Levi Todd is a sophomore English major and writes "Leave it to Levi" for the Daily News. His views do not necessarily agree with those of the newspaper. Write to Levi at lctodd@bsu.edu.
I’m not gonna lie, I went to a Macklemore show when I was in high school. It was just after "The Heist" came out, when I had memorized the words to songs like “Thrift Shop”, “White Walls”, and “Same Love.” And it was a great show. At the time, I thought it was one of the best I’d been to.
Now that I’m a bit older and have seen more of Macklemore’s career, I’m more leery of both his music and the praise we give him as a rapper.
Recently, Macklemore released a song called “White Privilege II” featuring Jamila Woods (who is an insanely talented musician and poet and will never hear a single negative word from me). The song explains the meaning behind this year’s political buzzword and Macklemore’s personal experiences confronting his own privilege. It features dialogue as Macklemore talks to other people about the Black Lives Matter movement, protest chants, and comments from those who don’t believe in white privilege.
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The track itself is impressive as the rapper admits how he’s unfairly benefited from his race, considering that Macklemore’s audience is primarily white. In fact, Macklemore balances his verses with comments from Black Lives Matter Movement activists, an intentional move to not make himself the only voice on the track.
Jamila Woods, an activist herself, closes the song by singing, “your silence is not a luxury.” It’s a call-out to end the dismissal of the modern-day civil rights movement and to confront the ways in which white people benefit from a system based on racism and discrimination.
The song, in itself, is commendable. It leaves me hoping that Macklemore will use his influence to get his predominantly white fan-base memorizing the lyrics to this politically aware song, and that maybe it will inspire many fans to have difficult but necessary conversations about current events pertaining to police brutality and racial inequality.
However — Macklemore has a history of stopping short of his full capacity. He is very aware of the influence he carries as a world-renowned artist, as well as his unique situation of being a white rapper. When he received the 2014 Grammy for “Best Rap Album of the Year,” despite widespread arguments that Kendrick Lamar’s “Good Kid: M.A.A.D City” was more deserving, he texted Kendrick Lamar a private apology. However, he kept the award, and benefited from it nonetheless. Forbes explains that Grammy winners experience a “‘Grammy Bounce’ of at least 55 percent in concert ticket sales and producer fees during the year following a Grammy win.”
Macklemore also released “Same Love” to discuss same-sex marriage in America, knowing he may lose fans because of it. He did the same with “White Privilege II.” However, we can’t ignore the fact that Macklemore is making an insane profit off of these songs.
“Same Love” was a chart-topper and single-handedly earned him hundreds of thousands of dollars, just like “White Privilege II” probably will. But neither tracks are saying anything new. Queer and Black Lives Matter activists have been saying what Macklemore is for years. He’s just the one with the popularity to be heard and the position to profit off of it.
In light of “White Privilege II”, Macklemore seemingly has not donated to any Black Lives Matter movements. He will continue to earn revenue from streaming services, concerts, and album sales. Plus, he’s an independent artist, so he doesn’t have a label taking a majority of his profits.
The track itself was a step in the right direction — but it falls short of what he could be doing with his platform. He can promote activism and action in his music all he wants, but it’s an empty gesture when he’s still profiting off the music, leaving actual activists and organizations exactly where they have been financially.
In “White Privilege II,” Macklemore speaks to himself about his involvement in hip-hop as a white artist, saying, “It's all stolen, anyway, can't you see that now?/There's no way for you to even that out.” He claims to be aware of the fact that his success in the hip-hop industry has to do with his race — all the while accepting the paychecks he receives because of it.
My point is that Macklemore’s career is based around good intentions. We can hope to see more political commitment from the rapper in the future, and I hope that he genuinely encourages discussion among his fans about difficult topics like same-sex marriage and racial discrimination. But as long as he keeps the profits off of these songs, I will continue to be leery.
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