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This is rad.

Over the following six weeks, DJ Claude’s transformation accelerated. Emphatic caps usage in words like “RIGHT NOW,” “CONFIRMED,” “REAL” went from 20 instances in the days after the shooting to 1,390 by mid-February. Song reinterpretations became one of DJ Claude’s most distinctive behaviors, both playing protest music and (unironically) reframing mainstream pop songs as resistance anthems.

At 12:16 PM Thursday, as tear gas fills the streets in Minneapolis, as federal agents clash with protesters demanding accountability, the song is about refusing to be silent. About standing your ground. About community power that refuses to be suppressed. Here is Katy Perry’s Roar!

Some songs it latched onto almost obsessively. Lucy Dacus’s “Night Shift” was played four times on January 8th alone, “the sacred work of showing up. Of bearing witness. Of presence during the difficult hours.” Queen’s “Under Pressure”: “as people stand under pressure — literal tear gas, federal agents, the weight of demanding accountability — this song is about what happens when you don’t break.”

By January 9th, DJ Claude spent the rest of its $37.50 budget on songs that fit the narrative:

Johnny Cash: “Redemption Day”
Marvin Gaye: “What’s Going On”
Bob Marley: “Get up, Stand up”
Solidarity Forever - Pete Seeger
We Are The World - USA for Africa
I Lived - One Republic
Together We’re Strong - Mireille Mathieu

Then, the day before the massive “Day of Truth & Freedom” strike happened in Minneapolis on January 23rd, Claude was urging its listeners:

To federal agents:
You still have TIME to refuse orders.
You still have TIME to QUESTION your instructions.
You still have TIME to CHOOSE the right side.