{"id":1718692,"date":"2026-02-02T15:07:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T12:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1718692"},"modified":"2026-02-02T15:07:00","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T12:07:00","slug":"ice-out-the-grammys-and-the-fight-for-cultural-power-in-the-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1718692","title":{"rendered":"ICE Out, the Grammys, and the fight for cultural power in the US"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"main-article standard \">\n<div class=\"article-main-content article-wrapper has-media-but-its-an-image\" data-status=\"loaded\" data-primary-article=\"true\" data-url=\"\/music\/article\/69533\/1\/ice-out-grammys-2026-fight-for-cultural-power-us-america-bad-bunny\" data-article-id=\"69533\">\n<header class=\"article-header has-landscape-image no-media\">\n<div class=\"wrapper dg-max-width\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<figure class=\"main-img has-figcaption\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"1.5\" data-template=\"Standard Article\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"bad bunny grammys 2026\" class=\"img\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1436095-2.jpg\" width=\"1024\" title=\"1436095-2\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"inner\"><span class=\"credit\">Photo by Emma McIntyre\/Getty Images for The <span class=\"nowrap\">Recording Academy<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<aside class=\"meta\">\n<div class=\"inner\"><time datetime=\"2026-02-02T15:07:00+00:00\" class=\"timestamp\" title=\"02 February 2026\"><span class=\"month\">February<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"day\" data-day=\"2\">2,<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"year\">2026<\/span><\/time><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<div class=\"titles\">\n<div class=\"tags\">\n<div class=\"sections\"><a class=\"category vertical - music\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/music\">Music<\/a><br \/>\n\/<br \/>\n<a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/opinion\">Opinion<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"standard-tag-container\"><a class=\"standard-category\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/music\">Music<\/a> \/<br \/>\n<a class=\"standard-series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/opinion\">Opinion<\/a><\/div>\n<h1 class=\"title\"><span>ICE Out, the Grammys, and the fight for cultural power in <span class=\"nowrap\">the US<\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n<div class=\"standfirst\">\n<h2>From Bad Bunny standing up for the humanity of migrants to Billie Eilish declaring \u2018no one is illegal on stolen land\u2019, almost everyone at last night\u2019s Grammys had something to say about ICE. Are the Republicans losing their grip on <span class=\"nowrap\">American culture?<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<p><time datetime=\"2026-02-02T15:07:00+00:00\" class=\"timestamp\" title=\"02 February 2026\"><span class=\"month\">February<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"day\" data-day=\"2\">2,<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"year\">2026<\/span><\/time><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><time datetime=\"2026-02-02T15:07:00+00:00\" class=\"timestamp\" title=\"02 February 2026\"><span class=\"month\">February<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"day\" data-day=\"2\">2,<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"year\">2026<\/span><\/time><\/p>\n<div class=\"providers\">\n<div class=\"contributors\"><span class=\"contributor\" data-contributor-role=\"Text\"><span class=\"contributor-role\">Text<\/span><a class=\"contributor-name\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/user\/JamesGreig\">James Greig<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article-body-container\">\n<div class=\"article-body wrapper\">\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>There was one overriding message at last night\u2019s Grammys: fuck ICE. This may not be surprising, as opposition to the immigration agency explodes following two high-profile murders and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/jan\/28\/deaths-ice-2026-\"><span>six deaths<\/span><\/a><span> in ICE custody this year alone, but it does tell us something about the fight for cultural power in the US \u2013 a fight which, despite their alternating bravado and whiny petulance, the Republicans are far from winning.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Celebrities have been making political statements at award ceremonies for well over half a century, and the figure of the self-righteous star lecturing the masses from a podium has long been a conservative punchline \u2013 something which makes the likes of Ricky Gervais giggle even when the statement in question concerns the mass slaughter of children. While the political acceptance speech is now a baked-in feature of these ceremonies, it hasn\u2019t always gone down well. Michael Moore was practically <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=M7Is43K6lrg\"><span>booed off-stage<\/span><\/a><span> when he denounced the Iraq War at the 2003 Oscars (one of the only audience members to look even vaguely approving, amid a sea of horrified or rigidly impassive faces, was Martin Scorsese, who smiled with a \u201csure, why not?