I’m not going to act like I’ve been up-to-date on Macklemore’s latest artistic output. I was actually a little confused that he supposedly had enough pull or cache in the big 2026 for him to be chosen as the opener for Ed Sheeran’s latest world tour. The last I had seen of Macklemore was his single ‘Hind’s Hall’, which, to his credit, is probably the only (or at least most popular) rap song explicitly about the Palestinian genocide. While on the tour with Ed Sheeran, he performed the song at Gillette Stadium in Boston and gave an impassioned speech afterwards, urging the concertgoers to direct their attention to the atrocities in Gaza. It didn’t take long before he was pulled from the tour altogether, with Ed Sheeran notably sitting on the fence and billionaire Robert Kraft throwing his weight around to make an example of Macklemore. Now, though, it seems that Macklemore has become the unlikely face of protest music in the 2020s.
Macklemore has always been up front about his politics in his music, going back to ‘Same Love’ in 2012. That isn’t the problem. In fact, it would help if more rappers were willing to stand with him. The real issue is that the musicians that are up front about their politics aren’t as visible. Rappers have been talking about the crisis in Palestine for decades at this point, following in the long-line of politically charged hip-hop. In his debut album in 1993, Method Man of the Wu-Tang Clan likened his crew to the Palestine Liberation Organization, Palestine’s official political group that’s been active since the 1960s. Yasiin Bey (fka Mos Def) spoke on the West Bank and Gaza Strip as ‘real beef’ in 2005 and Lupe Fiasco famously advocated for Palestine in 2009 performing in front of then President Barack Obama. This begs the question: why is that Macklemore is the rapper that’s been able to spread the message further than anyone else?
It isn’t his fault that Macklemore is white. This is something he’s well aware of and has spent his whole career trying to stave off comparisons to other white rappers and allegations of cultural appropriation. Outside of this stirrup, his biggest controversy was winning the Grammy for Best Rap Album in 2014 against the likes of Kendrick, Drake, Kanye West and Jay-Z. Fans were so appalled at the decision that Macklemore came out and apologized to Kendrick publicly… for winning. The Grammys took so much flack for this that they changed how voting works to better reflect the genres represented. He didn’t have to come out and explain to the world that he felt he actually didn’t deserve the award but that showed that in his heart of hearts, he’s not trying to be that kind of white guy.
I can argue that this kind of unashamed, genuine heart is something hip-hop, and the world at large, needs more of. Everybody is either too scared to say something that’ll upset their bosses or mentors or they don’t care enough to try and stop something that’s clearly wrong. Americans have become passive bystanders to our own destruction, morally and tangibly. Sometimes, it really is as simple as saying this is wrong and I’m gonna say something about it. Hell, that’s how hip-hop started. That’s why we write these articles.
Him using his privilege to speak on real atrocities is exactly what must be done to put an end to injustice. It shows other white celebrities that they too can and must speak out if anything is going to change. And some have. Most notably, Hayley Williams of Paramore dropping a full-out ICE diss track and Zach Bryan, probably the most famous country singer without a uterus right now, wearing a Free Palestine shirt at his concert in Gillette Stadium. Which is owned by Robert Kraft.
This past Wednesday marked three years since the Oct 7 attacks in Israel where 1,200 Israelis were killed. In those two years, over 80,000 Palestinians have been killed, many of them children, journalists, doctors and even some Peace Corps workers on the ground. It’s clear that this conflict won’t be over unless there is some intervention. Throughout history, even around the world today, it is the young people calling for this intervention so that everyone has a chance to live in the future. And if it takes Macklemore to get the ear of these young people, then I’m all for it.
