive of here. I’ve organized these 40 protest songs by genre below (and alphabetically within genre). You can also listen to all 40 songs on this Spotify Playlist. I hope you all are inspired by these molotov hot tracks!

Folk

Carsie Blanton – Ugly Nasty Commie Bitch

Carsie Blanton is a singer-songwriter and guitarist based in New Orleans. Blanton says she “writes anthems for a world worth saving.” She describes this one minute viral song, which was inspired by some internet trolls, as “a new song to unify the working class.“

Crys Matthews – The Difference Between – (feat. Melody Walker & Chris Housman)

Crys Matthews is a former drum major and clarinetist turned folk singer, who is using her voice to answer MLK’s call to be “a drum major for justice.” About this song she said “This is a reclamation not just of the space Black artists have been denied in Country and Americana music, not just of the space LGBTQ people have been denied in communities of faith, not just of the autonomy women have been denied over our own bodies, but a reclamation of the South that raised me.”

Jesse Welles – The Poor

Jesse Welles, AKA Welles, is a singer-songwriter and guitarist from Arkansas. Welles was also the frontman of the bands Dead Indian, formed in 2012, and Cosmic-American, formed in 2015. In 2024, Welles garnered attention on social media for authoring and performing folk protest songs, like this one. He released an album of these protest songs called Hells Welles, in July.

Sister Wife Sex Strike – From the River to the Sea

Sister Wife Sex Strike is a Seattle-based anarchist folk punk band comprised of Sister Pigeon and Sister Moth. The band’s name is inspired by a real life sex strike that they went on in 2021. They released this anti-zionist single on July 4th, off their new album Sister Wife Sex Change, which dropped August 2nd.

Rock and Roll

Ghost – The Future Is A Foreign Land

Ghost is a Swedish rock band known for combining theatricality, heavy metal, and arena rock, formed in 2006. Renowned for their costumed stage presence, Ghost’s members are known as “Nameless Ghouls” and the lead-singer is called “Papa Emeritus”. The track is off the soundtrack of Ghost’s debut movie, Rite Here, Rite Now.

Scarlet Rebels – How Much Is Enough

Scarlet Rebels are a five-piece melodic rock band from Llanelli, South Wales, formed in 2018. They’re known for their efforts to raise money and collect donations for local food banks and charities. This track is off their new album, “Where The Colours Meet” released in August.

Sleater-Kinney – Here Today

Sleater-Kinney are a riot girl turned indie rock band formed in Olympia, WA in 1994 by Corin Tucker of Heavens to Betsy and Carrie Brownstein of Excuse 17. The group’s name derives from Sleater Kinney Road, where they used to practice together. This single released September 3rd will be a bonus track on the deluxe version of Little Rope coming out in October.

R&B/Pop

She Drew The Gun – Mirrors

She Drew The Gun is a psych pop band known for its often political lyrics, from Wirral, England. Louisa Roach, started She Drew the Gun in 2013 as a solo project, then expanded it to a four-piece band in 2015. About this song, Roach said “it’s about trying to heal, and about getting sick of trying to heal but also about how healing in a neoliberal world is also recognising your oppression.”

Stevie Wonder – Can We Fix Our Nation’s Broken Heart

The 74 year old living legend, had his first Billboard No. 1 hit at the age of 12, and has won 25 Grammys (the most by any solo artist). This is Stevie’s first new song since 2020, which encourages people to get involved and seize the crucial moment that the country and the world find themselves in right now.

Tune Yards – Rally

Tune Yards is an Oakland-based music project of Merrill Garbus and Nate Brenner. Their music draws from an eclectic variety of sources and uses elements such as loop pedals, ukulele, vocals, and lo-fi percussion. Rally was a bonus new track on the 10th anniversary deluxe reissue of their 2014 album Nikki Nack, released 8/9.

Zeshan B – Change (Is On the Way)

Zeshan B is an Indian-American singer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and recording artist from Chicago. He started his music career as an opera singer, but early on in his opera career, he formed a world music string band with some of his colleagues and left the world of opera behind him. This hopeful song is off his new protest songs album O Say, Can You See? released in late July.

