Ask HN: Where is all the protest music?

[swiper_lux]

In the 70's you had the likes of Bob Dylan, 80's with U2, 90's with maybe Public Enemy. But lately there does not seem to be any artists out with popular protest music. Is what I am seeing real? If so, what has happened?

[JohnFen]

The mainstream pop music scene is largely (but not entirely) devoid of authenticity, and you need authenticity to make protest music. Mostly what gets made is optimized for commercialization rather than actual communication.

To a degree, this has always been true. Even in the days when protest music got mainstream attention, most of the music wasn't of that sort. I do think it's much worse now, though.

However, there is a lot more protest music being made than you may think. You just have to look past the big names and -- even better -- go see small artists performing live.

[thorin]

There are quite a few protest bands but they don't have the level of popularity as Rage against the machine, Bob Dylan or Public Enemy. Pop music is more of a commodity now.

I see Billy Bragg had something to share on FB about recent events as do many older artists.

Maybe you saw what happened at Glastonbury this year with Kneecap and Bob Vylan.

Personally I enjoy Idles, I went to see them last year and they had good energy and try to be politically active while spreading "the love".

One of my all time favourite bands New Model Army are still going and releasing music. I don't think they ever made it big after effectively being cancelled before it was popular releasing the single 51st State of America.

[lordkrandel]

You getting old, so you only get to know mainstream artists, and indies cannot get popular because of how the internet centralizes things, and avoids making indies have real world experiences together and gain traction.

Hacktivist is one, but there a lot more on https://www.ongoinghistoryofprotestsongs.com/2025/06/08/30-b...

[codingdave]

> indies cannot get popular because of how the internet centralizes things

Are you joking? Some mainstream artists got their start on YouTube. Many indie artists perform there and have followings, and that is just one potential site to share your work. Sure, to become a household name you gotta grow from there and it is a tough road, but the ability to put out your music is crazy stronger today than in days of yore. I think you have an overly high bar set for what it means to "get popular"

[lordkrandel]

We are talking protest music, and... still, like 0.01% of youtube artists actually earn any money from making music nowadays.

[mindcrime]

Apparently Ice-T did a recent performance where he changed the lyrics to "Cop Killer" to say "ICE Killer". It's something I guess.

https://atlantablackstar.com/2026/01/10/this-shts-been-too-l...

[aebtebeten]

The long tail says we're not at the mercy of radio; we're still allowed to listen to the ones you know. I went to a certain CSNY song the other day and the comment section was full of people from 2026.

Here are two classics I like, plus a bonus track:

"Coat of Many Colors" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYAdKXzGtcY

"This Land" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRnHx3yVuf4

"Stop and Bust a Move": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYNSSkOOTBk

[_lvbh]

うっせぇわ (Usseewa) was a big one back during COVID. I remember people hacking into the school broadcast system and playing it everywhere.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Qp3b-RXtz4w

[PurpleRamen]

It's not popular in your bubble. Protest-music still exists, it sometimes even gains some attention, but they can't compete with all the big professional feelgood-products and the social-slop. And I assume, the platforms have now more political filters, making it even harder to spread. Political content seems to have significantly dried up on certain platforms, since the orange king reigns.

[aebtebeten]

It just occurred to me I also don't know about the other direction: does MAGA have any reactionary music?

[gsf_emergency_6]

MAGA rap, numetal

https://old.reddit.com/r/numetal/comments/17cmyyw/numetal_ar...

Beyond that would be "wordcel" ("clefcel"?) "not-chad" etc?

[aebtebeten]

The Hanks are almost Hegelian:

  Hank Sr. - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgHId2tg6dU
  Hank Jr. - MAGA (at least he done sung "cold cold ground", bless his heart)
  Hank iii - trying to sit between two chairs? (props the assjack on the fence?)

"Wordcel" sounds awfully like "stochastic parrot"? (says someone who's been trying and failing for months to get LLMs to rotate shapes. At least some of them have a good "sense of humour")

I still want to get some shape rotating done this week, so I'll put off descending into Hank Jr. et. al. for another few days. Thanks; "mighty white" of you!

