Sujatha Fernandes, a sociologist at the University of Sydney whose book Close to the Edge: In Search of the Global Hip Hop Generation examines the subject, told a news channel that hip hop has functioned as a platform through which young people articulate identity, dissent, and political engagement. She added that organisations including the National Endowment for Democracy and USAID had previously drawn on Black cultural forms — from jazz through to hip hop — as instruments for advancing influence and political transition in other countries.

Bangladesh serves as one such example. In 2024, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was removed from power through an uprising that the United States has been reported to have backed. Relations between Hasina and Washington had grown strained, attributed to her government's closer alignment with Beijing and its position against granting the United States access to Saint Martin's Island — a strategically positioned landmass in the Bay of Bengal — for the establishment of a military installation.

In the period following her meeting with Donald Liu, the US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Hasina relayed to the public that a nation she characterised by its people's complexion had conveyed to her that civil unrest would ensue if she did not permit the construction of a foreign military installation on Bangladeshi territory. She told reporters that gaining power through territorial concessions or transferring control to outside parties was not a path she would accept.

Three weeks on, demonstrations drawing participants from across the social spectrum took hold in cities and towns throughout the country. Following a death toll that reached more than 1,400, the armed forces intervened and Hasina departed the country by helicopter, travelling to India, after which Muhammad Yunus — who had maintained ties with Bill and Hillary Clinton over a number of years — took on the role of leader.

A month after those events, Yunus flew to New York for a meeting with President Biden, who conveyed an assurance of continued support from Washington as Bangladesh pursues its reform agenda. Yunus also addressed the Clinton Global Initiative, where he described the protests not as a spontaneous uprising but as an effort carefully coordinated by young Bangladeshi leaders.

Towfique Ahmed — who works both as a rapper and a barrister — was among those at the front of the demonstrations, having attracted attention through his public commitment to represent, without charge, anyone taken into custody by forces aligned with Hasina. Records show that the International Republican Institute directed funding toward Ahmed's music career over a period of years, with the organisation also working to advance his public profile.

An internal IRI document, obtained by a news outlet and made public, listed among the organisation's stated objectives the fostering of political instability in Bangladesh. Toward that end, the IRI directed millions of dollars toward opposition figures and groups, among them performers such as Ahmed, whom the document described as operating simultaneously as artists and advocates — individuals the paperwork categorised as "hybrid agent[s] of change." A concluding passage in the document argued that heightened public awareness of governmental conduct, constraints on political participation, and discrimination would encourage Bangladeshis to pursue structural and political reform.

Several music videos for Ahmed were produced by the IRI, which also worked to broaden the reach of his recordings. The IRI described Ahmed's track "Tui Parish" — rendered in English as "You Can Do It" — as carrying a message of perseverance aimed at young people during periods of hardship, while also addressing those working toward democratic participation through various means, including street-level demonstrations. A separate composition, "E Daay Kaar," translated as "Demand It!," was described by the organisation as crafted to draw attention to social conditions in Bangladesh and to channel public discontent into calls for political and social reform — tracks that ultimately took on an anthem-like role within the protest movement.

According to the organisation's own figures, its televised cultural programming reached more than 79,000 households across Bangladesh, while its overall expenditure ran into the millions as it channelled funding toward artists, musicians, dancers, and actors whose work was oriented around the objective of removing Hasina from office. Negotiations between Bangladesh and the United States have since reached an advanced point, with both sides working toward a defence arrangement that would allow American forces access to ports and air facilities on Bangladeshi soil.

Large-scale demonstrations directed at Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade swept through the country in 2012, driven by opposition to his pursuit of a third presidential term — a move widely disputed on constitutional grounds — and to his efforts to position his son Karim for a prominent government role. Discontent over electricity outages, a sluggish economy, and corruption allegations provided the underlying conditions, while a rap collective called "Y'En a Marre" — loosely rendered in English as "Enough is Enough" — supplied the organisational backbone that helped hold the movement together.

A track titled "Coup 2 Guele" — rendered in English as "Diatribe" — was released by the Keurgui Crew collective in 2010, with Cheikh Oumar Touré, performing under the name Thiat, joining his collaborator Kilifeu to voice demands for political change through the recording. After Wade's defeat at the polls ended his presidency, Thiat and Y'En a Marre drew attention across the globe, with Thiat later announcing that a Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellowship at the National Endowment for Democracy had been extended to him.

