Once thought by some to be fading in the age of streaming playlists and algorithmic radio, protest music is having a revival.

Over the past decade, voices from TikTok creators and indie folk singers, as well as mainstream artists, have taken up the musical resistance.

Their lyrics challenge war narratives, police power, immigration enforcement, racial injustice and systemic oppression.

In this resurgence, protest music is no longer confined to folk festivals and chart albums — it thrives in the digital undercurrents of culture.

So, why now? 

Modern artists are less bound by major-label constraints, which gives them space to speak truth that is powerful. 

Artists such as Annie Lennox have been speaking out about losing brand deals and receiving pushback, but in the modern era, the setbacks don’t hold them back from creating and publishing music. 

People also accredit this to being able to use social media as an amplifier.

TikTok, Instagram and YouTube can turn a protest song or chant into a viral message overnight. This allows more local acts to reach global ears.

The lines between “content creator” and “activist musician” are blurring. On TikTok, artists like Jesse Welles use deeply moving lyrics in their song “War Isn’t Murder” to amplify an anti-war and anti-violence sentiment.

“War isn’t murder, good men don’t die/ Children don’t starve and all the women survive/ War isn’t murder, that’s what they say/ When you’re fighting the devil, murder’s okay/ War isn’t murder, they’re called casualties/ There ain’t a veteran with a good night’s sleep.”

These are some of the lyrics to “War Isn’t Murder” by Welles. 

Singer-songwriter Zach Bryan recently released a snippet of a ballad addressing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and state forces, signaling a shift from apolitical roots to a critique. 

“My friends are all degenerates, but they’re all I got / The generational story of dropping the plot / I heard the cops came, cocky mother- – – – – – – aint they? / And ICE is gonna come bust down your door.” 

These are part of the lyrics to Zach Bryan’s unreleased song titled “Bad News.” Other major movements have also reignited protests’ musical spirit. During the Black Lives Matter movement, songs like Childish Gambino’s “This Is America” led the way.

The song layers hip-hop with a visual critique that exposed police violence and systemic terror.

Meanwhile, within the LGBTQ+ spaces, songs such as “Born This Way” by Lady Gaga became anthems of queer survival and self-definition.

These songs aren’t just heard, they’re worn on posters, shouted at pride marches and embedded in the identity of a movement.

This revival isn’t without obstacles. Algorithms often suppress politically charged content.

Songs get flagged and livestreams disappear. Due to this, some creators even use coded language such as calling protests and Los Angeles ICE raids “music festivals” just to bypass platform moderation.

In the end, protest music’s resurgence is not a trend — it’s a response. In an era marked by crisis, surveillance and division, music has returned to one of its oldest callings. 

To say what must be said, when silence is no longer bearable. 

Stephenson can be reached at [email protected].