\u201d expression and began to clap as the camera panned away). For making speeches with expressed support for Palestine, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=BX0hW91lAZs\"><span>Hannah Einbinder<\/span><\/a><span> and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=3ymiyNmr1WY\"><span>Jonathan Glazer<\/span><\/a><span>, at the Emmys and Oscars respectively, met with a warmer, if still cautious reception in the room, but then a weeks-long campaign of personal smears and hostile open letters.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"instagram-container embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-instagram\" data-script-depends=\"instagram-embeds\">\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>Last night\u2019s Grammys were different. While accepting the Album of the Year award for <\/span><em><span>Deb\u00ed Tirar M\u00e1s Fotos<\/span><\/em><span>, Bad Bunny condemned ICE: \u201c<\/span><span>Before I say thanks to God, I\u2019m going to say ICE out. We\u2019re not savages, we\u2019re not animals, we\u2019re not aliens \u2013 we\u2019re humans.\u201d These words were met with a standing ovation in the room and, while they provoked the conservative criticism you\u2019d expect, no <\/span><span>music industry professional with any credibility is going to sign an open letter demanding that Bad Bunny respect federal law enforcement. Far from this being a standalone moment, he was joined in his stance by countless other musicians. Both Billie Eilish, while accepting the award for Song of the Year, and Kehlani, for Best R&amp;B Performance, ended their speeches by declaring \u201cfuck ICE\u201d. British artist Olivia Dean, crowned Best New Artist, described herself as \u201cthe granddaughter of immigrants\u201d and said that immigrants \u201cneed to be celebrated\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u2018ICE Out\u2019 pin badges were worn by Lady Gaga, Joni Mitchell, Justin and Hailey Bieber, and Jack Antonoff,\u00a0 among others. Perhaps most telling of all, no one took the opposing view. Jelly Roll \u2013 a popular country artist who many conservatives hold up as an avatar of their new cultural dominance, even though he describes himself as \u201cnot political\u201d \u2013 declined to answer when asked for his take on ICE. He\u2019s got some backlash for this, but I think that\u2019s a positive sign. This is the Republicans\u2019 guy, whether he sees himself that way or not, and even he is unwilling to defend the agency in public.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"instagram-container embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-instagram\" data-script-depends=\"instagram-embeds\">\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>Bad Bunny\u2019s speech, as well as being an admirable intervention, is now in line with mass public opinion in the US, where support for ICE has <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/videos\/2026-01-30\/53-of-us-disapproves-of-trump-immigration-policy-ipsos-video\"><span>fallen off a cliff<\/span><\/a><span> since the murders of Minneapolis residents Renee Good and Alex Peretti. A month ago, \u201cabolish ICE\u201d would have been viewed in the mainstream as a radical position, the kind of thing you might see on a sticker in Portland. According to a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/today.yougov.com\/topics\/politics\/survey-results\/daily\/2026\/01\/25\/8b8cc\/3\"><span>YouGov poll<\/span><\/a><span>, more Americans support than oppose abolishing ICE (46 per cent vs 41 per cent). A separate <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/1\/21\/public-opinion-shifts-on-ice-as-advocates-warn-of-us-inflection-point\"><span>poll<\/span><\/a><span> by the ACLU found that 58 per cent think the agency should stop mass raids targeting migrants and that 84 per cent support the right to<\/span><span> \u201csafely observe, record, and document ICE activities\u201d. <\/span><span>Immigration, once one of his stronger issues, is now a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/us\/trumps-immigration-approval-drops-record-low-reutersipsos-poll-finds-2026-01-26\/\"><span>millstone<\/span><\/a><span> around Trump\u2019s neck.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The positive response to the \u201cICE Out\u201d messaging at the Grammys, both in the room and without, may be partly explained by the fact that immigration is a more neatly bipartisan issue than the Iraq War in 2003, which was supported by most Democrat politicians and a sizable share of their voters, and Palestine in recent years (despite <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/news.gallup.com\/poll\/692948\/u.s.