If you鈥檙e wondering if protest music is still relevant, look no further than Bad Bunny or Bruce Springsteen.
More than tuned in to watch Bad Bunny, born Benito Antonio Mart铆nez Ocasio, as he put on a jam-packed halftime performance during Super Bowl LX. The Puerto Rican powerhouse used the nation鈥檚 biggest stage to of colonialism, power outages and .
While he鈥檚 in the past, he didn't explicitly mention the immigration agency in this performance.
Instead, he challenged the idea of who gets to be called an American when he said 鈥淕od Bless America鈥� and proceeded to list countries from North and South America. Speaking in Spanish, he reminded people 鈥淲e鈥檙e still here鈥� before spiking a football that said 鈥淭ogether, We Are America.鈥�
翱肠补蝉颈辞鈥檚 sounds different from some protest music of the past, and it brings a level of visibility to issues that would be much harder to achieve with a pamphlet or petition.
Springsteen took a different tack with his new song 鈥�.鈥�
The sound more closely mirrors the protest music that and has reached more than 6 million views on Youtube.
The Dylan-esque tune is a response to the killings of U.S. citizens and during what Todd Lyons, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Acting Director, has described as the agency鈥檚 鈥�.鈥�
It鈥檚 not just the megastars. In Minnesota, have lent 鈥� and 鈥� to vigils, benefit concerts and protests.
Artists in North Texas are using music to make sense of this moment too.
What can music do?
鈥淢usic can inform politics by giving us an idea of other ways that one can be in the world and other ways the world could be,鈥� said Eric Drott.
Drott is the co-author of the 鈥淥xford Handbook of Protest Music鈥� with Noriko Manabe and a professor at the University of Texas at Austin Butler School of Music.
鈥淚t's not just singing a song that has some sort of social message. It can also be a way of creating a sense of collective identity, a way of getting people involved.鈥�
Music can be a unifier that crosses physical boundaries, like when protesters are separated by barriers, he continued. It鈥檚 also a means of .
鈥淭here is no doubt that protest music is one of those resources that historically has helped advance certain causes over the years and helps shift public opinion maybe in ways that aren't easily measured in concrete or precise ways.鈥�
Before a protest begins, it can also be a tool to recruit people to a cause.
鈥淵ou want people to come for the music and stay for the organizing, learn something, get some ideas, but also to not feel alone,鈥� said Justin Patch, associate professor and chair of music at Vassar College. 鈥淲hen you get more people together, the media pays attention.鈥�
Like Drott, Patch noted that the impact of a song is hard to measure. There鈥檚 not a universal test for whether a protest song is successful.
鈥淚 don't think I can think of a song that nationally changed the conversation,鈥� he explained. 鈥淏ut I can say anecdotally, ... I think most of us who love the arts 鈥� not even those who do it professionally 鈥� there are always these moments where a film, a song, a painting or an installation becomes a catalyst for conversation.鈥�
Of Springsteen鈥檚 vast catalogue, 鈥淪treets of Minneapolis鈥� doesn鈥檛 rank near the top for Patch. But, he said that doesn鈥檛 mean it鈥檚 not important.
鈥淚 think that what we need to keep in mind is that it's OK if music doesn't transcend the moment, as long as it meets the moment that we're in,鈥� he explained.
Protest music past and present
Protest music has a rich history in the United States.
The 1960s were bookended by songs about the Civil Rights movement and Vietnam War, like Sam Cooke鈥檚 鈥淎 Change is Gonna Come鈥� and Creedence Clearwater Revival鈥檚 鈥淔ortunate Son.鈥�
But the history goes back much further, spanning and causes. Protest music is written regardless of which of the country鈥檚 two major parties happen to be in power at the time.
During President Joe Biden鈥檚 time in office, Oliver Anthony released 鈥淩ich Men North of Richmond.鈥� , which criticizes wealthy politicians as well as welfare recipients, was played before the 2023 GOP primary debate.
H.E.R.'s song 鈥溾�� decried the killings of unarmed Black citizens by police. It was released during President Donald Trump鈥檚 first term.
Janelle Mon谩e took on the same issue with ,鈥� which was first released in 2015, during the Obama era, and updated .
Shifts in the media landscape
Though modern artists have continued to create new protest songs, the media environment has changed significantly since the heyday of Joan Baez and Bob Dylan.
鈥淥n the one hand, it was much harder to break through because there were a lot more gatekeepers, but once an artist or a song did break through 鈥� their voice was amplified and gained mass attention,鈥� Drott said of past eras of protest music.
Today artists face fewer hurdles to put their music out into the world, but that can be a double-edged sword because there is more content competing for people鈥檚 attention.
This change in landscape means that there is more diversity across genres, instruments and geographies, Patch said. An established artist like Springsteen has the opportunity to drum up attention quickly, but smaller artists can make a difference too.
鈥淚f a musician has 10 or 15,000 followers, that's well more than me, so that's nothing to look down at,鈥� he explained. 鈥淚f you've got 800 listeners, that's still important to those 800 people. Even if they disagree with you, even if they're not 100% on board 鈥� it's still important for them to hear somebody whose music has touched them speak their mind.鈥�
Got a tip? Email Marcheta Fornoff at mfornoff@kera.org.
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