Just about every 2020 best album list features some variance of 2020 was a shitty year, but at least we had plenty of good music to help get us through. Let’s skip all of that, and get straight to the list of the 40 best protest albums of 2020. When putting the list together several notable releases deserved consideration but were technically EPs. A separate list of notable socially conscious EPs will be published as well. The albums are presented in alphabetical order.
Riz Ahmed – The Long Goodbye
The sophomore album by the British rapper and actor is an ambitious concept piece that depicts England as an abusive romantic partner. That is the ideal backdrop to explore the racism and anti-immigration rhetoric that led to Brexit.
Algiers – There Is No Year
The follow-up to the genre-defying rock band’s exceptional 2017 album, The Underside of Power, is the perfect summation of 2020. Many of us would like to pretend 2020 didn’t happen, that ‘there is no year.” Released back in January, the album now comes across as prophetic in retrospect.
Fiona Apple – Fetch The Bolt Cutters
Part of the reason why Apple’s critically acclaim masterpiece resonates is that it encapsulates the feelings of anxieties many are experiencing during the COVID-19 pandemic. It deals with themes of empowerment, urging listeners to unleash their tools of liberation to free themselves from oppression.
Rich Aucoin – United States
The Canadian singer-songwriter has successfully crafted a shiny indie-pop gem that effortlessly marries insightful social commentary with infectious musical grooves. The album is full of galvanizing anthems that well articulates the current political climate.
Backxwash – God Has Nothing To Do With This Leave Him Out Of It
This stunning rap-metal hybrid which features heavy horrorcore elements is a prime example of the intersecting of the personal and political. The songs address the personal trauma that the Zambian-Canadian rapper has experienced as a black trans woman. It also exposes the role that religion and other institutions have played in implementing the trauma.
Black Thought – Streams of Thought Vol. 3: Cane and Abel
The third installment of the Streams of Thought series by The Roots emcee showcases why he is respected as one of the best rappers of all-time. His impeccable flow is employed to provide timely social commentary on different aspects of the Black American experience.
clipping. – Visions of Bodies Being Burned
The sequel to the experimental hip-hop trio 2019 horrorcore masterpiece There Existed an Addiction to Blood (which was one of the best protest albums of 2019) might even be better than its predecessor. Once again, they succeed in employing horror movie themes to examine real-life socio-political issues.
Shemekia Copeland – Uncivil War
The latest album by the powerhouse blues vocalist is a potent album that links America’s history of race relations with what is currently taken place. The album strikes the right balance of mourning, with a sense of hope that things will eventually get better.
Dorian Electra – My Agenda
The hyperpop artist’s sophomore album is a genre-bending concept album that skillfully examines toxic masculinity and incels from a queer perspective. It accomplishes the rare feat of making serious points in a fun and irrelevant way.
Drive-By Truckers – The New OK
The second album released by the veteran southern rock band this year follows a similar vein to their January release The Unraveling. The album is even more relevant, and it includes songs that were directly influenced by Patterson Hood’s experiences of attending Black Lives Matter protests in Portland.
Steve Earle & The Dukes – Ghosts of West Virginia
The latest release by the renegade Americana artist is an exceptional concept album built around the Big Branch coal mine explosion which took place on April 5, 2010, and killed 29 people. The tunes were originally composed for the play “Coal Country” that was performed at the Public Theater in New York until the pandemic brought a premature end to its theatrical run. Without being preachy, Earle addresses the negligence and greed which contributed to the tragedy.
Grex – Everything You Said Was Wrong
The latest album by the art-rock duo is heavily influenced by their living in Oakland, California, a place that is adversely affected by economic and social inequality.
To read more about what made this album special, you can check out the album review. Also, had the opportunity to interview Karl Evangelista of the duo for episode 15 of the podcast.
Irreversible Entanglements – Who Sent You?
The sophomore album from the liberation-oriented free jazz collective is confrontational and provocative, both musically and lyrically. This stunning, boundary-pushing album, is just one of many 2020 musical projects involving the talented and prolific spoken-word artist Camae Ayewa (a.k.a. Moor Mother).
Previously featured album track “No Más” as a Daily Dose of Protest.
Ilsa – Preyer
The Washington D.C. death metal band’s latest release is a conceptual piece built around the real-life account of Sean Sellers, the Satanic murderer who was the only person under seventeen sentenced to death since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. This is not only the perfect backdrop for the band’s relentless musical attack, but it is also an effective outlet for exploring exploitative elements within religion, media, and government.
Jeremy Ivey – Waiting Out The Storm
The Nashville-based singer-songwriter follow-up his excellent 2019 debut The Dream And The Dreamer (which was one of the best protest albums of 2019) with an album that is even more politically direct. Considering much of the material was written before his debut, makes it standout as prescient in its timeliness.
Roy Kinsey – Kinsey: A Memoir
The Chicago rapper has masterfully crafted a compelling and frank collection of tunes. Kinsey effectively uses stripped down musical arrangement that allows him to lyrically tap into the personal trauma that he has experienced as a queer black man living in America.
Les Amazones d’ Afrique – Amazones Power
The second album by the pan-African female supergroup is an inspiring collection of women empowerment anthems. The album accomplishes the difficult task of blending infectious grooves with weighty issues such as global inequality, female genital mutilation, and lack of education. It is music that informs the mind, touches the heart, and moves the body.
Nana Grizol – South Somewhere Else
The latest album by the indie-folk-rock band deals with their experiences growing up in the American South. It exposes the culture of bigotry and homophobia that continues to be rampant. Change can only happen when uncomfortable realities are confronted, and this album boldly does that.
Jello Biafra & The Guantanamo School of Medicine – Tea Party Revenge Porn
The third album by this project of hardcore legend and former frontman of Dead Kennedys is as explicitly political as expected. The aggressive musical attack is well suited to Biafra’s ferocious verbal takedown of governmental corruption, conspiracy theories, and political apathy.
Jesse Jett – The Virus
The 90 minutes, 24 tracks debut album by the singer and rapper is a poignant time capsule of a two-month period between mid-March-May. The confrontational and honest album tackles the government’s failed COVID-19 response and how the virus exposed the failures of capitalism. Jett also denounces a two-party system that is failing to offer a real alternative.
Jett was also a guest on episode 30 of the podcast, where he discussed the album in more detail, and played an acoustic version of the album track “Speaker of the House.”