  Facilis descensus Averno:
  Noctes atque dies patet atri ianua Ditis;
  Sed revocare gradum superasque evadere ad auras,
  Hoc opus, hic labor est.

EDIT: according to "Google AI", Cowboy Carter (millions) massively outsold MAGA rap (10's of thousands).

[gsf_emergency_6]

Where's the reaction

E: maybe I've seen down so much Hank/Hegel looks like up

[aebtebeten]

reaction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWNk-4jJb7I ?

Cold cold ground was tragedy[0], but these lyrics are farce.

reaction[1]? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__HPfmvaWRw

literally wrapping himself in the flag[2]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyFnLqJx-uU

(but that last vid doesn't have so many views; maybe it was even too MAGA for MAGA?)

then again, in light of https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46644795 maybe it'd be more effective to address the concerns of the centre right and centre left, than to bother with trolling the far right?

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzi-FcFEao8

[1] they've got their Everdeen character, but real archers use thumb draws, and shoot out of gallop: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzTaYvMmNYU

[2] maybe the US just needs a better men's World Cup squad, so they can get all the flag-waving out of their systems via sport instead of politics?

[gsf_emergency_6]

That too

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46604554

(U of M, Liaoning(!!))

>even for swing states, the best evidence is that small states do not benefit from the bias

So.. swing within the swing?

(FUN to imagine members of an "evil-sibling" of "Mossad" embedding, even featuring in Rock the Country tho :)

(Two) Texans going their own way?

https://youtu.be/LVJiLy2Z3Og

(Is that a tinge of Tassie (accent) from her partner?)

(Can imagine these 2 going to RtC btw)

[aebtebeten]

I think I've found a MAGA musical motherlode: https://rockthecountry.com

Lynyrd Skynyrd were trolled by Neil Young in 1970: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjLcFQjq5G8

[gsf_emergency_6]

Wouldn't call it viable yet, but I had a stupid grin at the notion of "unintentional self-trolling" (compare with the earlier self-joke discussions that I had no emo-reaction to)

Fucking hell la HN!!

-takes PG's "unintentional moderates"/Nietzsche's cold-shower to a whole new [tragi-comic] level?

-the unexpected dvote from PH or his loyalists felt like I'd unintentionally self-trolled myself

(There might be an upvote that I haven't accounted for..)

Upcoming fencing chengyu?

U: re: my best take on why the hypothetical JHC (compare w Hillel/Mahatma) wasn't on the spectrum-- however he might have been "enby" like PH says

just one of a torrent of mud here, tho this particular take could point us to the hidden gold?

https://archive.ph/2026.01.17-044156/https://www.lesswrong.c...

(Whole new can of worms on actual vs stated goals of rationalists tho I think we don't have to venture in that direction (yet) :)

U2:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46586940

U3: To what extent is the Swiss Inner Party, if it exists, NOT a team of rationalists? (I haven't tried answering my own Q yet, but it might be MUCH easier for me ;)

U4: at the risk of too many knobs [that you might have trouble merging], troll the centre-left and centre-right AT THE SAME TIME.

You know the famous "sweat saves blood, but brains save all" of that famous fennec

(Sorry Thucydides!!)

it's not the best source of trollings but I couldn't resist :)

https://youtu.be/J-FCysQiSOs

[comfysocks]

That I can think of, there’s Jesse Welles.

[31337Logic]

I'm with you. Who is today's Rage Against The Machine?

[aristofun]

Controversial opinion - old pre-internet protests were mostly authentic and pursuing something good (whatever that meant in every case).

Today - they are mostly designed, sponsored and organized and about hating/suppressing the enemy side, virtue signaling, not achieving good and genuine self expression.

And those rare that are authentic (like current Iran revolution) are carefully and deliberately muted.

Such intentions can’t produce any great art for obvious reasons.

[comfysocks]

There may be some truth to that. But if we get too cynical, the battle is lost before it’s begun!

[jjgreen]

Phones happened.