Where are all the protest songs?

Among the historic wins, spirited if chaotic tributes and breakthrough moments for new talent at Sunday's Grammy Awards, one small pleasure was the emergence of a new comedy duo. Twice during the evening, host Trevor Noah cozied up to its undisputed star, Bad Bunny, and ribbed him about not staging a performance. Pop's champion of Puerto Rico and, as he joyfully suggested in his acceptance speech for album of the year DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS, "todos los Latinos del mundo entero," couldn't bring his music to the Grammy stage because of a non-compete agreement with the NFL ahead of his upcoming Super Bowl performance. Noah's chummy teasing did culminate in Bad Bunny ad-libbing a few fair-use bars of the album's title track alongside a flash-mob style band. The exchange was charming, but it belied what the ceremony lost by not being able to feature music by its undisputed star. Had Bad Bunny taken the stage, he could have -- I feel safe saying, would have -- offered something no other artist on the Grammy stage did: openly political music. The Puerto Rican star stood out amidst a notable array of celebrities who made statements in support of immigrants and against the violent actions...

Source: https://www.gpb.org/news/2026/02/05/where-are-all-the-protest-songs