Macklemore’s song “White Privilege II” created quite a wave on social media last week, getting some much-needed dialogue flowing between many different races. Whether you feel Macklemore did the song out of sincerity or for brownie points aside, you can’t deny that it has sparked some necessary conversations about race and racism – and that’s always a positive thing!
One of those convos was less positive, and that was the one surrounding Iggy Azalea and her mention in the second verse. Along with Miley Cyrus and Elvis, Macklemore adds in Iggy’s name to say that people often him compare him to them, grouping them all into the “cultural appropriators” group. It was less of a diss and more of a statement about an observation he’d made, but nonetheless, people attacked and laughed at Iggy for it, and she eventually responded to a fan saying if he had any such feelings, he shouldn’t have been so friendly with her over the years – and of course that only led to more drama.
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Now Mack is speaking out about Iggy and the song in a new interview with Rolling Stone, adding some clarity to the whole situation.
On Iggy:
“For me, that second verse is unpacking. It’s an unpacking moment of internalized criticism and self-doubt, and ‘What have I done,’ and letting the criticism infiltrate who I am. ‘Why am I insecure at a protest?’ And I think that people get put into boxes, and the conversation around cultural appropriation – I was at the forefront of that, rightfully so. And that conversation also included Miley Cyrus and Iggy Azalea, and that’s why their names are on the record.”
On a hip-hop legend telling him he should do the song:
“It was a defining moment. ‘Silence is an action’ was a perfect representation of where I had been. So it was like, I can continue to be safe, and to rest in my privilege, and to not speak up, and the system perpetuates itself – or I can try to engage in the conversation, knowing that I don’t have all the answers, knowing that I have so much to learn.”
Read the full interview here.