-back-israel-military-action-gaza-new-low.aspx\"><span>seismic shifts <\/span><\/a><span>in opinion among the party base, the Democratic establishment remains firmly in the tank for Israel). But the American public\u2019s new hostility towards ICE transcends party alignment, at least to some extent. There is a hardcore contingent of Trump supporters who delight in seeing people they perceive as their political enemies gunned down in the streets \u2013 and they make up a considerable portion of the population. But many independent voters, the kind who voted for Trump primarily because they were concerned about the cost-of-living crisis, are horrified by the events of recent weeks. It is no longer controversial or even particularly divisive to say \u201cfuck ICE\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"instagram-container embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-instagram\" data-script-depends=\"instagram-embeds\">\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>But this is a reality which the Republicans and their supporters are refusing to accept, insisting instead that the artists who spoke out against ICE at the Grammys are out-of-touch and elitist, part of a liberal conspiracy to hoodwink people into objecting to the federal government summarily executing whoever it likes. These people have got high off their own supply. After Trump\u2019s 2024 victory, there was a lot of talk \u2013 across the political spectrum \u2013 of how conservatism had entered a new era of mainstream popularity and cultural dominance. Given that Trump won only narrowly, against a uniquely weak candidate and during a cost-of-living election, this narrative was always overcooked, but now it looks ridiculous. The culture war is stuck in the same stalemate it has been for years: the right have held onto YouTube, podcasts and, increasingly, social media (the Trump\u2019s administration attempts to dominate traditional news, such as through Larry Elisson\u2019s takeover of CBS, have so far failed to pay off); with a few exceptions, liberals still dominate music, television and film.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>This isn\u2019t really anything to gloat about. Years of advocacy from actors and musicians, in favour of the Democrats, abortion rights, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/black-lives-matter\">Black Lives Matter<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/metoo\">MeToo<\/a>, did nothing to impede the US\u2019s ongoing descent into violent authoritarianism. But if events like the Grammys have any value, it\u2019s as a way of crystallising and amplifying mass sentiment. Pin badges and speeches aren\u2019t enough to defeat ICE, but when Latine communities are being demonised, abducted and attacked, it\u2019s not nothing that a Puerto-Rican artist condemned the people responsible in such direct and potent terms, while winning an award for a Spanish-language record. <\/span><em><span>DeB\u00cd TiRAR M\u00e1S FOToS <\/span><\/em><span>won not just because it\u2019s a great album, but because it\u2019s a popular one, which is also why Bad Bunny is performing at the Super Bowl \u2013 it\u2019s the result of \u201cwokeness\u201d or \u201cDEI\u201d, but because he makes art that people resonate with, and less people would tune in if the half-time slot was taken up instead by Kid Rock or Nicki Minaj. The Republicans now control almost all of the levers of power in the US, and the terrible effects of that are on full display. But cultural dominance \u2013 something they clearly care about a lot \u2013 remains out of reach.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"newsletter-inline-last\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-small\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<h1 class=\"newsletter-title\">Escape the algorithm! Get The Drop<\/h1>\n<div class=\"meta-row\">\n<p class=\"meta\">Get must-see stories direct to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"confirmation\" aria-live=\"polite\">\n<p class=\"confirmation-title\">Thank you. 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design\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1435271-3.jpg\" title=\"1435271-3\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">Why are we so nostalgic for the music of 2016?<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/music\/article\/69467\/1\/dazed-mix-oskie-wipppps-ep-la-dj-producer\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Lead Image 16x9 \u2013 10\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1435098-3.jpg\" title=\"1435098-3\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">Listen to Oskie\u2019s \u2018perennially joyful\u2019 Dazed mix<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/music\/article\/69379\/1\/a-guide-to-corridos-tumbados-mexico-s-most-controversial-music-genre\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"IMG_8750\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1434046-2.jpg\" title=\"1434046-2\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">Corridos tumbados: A guide to Mexico\u2019s most controversial music genre<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"newsletter-inline\" data-newsletter hidden>\n<div class=\"newsletter-small\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<h1 class=\"newsletter-title\">Escape the algorithm! Get The Drop<\/h1>\n<div class=\"meta-row\">\n<p class=\"meta\">Get must-see stories direct to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"confirmation\" aria-live=\"polite\">\n<p class=\"confirmation-title\">Thank you. You have been subscribed<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"article-body wrapper\">\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>There was one overriding message at last night\u2019s Grammys: fuck ICE. This may not be surprising, as opposition to the immigration agency explodes following two high-profile murders and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/jan\/28\/deaths-ice-2026-\"><span>six deaths<\/span><\/a><span> in ICE custody this year alone, but it does tell us something about the fight for cultural power in the US \u2013 a fight which, despite their alternating bravado and whiny petulance, the Republicans are far from winning.