Reggae/Ska

AHI – My People

AHI is a Canadian singer-songwriter, of Western Caribbean descent, from Toronto. His stage is an acronym of his full name Ahkinoah Habah Izarh. About his songs, AHI says, “I write the songs I need to hear. I share them just in case someone else might need them too.” AHI released this black pride single August 16th.

Arivu – Billions

Arivu, is an Indian composer, rapper, singer and songwriter. He was a member of The Casteless Collective and leads the 10-piece band Ambassa, founded in 2022. He is best known for his independent singles, like this one. This global justice song is off Arivu’s new album Valliama Peraandi, released in July.

DJ Pamplona & Soom T – War and Bombs

DJ Pamplona is an independent audio engineer from Rio de Janeiro Brazil, of the group Dub Ataque. He is now based in Florida where he owns his own studio and record label, Pamplona Beats. This anti-war on Gaza song features Soom T, a Scottish reggae singer of Indian origin.

Peetah Morgan, Zion I Kings – Who Run the World

Jazz/Swing/Spoken Word

Cats and Dinosaurs – Neoliberalism Is Dead

Cats and Dinosaurs, known as “the world´s most radical swing band,” are a socialist and feminist swing collective from Gothenburg, Sweden. They make vintage jazz and blues music with political lyrics, and stop motion music videos in Swedish and English.

Meshell Ndegeocello – Tsunami Rising

Meshell Ndegeocello is a singer-songwriter, poet, and bassist. Her music incorporates a wide variety of influences, including funk, soul, jazz, hip hop, reggae and rock. She’s been nominated for 11 Grammys, and won two. This epic 8-minute track is off her new album, No More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin, which pays homage to the eminent writer and activist James Baldwin.

Morley – Where Are We

Born and raised in New York City, Morley, blends jazz, soul, and folk traditions with lyrics about human rights and environmental justice. This song is about healing ancestral trauma and building a better future for the next generation. The chorus is a traditional hymn from Nigeria, sung in Yoruba, meaning, “Giving thanks to the most high.”

Hip-Hop

Eddie Mack – The Sound Of War, Pt. 2

Eddie Mack is an Arab-American Hip-Hop artist from Detroit. Mack engineers and produces and writes all of his own music. His distinct sound combines vintage Hip-Hop tracks with contemporary production methods. This sequel to his October 2023 protest song against Israel’s war on Gaza, The Sound Of War, was released in August.

Harris J ft. Lowkey – Hourriya (Freedom)

Heems, Vijay Iyer – Manto

Heems is an Indian-American rapper from Queens, New York, best known for being part of the alternative hip hop groups Das Racist and Swet Shop Boys. Heems is also an activist and board member with the South Asian community organization SEVA. This song is about the 1947 partition of India and Pakistan, and features Indian-American composer and pianist Vijay Iyer.

Hyphen – Deskjob

Hyphen is an English rapper and songwriter of Indian origin. He 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. Hyphen said this song is “about corporate life sucking a** while being at work is weird and disorienting”.

Macklemore – Hind’s Hall 2

MC Lyte – Change Your Ways (feat. Stevie Wonder and Common)

Old Boy Rhymes – American Pyramids (feat. Mr Lif & Sage Francis)

Alaska-born, third world-raised OldBoy Rhymes, released his debut album in August on Sage Francis’ Strange Famous Records. About his stage name, he said “I don’t believe a no-name nobody has ever dropped a debut album from out of nowhere, in their late 30’s, featuring a bunch of genre icons.” On “American Pyramids,” all three emcees liken the American currency structure to a large pyramid scheme.

Wax and Eric Krasno – Things Are Changin (feat. Marlon Craft)

Indie rap legend Wax and modern funk guitarist Eric Krasno (AKA Kraz), have been friends and occasional collaborators for many years and released their epic collaborative album LIGHT YEARS this August. This track features NYC-based Rapper Marlon Craft, known for his politically conscious lyricism and throwback jazzy beats.

Metal/Hardcore

BODY COUNT – F**k What You Heard

Formed in LA in 1990, fronted by rapper Ice-T who first established himself as a rapper then co-founded the group with lead guitarist Ernie C out of their shared interest in heavy metal music. Body Count have been credited for paving the way for the rise of rap metal and nu metal, even though Ice-T does not rap in most Body Count songs. This track critiques the American two party system, comparing the Democrats and Republicans to warring gangs.

