Olivia Rodrigo is just 22 years old and has a voice that has managed to transform the anguish of a young woman into a generational manifesto. He sang about heartbreak, anger, irony, and in the process became one of the most recognizable figures in American pop. But this time it wasn’t a song, but rather its forced silence that marked the rhythm: its theme All American bitch appeared, without permission, in an official US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) video.
The video, lasting just a minute, was released by DHS and White House accounts. He promoted the “self-deportation” of undocumented immigrants through a government request. Images of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents accompanied the first lines of the song: “I’m always grateful, I’m sexy and kind, I’m cute when I cry” (I’m always grateful, always, I’m sexy and kind, I’m cute when I cry.)
The text accompanying the video is as direct as it is threatening: “Leave now and expatriate independently using the CBP Home app. If you don’t, you will face the consequences.” The irony is brutal. A song written as a satire of the demands of the American feminine ideal has become, in the hands of the government, the soundtrack to a message inviting migrants to leave “voluntarily”.
Rodrigo reacted quickly. “No more using my songs to promote your racist and hateful propaganda,” he wrote on his Instagram account. The message disappeared shortly after, but it was enough to spark controversy. Within a few hours, the music was removed from the video. In its place now appears an awkward silence and a sentence: “This song is not available at the moment”. On social media, users celebrated the singer’s reaction.
All American bitchwritten and produced by Rodrigo for his album Intestines (2023), is a portrait of the double standards imposed by success, gender and country. Its use, in this context, not only violates copyright, but also its meaning: the song that satirized American female perfection ended up in the hands of the apparatus that defines who deserves (or doesn’t) to stay in the United States.
Rodrigo, daughter of a Filipino father and an American mother, grew up in Los Angeles, a city impossible to imagine without immigrants. She wasn’t the only artist to raise her voice against the US government’s use of her music. In 2019, Rihanna asked President Donald Trump to stop playing her songs at his rallies after finding out that Don’t stop the music This was felt at events where anti-migrant policies were promoted. Pharrell Williams also sent a cease and desist letter to the president following the hearing Happy at a political event held the same day as a mass shooting. Adele, Queen, Neil Young, The Rolling Stones and Axl Rose have done the same at different times, claiming control over the meaning of their songs, not just their economic rights.