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Celebrities have been making political statements at award ceremonies for well over half a century, and the figure of the self-righteous star lecturing the masses from a podium has long been a conservative punchline \u2013 something which makes the likes of Ricky Gervais giggle even when the statement in question concerns the mass slaughter of children. While the political acceptance speech is now a baked-in feature of these ceremonies, it hasn\u2019t always gone down well. Michael Moore was practically <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=M7Is43K6lrg\"><span>booed off-stage<\/span><\/a><span> when he denounced the Iraq War at the 2003 Oscars (one of the only audience members to look even vaguely approving, amid a sea of horrified or rigidly impassive faces, was Martin Scorsese, who smiled with a \u201csure, why not?\u201d expression and began to clap as the camera panned away). For making speeches with expressed support for Palestine, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=BX0hW91lAZs\"><span>Hannah Einbinder<\/span><\/a><span> and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=3ymiyNmr1WY\"><span>Jonathan Glazer<\/span><\/a><span>, at the Emmys and Oscars respectively, met with a warmer, if still cautious reception in the room, but then a weeks-long campaign of personal smears and hostile open letters.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"instagram-container embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-instagram\" data-script-depends=\"instagram-embeds\">\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>Last night\u2019s Grammys were different. While accepting the Album of the Year award for <\/span><em><span>Deb\u00ed Tirar M\u00e1s Fotos<\/span><\/em><span>, Bad Bunny condemned ICE: \u201c<\/span><span>Before I say thanks to God, I\u2019m going to say ICE out. We\u2019re not savages, we\u2019re not animals, we\u2019re not aliens \u2013 we\u2019re humans.\u201d These words were met with a standing ovation in the room and, while they provoked the conservative criticism you\u2019d expect, no <\/span><span>music industry professional with any credibility is going to sign an open letter demanding that Bad Bunny respect federal law enforcement. Far from this being a standalone moment, he was joined in his stance by countless other musicians. Both Billie Eilish, while accepting the award for Song of the Year, and Kehlani, for Best R&amp;B Performance, ended their speeches by declaring \u201cfuck ICE\u201d. British artist Olivia Dean, crowned Best New Artist, described herself as \u201cthe granddaughter of immigrants\u201d and said that immigrants \u201cneed to be celebrated\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u2018ICE Out\u2019 pin badges were worn by Lady Gaga, Joni Mitchell, Justin and Hailey Bieber, and Jack Antonoff,\u00a0 among others. Perhaps most telling of all, no one took the opposing view. Jelly Roll \u2013 a popular country artist who many conservatives hold up as an avatar of their new cultural dominance, even though he describes himself as \u201cnot political\u201d \u2013 declined to answer when asked for his take on ICE. He\u2019s got some backlash for this, but I think that\u2019s a positive sign. This is the Republicans\u2019 guy, whether he sees himself that way or not, and even he is unwilling to defend the agency in public.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"instagram-container embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-instagram\" data-script-depends=\"instagram-embeds\">\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>Bad Bunny\u2019s speech, as well as being an admirable intervention, is now in line with mass public opinion in the US, where support for ICE has <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/videos\/2026-01-30\/53-of-us-disapproves-of-trump-immigration-policy-ipsos-video\"><span>fallen off a cliff<\/span><\/a><span> since the murders of Minneapolis residents Renee Good and Alex Peretti. A month ago, \u201cabolish ICE\u201d would have been viewed in the mainstream as a radical position, the kind of thing you might see on a sticker in Portland. According to a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/today.yougov.com\/topics\/politics\/survey-results\/daily\/2026\/01\/25\/8b8cc\/3\"><span>YouGov poll<\/span><\/a><span>, more Americans support than oppose abolishing ICE (46 per cent vs 41 per cent). A separate <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/1\/21\/public-opinion-shifts-on-ice-as-advocates-warn-of-us-inflection-point\"><span>poll<\/span><\/a><span> by the ACLU found that 58 per cent think the agency should stop mass raids targeting migrants and that 84 per cent support the right to<\/span><span> \u201csafely observe, record, and document ICE activities\u201d. <\/span><span>Immigration, once one of his stronger issues, is now a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/us\/trumps-immigration-approval-drops-record-low-reutersipsos-poll-finds-2026-01-26\/\"><span>millstone<\/span><\/a><span> around Trump\u2019s neck.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The positive response to the \u201cICE Out\u201d messaging at the Grammys, both in the room and without, may be partly explained by the fact that immigration is a more neatly bipartisan issue than the Iraq War in 2003, which was supported by most Democrat politicians and a sizable share of their voters, and Palestine in recent years (despite <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/news.gallup.com\/poll\/692948\/u.s.