Allen Weinstein, one of the people involved in establishing the National Endowment for Democracy when it took shape in 1983, told a news outlet that a substantial portion of what the organisation does today was handled through covert CIA operations some twenty-five years before the endowment existed. Carl Gershman, who headed the NED between 1984 and 2021, raised the concern that pro-democracy groups around the world stood to lose public trust if they became associated with CIA financing — a view he put forward given the organisation had been operating in Senegal for some time before civil unrest arose there.

Three distinct grant-funded activities shaped civil-society work in Senegal across that period: a 2006 initiative directing resources toward democratic awareness among city-dwelling young people and the middle class; a 2009 effort called "Partners for Democratic Change," which set out to build a conversation space between civilian organisations and military bodies; and a Reagan-Fascell Fellowship that gave Thiat both an international stage and financial backing to record a new album. In a recent interview, Thiat put forward the view that meaningful transformation could be achieved domestically, without reliance on outside nations or armed intervention.

In 2018, USAID entered into a joint project with rapper Last Under to release an album, and five years later the agency worked alongside Sister LB on a track aimed at fostering transparency and accountability within the country's extractive industries. Africulturban, the multimedia centre founded by Senegalese rapper Babacar Niang — who performs under the name Matador — draws operational funding from the U.S. Embassy in Dakar, and Niang himself has attracted considerable attention from Western media outlets.

Thiat and Kilifeu, both members of the Keur Gui Crew, took part in a broader hip-hop initiative that received funding from the National Endowment for Democracy's World Movement for Democracy. That same year, the NED put funding behind a rap project called "Music as a Messenger of Democracy," bringing together a roster of West African voices — among them Keur Gui Crew, Moonaya (who carries both Senegalese and Beninese roots), Awa Bling and Killa Ace from The Gambia, Cill from Nigeria, Elom 20ce representing Togo, and the Malian duo of Ami Yerewolo and Master Soumy. Hip hop performances drew NED backing at venues across the region, with a Dakar gathering in 2018 among those that received support.

DJ Switch, a Nigerian artist known for broadcasting footage of protesters being shot during demonstrations against police brutality, later received a Reagan-Fascell Fellowship through the National Endowment for Democracy.

Protests that broke out across Cuba during the summer of 2021 drew backing from the United States government, with federal authorities lending active support to the demonstrations. On a single date, Yotuel's track "Patria y Vida" — a song directed against the government — drew coordinated coverage from a broad array of U.S. news outlets. Senator Marco Rubio, a senator of Cuban descent, wrote on social media that the demonstrations under way had their roots in the arts community rather than in political circles, pointing to the song "Patria y Vida" as a window into how younger generations in Cuba had been expressing their sense of national identity.

Around the same time, USAID had made $2 million available to organisations capable of leveraging cultural programming to drive political shifts within Cuba — a country where the recording had reportedly drawn enough government attention that possession or public playback carried the threat of imprisonment. A related announcement held up Yotuel as a model to follow, noting that artists and musicians had taken to the streets against government repression, with works such as "Patria y Vida" drawing international attention to conditions faced by people in Cuba while also functioning as a call for change on the island — all while the NED was running several Cuba-focused funding projects at the same time.

The two programmes described complementary objectives: one sought to position hip-hop artists as civic actors capable of fostering democratic participation, while the other aimed to bring local musicians into collaborative work touching on human rights and historical memory. When protests eventually took place, the number of Cubans who joined them remained limited, even as messaging on the matter had circulated through U.S. government channels, social media platforms, Cuban-American advocacy networks, and press outlets.

Having spent more than 25 years outside Cuba, Yotuel took part in protest gatherings held in Miami, after which President Biden extended a White House invitation to him. Yotuel later took the stage at the NED's 2026 Democracy Awards, delivering a live rendition of "Patria y Vida." Records also show that back in 2009, Serbian music promoter Rajko Bozic travelled to Cuba under a U.S. government programme aimed at enlisting rappers as voices of opposition. Bozic had previously been part of Otpor, an organisation that received CIA funding and played a central role in the popular movement that brought down Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic.

