Keeping in mind the present political climate in the country, I decided to explore some politically vocal bands and musicians. In the map below, I’ve included bands and musicians whose lyrics are the most politically-charged.
(Click on the image to view it in full-resolution)
The map also depicts the concentration of politically-charged bands in each state. It’s clear that California and New York put every other state behind when it comes to giving birth to politically opinionated musicians.
Compared to well known bands like California-based giants Green Day and System of a Down, finding (relatively lesser known) bands from other states was difficult. But thanks to this ranker.com article, along with data from setlist.fm and Wikipedia, I got enough data to figure out the most politically vocal band/musician from each state.
In case your Geography isn’t too strong, here’s the full list in a table form:
Most Political Band / Musician | State of Origin | Concentration of Political Bands / Musicians |
|---|---|---|
Rage Against the Machine | California | Very High |
Public Enemy | New York | Very High |
Indigo Girls | Georgia | High |
Dropkick Murphys | Massachusetts | High |
Bruce Springsteen | New Jersey | High |
Tracy Chapman | Ohio | High |
American Standards | Arizona | Medium |
Red Kate | Kansas | Medium |
A//Political | Maine | Medium |
Madonna | Michigan | Medium |
Bob Dylan | Minnesota | Medium |
Eminem | Missouri | Medium |
The Shins | New Mexico | Medium |
Anti‐Flag | Pennsylvania | Medium |
Shovels & Rope | South Carolina | Medium |
Willie Nelson | Texas | Medium |
Dispatch | Vermont | Medium |
Sleater-Kinney | Washington | Medium |
St. Paul and The Broken Bones | Alabama | Low |
Portugal. The Man | Alaska | Low |
Johnny Cash | Arkansas | Low |
Flobots | Colorado | Low |
Political Animals | Connecticut | Low |
BoySetsFire | Delaware | Low |
Assück | Florida | Low |
Adrian Orange | Hawaii | Low |
Built to Spill | Idaho | Low |
Rise Against | Illinois | Low |
Dissonance & Dissent | Indiana | Low |
Closet Witch | Iowa | Low |
Panopticon | Kentucky | Low |
EYEHATEGOD | Louisiana | Low |
Logic | Maryland | Low |
John Lee Hooker | Mississippi | Low |
Rob Quist | Montana | Low |
Snake Island! | Nebraska | Low |
Narrowed | Nevada | Low |
The Queers | New Hampshire | Low |
Charlie Daniels | North Carolina | Low |
Jonny Lang | North Dakota | Low |
Woody Guthrie | Oklahoma | Low |
Aminé | Oregon | Low |
Downtown Boys | Rhode Island | Low |
Indigenous | South Dakota | Low |
Today Is The Day | Tennessee | Low |
Cult Leader | Utah | Low |
GWAR | Virginia | Low |
Bad Brains | Washington, D.C. | Low |
Byzantine | West Virginia | Low |
Garbage | Wisconsin | Low |
Teenage Bottlerocket | Wyoming | Low |
So, how well did your state do in giving birth to political bands?
