As ICE raids American cities, artists fight back before the Grammys with 'More teeth ... more rage'

Last week, Matthew Allen, a Minneapolis rapper and activistic who performs arsenic Nur-D, enactment his assemblage connected the enactment to combat ICE.

Just an hr aft ICE agents killed Minneapolis caregiver Alex Pretti connected Jan. 24, and days aft Renee Good’s akin slaying nearby, Allen joined a protestation connected Nicollet Avenue. As Allen retreated from a enactment of ICE agents, helium said they changeable him successful the backmost with a projectile. A wide circulated video shows the agents tackling and pinning him to ground.

“My sanction is Matthew James Obadiah Allen, I americium a United States citizen,” helium screams successful the video. “They’re restraining me, spraying maine and beating me. I person done nothing.”

“If you termination maine successful this street,” helium shouts, earlier an cause blasts him successful the look with a chemic agent.

Allen said helium was aboriginal released without charges. But his words successful the video felt akin to what helium does successful his music.

“My anticipation was to person a grounds of what was happening,” Allen said successful an interview, days aft the incident. “If I was gonna die, I conscionable wanted to marque it incredibly wide who I was, what the world of the concern was, truthful it’s arsenic hard arsenic imaginable for them to rotation it.”

“The beating was horrible, the spray burned similar acid. It was a frozen hell,” helium continued. “But the important happening was getting the past connection out.”

As the United States convulses with convulsive raids from emboldened ICE agents, citizens crossed the state person fought backmost with block-by-block communal aid. Artist and euphony communities, agelong a root of activism and encouragement for thoroughfare protests, person responded successful kind.

This weekend’s Grammys and adjacent weekend’s Super Bowl — with a halftime show from Puerto Rican megastar Bad Bunny — get astatine a crucible moment. Artists with nationalist platforms are figuring retired however to usage it arsenic friends and neighbors are being taken, beaten oregon killed.

“Growing up, I didn’t present astir what was happening successful Compton, but I heard it successful the euphony I listened to,” Allen said. “So galore radical I’ve shared stages with are retired determination connected the streets close now. I tin archer you that the information I’m inactive live to constitute much euphony means I’m going to fto them cognize however it truly was.”

After Donald Trump returned to the presidency past year, galore artists who were devastated by Kamala Harris’ decision anticipated a unsafe word to come, but were besides exhausted and bewildered by the election.

The months of brutal ICE raids and detentions that followed — which person already claimed 9 lives successful 2026 unsocial — person galvanized them again.

A immense swath of acts from Lady Gaga, Tyler, the Creator, Neil Young, Dave Grohl and Lamb of God’s vocalist Randy Blythe person lambasted the unit of the raids connected stages and societal media. Bruce Springsteen released a single, “Streets of Minneapolis,” that called backmost to the rapid-response societal songwriting contented of his beloved Pete Seeger — “Through the winter’s crystal and acold / Down Nicollet Avenue / A metropolis aflame fought occurrence and crystal / ‘Neath an occupier’s boots.”

People instrumentality portion successful a vigil astatine a memorial for Alex Pretti connected Wednesday successful Minneapolis.

(Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times)

María Zardoya, of the caller artist-nominated radical the Marías, donated each proceeds from a caller solo amusement to the National Day Laborer Organizing Network. Rapper Ice-T reworked his set Body Count’s classical “Cop Killer” to lash backmost astatine ICE. Ariana Grande was unambiguous successful a caller station quoting New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani — “ICE terrorizes our cities. ICE puts america each successful danger. Abolish ICE.”

At the Grammys connected Sunday, the activistic run ICE Out volition proceed amid a question of nationalist strikes and protests this weekend. Organizers volition springiness anti-ICE pins to artists taking the Grammy reddish carpet, with A-list acts similar Olivia Rodrigo acceptable to speech astir ending the brutality.

“ICE’s cruelty successful terrorizing our communities has gone excessively far,” said Nelini Stamp, the manager of strategy for Working Families Power , which is helping coordinate this “ICE Out” Grammys campaign. “It is bittersweet that it has taken nationalist deaths to get to this point, but I deliberation that we are seeing a immense question here. They person been attacking immigrants since Trump ran the archetypal clip successful 2016, but they’re realizing that they person gone overboard.”

Rhiannon Giddens, the Pulitzer- and Grammy-winning creator up for people medium this year, volition enactment successful the campaign.

“Since astatine slightest the 1800s, radical person seen these things happening and person utilized euphony to protestation against them. It’s arsenic American arsenic anything,” Giddens said, citing the fashionable abolitionist Hutchinson Family Singers radical successful the 1840s.

“When [Native] kids were enactment into residential homes, erstwhile determination were enslaved patrols and each of these convulsive state-sanctioned actions, radical were utilizing their voices and protesting,” Giddens continued. “People who person platforms tin usage them to physique up and inform, if they fto spell of immoderate of the euphony industry’s trappings of capitalism and personage and truly commencement focusing connected communities.”

“When [Native] kids were enactment into residential homes, erstwhile determination were enslaved patrols and each of these convulsive state-sanctioned actions, radical were utilizing their voices and protesting,” said Rhiannon Giddens, who volition enactment successful an “ICE Out” run astatine the Grammys.

(Gustavo Caballero/Getty Images)

Bad Bunny, who is nominated for six Grammy awards including album, opus and record, volition besides execute astatine the Super Bowl halftime amusement Feb. 8. The Puerto Rican superstar has utilized his presumption to advocator for his land aft Trump’s meager effect pursuing Hurricane Maria. Bad Bunny demurred connected touring the mainland U.S. to enactment his smash 2025 LP “Debi Tirar Mas Fotos,” citing the menace his ample Latino instrumentality basal would look from ICE raids astatine concerts. Instead, helium played a 31-show residency successful Puerto Rico.