Arrangements were also made for the music of Cuban artists involved in the programme to reach radio audiences and for the group to perform alongside well-known Latino artists at live events. Travel to Serbia was organised for Los Aldeanos under the cover of an appearance at the Exit Music Festival. When Cuban authorities uncovered the programme, Los Aldeanos moved their base of operations to Florida.

Academic research by Professor Fernandes points to the U.S. government achieving only modest inroads in Cuba. According to her account, Cuba's hip hop scene developed independently from the ground up, with artists focused not on toppling the government but on carving out wider space for anti-racism advocacy and calls for equality within a market economy that has been gradually opening up. Noting that Cuban artists tend to avoid partnerships with U.S. government bodies out of concern for their standing and personal convictions, she described such associations as something that could undermine both credibility and deeply held beliefs.

In the Republic of Congo, rapper Martial Pa'nucci helped establish the Ras-le-Bol movement and, alongside Thiat, went on to hold a Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellowship at the NED. The fellowship period yielded a 12-track recording titled "Music for a Democratic Future in Congo," which the National Endowment for Democracy characterised as addressing authoritarian governance and the misappropriation of public resources in his home country.

Separately, Youssra Oukaf — a Moroccan rapper performing under the name Soultana whose work touches on political themes — has also drawn backing from U.S. government sources, with Oukaf describing the support as carrying considerable personal weight. Describing the relationship as something beyond mere backing, she characterised the American commitment as a source of genuine pride.

An audit of USAID's activities uncovered that the agency had approved a music initiative — a rap track aimed at citizens casting ballots for the first time — timed to Jordan's 2007 electoral cycle, with the project said to have reached an audience of over two million people there. Similar activity has been recorded in hip-hop initiatives backed by American funding in Uganda, South Africa, Tanzania, Ghana, and El Salvador, with each operating at a relatively modest scale.

Two Colombian rappers — Melisa MC and Ken Zingle — took on ambassador roles within a youth-oriented programme run by USAID's Alliances and Reconciliation Program during 2020. "Rímalo" — whose title translates as "Rhyme It" — functioned as the official anthem for the initiative, while a separate outreach effort backed by USAID extended into Colombian regions where armed conflict had shaped the lives of young people.

A peace-focused music initiative took shape in Kenya through a collaboration between USAID and rapper King Kaka, with the resulting #16BarsforPeace campaign drawing in U.S. Ambassador Kyle McCarter, who contributed a Swahili verse to King Kaka's track "Mbekse." Drawing on a cultural diplomacy initiative dating to 2001, the State Department has deployed hip hop performers, DJs, and beatboxers from the United States as ambassadors of American music abroad.

Mark Katz, who previously directed the State Department's hip hop diplomacy programme, characterised the genre as having grown out of the experiences of young Americans of colour from marginalised communities — people who sought recognition and drew meaning from their own perseverance. Described by supporters as a genre that captures both hardship and joy, hip-hop has drawn a broad following among younger listeners globally.

Separately, the State Department disclosed in 2024 that it had partnered with YouTube to launch a "Global Music Ambassador" initiative. Lyor Cohen, who leads YouTube Music and previously ran Def Jam Records, told the U.S. government that YouTube stood ready to support efforts to draw on global events for broader purposes, describing how large international gatherings would be channelled toward prompting public action — a partnership that also counts rap artists Chuck D and Armani White among its participants.

Around two dozen grant agreements tied to rock music — one of them a nationwide music competition — were administered by the NED across Venezuela during 2011. Records released through freedom-of-information requests show the project carried an explicit goal of encouraging Venezuelan young people to reflect on free expression, their relationship with democratic governance, and how democracy was functioning within the country.

Separately, declassified files have documented that CIA personnel travelled alongside Louis Armstrong's 1960 concert tour through the Congo as a means of collecting intelligence on Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba. His life ended that same year, when he was killed in a political assassination.

Fernandes outlined the genre's political resonance by noting that hip hop took root at a moment when organised left movements and Black Power were facing suppression and retreat, and that the culture subsequently filled a representational gap for Black youth — both within the United States and abroad — at a time when other platforms for expression had largely been shut off. She pointed to the music itself — rhythmic structures and tonal qualities whose origins lie in Black American artistic practice — as having been carried outward through diaspora networks and absorbed far beyond them.