Troubling Thoughts on Macklemore

During the aftermath of this year’s Grammy’s, several prominent hip-hop artists have voiced their criticisms of the award show. Through a post on Instagram, Snoop Dogg joined the list this morning with a startling image. The picture displays Macklemore–tuxedo’d out, hair flipped like a pancake–accepting a Grammy, while in the background sit head shots of legendary hip-hop artists who never gained as much popular support as Macklemore does now. And there are a lot of faces behind the thrift shopper’s polished smile. Snoop writes, “Macklemore has more Grammys than Tupac, The Notorious B.I.G., DMX, Busta Rhymes, KRS-One, Rick Ross, Snoop Dogg, Snoop Dogg, Mos Def, Run DMC, Public Enemy, Big Pun, Young Jeezy, Ja Rule and Kendrick Lamar combined.” Combined!

That list simply makes no sense. Except when I pause to think about which celebrities are most popular in this country, and why that is, and then this list makes complete sense. The major difference between Macklemore and each of these other artists is not hard to recognize, and as much as he may disagree, at least part of Macklemore’s enormous success and fame and record sales and sold out stadium shows is because of his race. Which, on the outset, would not be a problem. In any other music genre, it would not cross anyone’s mind. But Macklemore is not in any other music genre. He’s in hip-hop. A music and culture created by a specific group of people in a specific place to overcome a specific type of adversity. And while hip-hop has developed and evolved in enormous ways since then, there is still a matter of appropriation and exploitation when a white person becomes a hip-hop artist.

Macklemore’s most committed fans will argue with me here. They’ll say that he understands the precarious place he holds, and makes music in a self-aware and humble way. They’ll say he once wrote a song about this very topic, and is the first to admit there are problems with being a white rapper.

This is where I become frustrated. The song most people mention in defense of Macklemore is from one of his earlier mixtapes. It’s a track called “White Privilege” and at first glance seems like he really knows what he’s talking about.

Here’s the hook::

“Hip-hop started off on a block that I’ve never been to

To counteract a struggle that I’ve never even been through

If I think I understand just because I flow too

That means I’m not keeping it true, I’m not keeping it true.”

Which sounds great. And so does the rest of the song. He talks about gentrification and white privilege and cultural appropriation. It seems like he really genuinely understands the issues he himself perpetuates. And so my only question, one that I think would be quite obvious, is why in the hell is he still rapping? If he knows it’s wrong of him to do this, if he knows he is changing the culture of a genre of music he has no right to, then why is he knowingly continuing his career? What a hypocrite!

Macklemore doesn’t exactly address this problem in his song. He does a magnificent job outlining the multitude of problems related to this issue, but doesn’t hold himself accountable. His one response comes in a horribly vague phrase: “I’m gonna be me.”

So even though there are a million things wrong with doing what he’s doing, Macklemore’s going to continue because, well, that’s who he is.

No wonder Snoop is angry.