“It’s incredibly important for him to execute astatine the Super Bowl now, astatine a clip erstwhile Latinos, Spanish speakers, migrants oregon radical who look to beryllium these things are being terrorized and murdered successful beforehand of our faces,” said Vanessa Diaz, a prof astatine Loyola Marymount University and co-author of a caller publication “P FKN R: How Bad Bunny Became the Global Voice of Puerto Rican Resistance.“

“He’s been progressive successful protestation and critiquing Trump since his archetypal TV quality connected Fallon successful 2018,” Diaz said. “But it’s not conscionable that he’s against Trump, he’s against the full task of getting Trump into that spot of power.”

Diaz doesn’t expect openly antagonistic messaging astatine the halftime amusement — possibly the lighter-blue Puerto Rican independency emblem arsenic a covert anti-occupation gesture. “It’s fascinating due to the fact that the NFL is conservative,” Diaz said. “But determination is simply a powerfulness tug of warfare happening. Cultural powerfulness present happens to spell against blimpish politics. The NFL conscionable knows he’s 1 of the biggest artists successful world.”

A Super Bowl-opening acceptable from Green Day, who past twelvemonth posted video from anti-ICE protests successful Los Angeles synced to their azygous “F-- Off,” volition conscionable beryllium “salt successful the wound,” Diaz said.

Music intelligibly matters to the Trump administration’s messaging. Trump has precocious appeared onstage with MAGA person Nicki Minaj, and remade the Kennedy Center successful his ain name, atypically hosting its yearly gala feting Kiss, George Strait, Gloria Gaynor and Michael Crawford. ICE’s genitor agency, the Department of Homeland Security, has utilized fashionable songs from acts similar Olivia Rodrigo and Sabrina Carpenter successful clips posted to societal media, which the artists promptly lambasted. (“Don’t ever usage my songs to beforehand your racist, hateful propaganda,” Rodrigo said, aft the bureau utilized her azygous “All-American Bitch” successful a video).

“Don’t ever usage my songs to beforehand your racist, hateful propaganda,” Rodrigo said, aft DHS utilized her azygous “All-American Bitch” successful a trollish video.

(Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)

The Southern Poverty Law Center cited a station from DHS that utilized a opus “We’ll Have Our Home Again,” attributed to an obscure people radical called the Pine Tree Riots, which the SPLC called “a secretive achromatic nationalist group.”

After Springsteen released “Streets of Minneapolis,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Variety that “The Trump Administration is focused connected encouraging authorities and section Democrats to enactment with national instrumentality enforcement officers connected removing unsafe transgression amerciable aliens from their communities — not random songs with irrelevant opinions and inaccurate information.”

Yet President Trump declined to be the Super Bowl this year, successful part, owed to Bad Bunny and Green Day’s performances — “I’m anti-them,” Trump said. “I deliberation it’s a unspeakable choice. All it does is sow hatred. Terrible.”

Stamp believes that the anti-ICE activism from musicians gets nether Trump’s skin.

“It matters to him due to the fact that Trump is simply a merchandise of fashionable culture,” Stamp said. “He hosted the Kennedy Center Honors. He wanted the fake FIFA bid prize due to the fact that helium didn’t get the Nobel bid prize. This medication is astir spectacle, and his supporters similar [Larry Ellison and Jeff Bezos] are buying popular taste spaces due to the fact that they privation [Trump] to beryllium popular. The show creation and governmental propaganda that they enactment connected is each inspired by popular culture.”

As L.A. prepares to big monolithic events similar the Grammys, Oscars, the World Cup and the Olympics, it looks apt to look continued waves of raids. On New Year’s Eve, ICE serviceman Brian Palacios changeable and killed Keith Porter Jr. successful a Northridge flat complex.

Hundreds march against the Trump administration’s incursion into Venezuela and caller ICE shootings successful Minneapolis and Portland successful downtown Los Angeles connected January 10, 2026.

(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)

For Dayna Frank, main enforcement of the Minneapolis venue First Avenue and an activistic with ICE Out, section euphony communities should beryllium connected the beforehand lines for organizing and offering relief. Frank cited section groups similar the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee and Monarca doing important work, who could payment from euphony manufacture action. Groups similar the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights Los Angeles bash akin advocacy here.

The country connected the crushed successful Minneapolis is “completely catastrophic,” Frank said. “There’s specified a level of fearfulness for what you’re going to spot walking astir the block, proceeding each the whistles. But seeing musicians successful solidarity tin beryllium incredibly important for the mundane residents doing everything they tin to donate goods, thrust radical to work, patrol schoolhouse zones.”

Going retired successful Minneapolis is tense, but “the feeling astatine shows has inactive been incredibly special,” Frank said. “It’s a infinitesimal wherever you don’t instrumentality things for granted, that we’re fortunate to beryllium successful a abstraction wherever radical consciousness what we’re feeling.”

For Allen, aft years of thoroughfare protests decrying the killings of Philando Castile and George Floyd, he’s already penning for his Nur-D project, documenting this perilous, invigorating infinitesimal of resisting ICE successful his city.

“In 2020, I retrieve I spent each time doing communal aid, past coming into the booth to constitute with the chemic state odor inactive coming disconnected my apparel portion I recorded,” helium said. “It’s precise akin now. You tin crook the different feature once. But Minnesota has gone done state-sanctioned unit and the quelling of code before. The euphony coming retired of present the 2nd time, it mightiness person much teeth. It mightiness person much rage.”