Corporate Avenger- War Is Won

Corporate Avenger are an 8 member native rap metal band from Southern California, including members of The Kottonmouth Kings, 20 Dead Flower Children & No Doubt. Their first album in 2001 was met with backlash by conservative and religious watchdog groups leading to some retailers refusing to stock their album. This single which dropped August 31st is their first release in 19 years.

FEVER 333 – No Hostages

FEVER 333 is a political rap-core trio formed in Inglewood, California, in 2017 by members of Letlive, Chariot and Night Verses. Originally named The Fever, 333 represents the band’s three core principles of community, charity and change. This anti-police brutality single, released in August, is off their new album ‘Darker White’, set for release on October 04.

Serj Tankian – Justice Will Shine On

Punk

Chasing Ghosts – Amnesia Everybody

Chasing Ghosts are an Australian-Aboriginal-lead indie-punk band. According to the band, ‘Amnesia Everybody‘ is about “non-indigenous Australians and their failure to acknowledge not just the atrocities of our past, but in also choosing to not think about them at all. Instead, a different history arose in Australia – one of negative stereotypes that victim-blamed First Nations Peoples for our own marginalisation and systematic decimation.”

CLAMM – Define Free

CLAMM are a Melbourne-based Australian punk trio. Their songs are about “trying to navigate systems of power and oppression while retaining a healthy sense of self and mental health.” About this song, off their new EP Disembodiment, the band says “Define Free speaks to the idea that even within the privilege of a first world country, how free is the individual?”

Destroy Boys – You Hear Yes (feat. Mannequin Pussy, and Scowl)

Destroy Boys are a teen punk band from Sacramento, CA. Their name was taken from words that singer Violet Mayugba wrote on her chalkboard at home during a period of relationship troubles. This feminist anti-assault/harassment anthem from their new album, Funeral Soundtrack No. 4 features fellow feminist punks Mannequin Pussyfrom Philadelphia, and Scowl from Santa Cruz, California.

Mike and the Molotovs – Monarchy in the USA

Mike and the Molotovs are a country punk band, self-described as “Spaghetti Punk…serving up fresh satire and catchy anti-corporate rock and roll.” They’re a supergroup made up of country and punk luminaries based in Phoenix, Arizona. This song is the title track off their 6-song EP of irreverent working-class anthems, “Monarchy in the USA,” released in August.

Millie Manders and The Shutup – Me Too

London born, classically-trained multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Millie Manders, formerly of Second Sense, launched her solo career in 2013 and formed her punk band “The Shutup” in 2015. This song, inspired by the #MeToo movement against sexual violence is off their new album Wake Up, Shut Up, Work released in August.

The Oozes – Piggies In Blankets (feat. Grove)

The Oozes are Queer-Punk band from London. Their music “centres trans liberation, opposing the conventional, embracing the bizarre and uplifting the oppressed.” This anti-police brutality track features Jamaican-British rapper, Grove, a genre-defying, non-binary femme artist based in Bristol.

The O’Reilly’s and the Paddyhats – Rise Up, Tear Down

Problem Patterns – I Think You Should Leave

Problem Patterns are “four shouty queers who write songs for right now.” They don’t have a front person, they swap instruments and roles to ensure that each member of the group has a voice. This single, released at the end of June, tackles negative attitudes towards their hometown of Belfast and was inspired by a journalist who disparaged Northern Ireland.

Rent Strike – Escape from Mobius Strip Mall

Rent Strike are a Lansing, MI based folk punk band. Their sound falls somewhere in the intersection between folk, indie, punk, metal, and jazz. This prison abolitionist song which “aims to explore and free the listener from the titular psychic prison apparatus” is off their upcoming album Möbius Strip Mall, due out October 4th.

Zebrahead – Doomsday on the Radio

Zebrahead is a punk rock band from La Habra, California, formed in 1996. All 4 band members, whose bands at the time shared the same practice space, met each other experimenting with different music styles together. This led to them all leaving their old bands and forming Zebrahead. About this song the band said “When the world gives you lemons in the news and media…make some f**king lemonade and embrace it.”