-back-israel-military-action-gaza-new-low.aspx\"><span>seismic shifts <\/span><\/a><span>in opinion among the party base, the Democratic establishment remains firmly in the tank for Israel). But the American public\u2019s new hostility towards ICE transcends party alignment, at least to some extent. There is a hardcore contingent of Trump supporters who delight in seeing people they perceive as their political enemies gunned down in the streets \u2013 and they make up a considerable portion of the population. But many independent voters, the kind who voted for Trump primarily because they were concerned about the cost-of-living crisis, are horrified by the events of recent weeks. It is no longer controversial or even particularly divisive to say \u201cfuck ICE\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"instagram-container embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-instagram\" data-script-depends=\"instagram-embeds\">\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>But this is a reality which the Republicans and their supporters are refusing to accept, insisting instead that the artists who spoke out against ICE at the Grammys are out-of-touch and elitist, part of a liberal conspiracy to hoodwink people into objecting to the federal government summarily executing whoever it likes. These people have got high off their own supply. After Trump\u2019s 2024 victory, there was a lot of talk \u2013 across the political spectrum \u2013 of how conservatism had entered a new era of mainstream popularity and cultural dominance. Given that Trump won only narrowly, against a uniquely weak candidate and during a cost-of-living election, this narrative was always overcooked, but now it looks ridiculous. The culture war is stuck in the same stalemate it has been for years: the right have held onto YouTube, podcasts and, increasingly, social media (the Trump\u2019s administration attempts to dominate traditional news, such as through Larry Elisson\u2019s takeover of CBS, have so far failed to pay off); with a few exceptions, liberals still dominate music, television and film.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>This isn\u2019t really anything to gloat about. Years of advocacy from actors and musicians, in favour of the Democrats, abortion rights, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/black-lives-matter\">Black Lives Matter<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/metoo\">MeToo<\/a>, did nothing to impede the US\u2019s ongoing descent into violent authoritarianism. But if events like the Grammys have any value, it\u2019s as a way of crystallising and amplifying mass sentiment. Pin badges and speeches aren\u2019t enough to defeat ICE, but when Latine communities are being demonised, abducted and attacked, it\u2019s not nothing that a Puerto-Rican artist condemned the people responsible in such direct and potent terms, while winning an award for a Spanish-language record. <\/span><em><span>DeB\u00cd TiRAR M\u00e1S FOToS <\/span><\/em><span>won not just because it\u2019s a great album, but because it\u2019s a popular one, which is also why Bad Bunny is performing at the Super Bowl \u2013 it\u2019s the result of \u201cwokeness\u201d or \u201cDEI\u201d, but because he makes art that people resonate with, and less people would tune in if the half-time slot was taken up instead by Kid Rock or Nicki Minaj. The Republicans now control almost all of the levers of power in the US, and the terrible effects of that are on full display. But cultural dominance \u2013 something they clearly care about a lot \u2013 remains out of reach.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"newsletter-inline-last\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-small\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<h1 class=\"newsletter-title\">Escape the algorithm! Get The Drop<\/h1>\n<div class=\"meta-row\">\n<p class=\"meta\">Get must-see stories direct to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"confirmation\" aria-live=\"polite\">\n<p class=\"confirmation-title\">Thank you. You have been subscribed<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p> Source URL: https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/music\/article\/69533\/1\/ice-out-grammys-2026-fight-for-cultural-power-us-america-bad-bunny<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Photo by Emma McIntyre\/Getty Images for The Recording Academy February\u00a0 2,\u00a0 2026 Music \/ Opinion Music \/ Opinion ICE Out, the Grammys, and the fight for cultural power in the US From Bad Bunny standing up for the humanity of migrants to Billie Eilish declaring \u2018no one is illegal on stolen land\u2019, almost everyone at [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1718696,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,76],"class_list":["post-1718692","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-dazeddigital-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1718692","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1718692"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1718692\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1718696"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1718692"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1718692"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1718692"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}