This album came out this year

https://youtu.be/CDhTf3eaeoM

Gasoline by Måneskin

Who's that lady that wrote the folk song "It's not going away"? There are like three or four folk groups and troubadours writing protest songs for tiktok. Mon Rovia with Heavy Foot, Jesse Welles with The Poor, stuff like that.

Taylor Swift sorta got under Trump's skin, but she's not particularly political.

Denzel Curry maybe?

Killswitch Engage's Atonement album has some excellent tracks with RATM-esque lyrics incl Crownsless King

I'm a 90s kid and I never got into music like this. I always had single songs I liked, including from RatM, Nirvana etc but I never really cared about more than 1 or 2 songs of any individual artist, or albums. I just didn't like the other songs.

I assume the reason why you have these "recognizable" names was solely because music was sold in albums. People couldn't reaaaally get music conveniently any other way. And only the biggest ones could afford to produce albums in the first place. So even if you liked 1 or 2 songs only, you were "forced" to buy the whole album and since you got it already, why not listen to the rest. And since you didn't have infinite money to buy infinite albums you listened to the same ones again and again.

I never really did that. I bought an album and actually only listened to one song or I bought compilations. I never cared about a particular artist, only about songs. The current music acquisition process is perfect for me, I find plenty of amazing songs everywhere. Do I know the artist of my songs? Not really, and I don't care. When I meet someone, we listen to each other's music together. I vibe with and pick single new songs from them. We don't bond over artists, we bond over music. I think everything is perfect that way.

Edit: just one German example of a popular song that many people here know that criticizes shit here in the country: https://youtube.com/watch?v=Y-B0lXnierw

https://www.ongoinghistoryofprotestsongs.com/

Seems to me that these days, with a lot of issues fragmented in our society, different bands tend to focus on certain issues - although there are some exceptions, yet this is also just based off what I've noticed.

Bob Vylan has been making the rounds, Kendrick Lamar has also been outspoken on some injustices over the years. Lambrini Girls focus on sexism in a rather angry manner. IDLES have some songs regarding frustration with aspects of society, however they're not as detailed in their messages yet they still provide the energy for them.
Kneecap have been speaking about the situation in Palestine in a rather political manner, and have great pride for Ireland - they sing mainly in an Irish language, however great energy for the message.

If you go a bit further you have Bloodywood, an Indian metal/hard rock band focusing on various issues (I think one of their songs talks about punching rapists in the face).

Just some off the top of my head. They're out there for sure.

Ashenspire's Hostile Architechture is, in my opinion, a fantastic album. Full-on anticapitalist metal with an operatic twist.

i know y'all will probably yell at me but in terms of the spirit of kurt musically and aesthetically you could make a case for harry styles.