Macklemore: I wouldn't be having the success I'm having now if I was a black dude

[USSInsiders]

We live in the same city and I hear it all the time. Try 95.5 or 98.7, bruh.



...maybe if Murs did it in a vid for a catchy sing-along pop tune with fun lyrics, then hey...



Exactly. I'm seeing a lot of sweeping generalizations in here. People with hard-formed opinions and statements about shyt they know nothing about. Between Macklemore coming out of nowhere and Eminem never addressing white privilege, it's getting ridiculous in this thread. It's okay to say "I don't know."

...also, with the whole "He looks safe, which is why he popped off and Yelawolf didn't", how quickly we tend to forget...

...safest white rapper ever in recent years. Had an anthem AND a pop club single with Cee-lo. White privilege didn't exactly keep him afloat for too long after that. This album came out almost 4 years ago. Sometimes, it's just about timing, intriguing concepts, and being able to craft the music that'll appeal to people that'll actually buy music. Macklemore is distinct and clever enough when crafting these songs...even they aren't the dopest.

Anyhow, once this discussion finishes up, I'd love to see a thread about "Southern privilege" in hip-hop since everyone's looking for something to complain about.

Baby's first contrarian post? Listen, if ANYBODY with visibility kisses someone in a music video, they're going to attract attention.

The music related to said video has nothing to do with it, their skin color has nothing to do with it. I was more implying that observers of art are ignorant.

They only put a spotlight on those in the mainstream as far as doing "artistic" things.

 

[Artificial Intelligence]

.......................

 

[George's Dilemma]

did you forget the not

Good catch!!!

 

[The Real]

Yall nikkas man i give up

 

[Artificial Intelligence]

.......................

 

[The Real]

because he says im just kidding at the end of the song doesnt mean hes joking about everything in the song..
in the outro hes basically saying fukk america, then the last line of the song is "im just kidding" which is the same thing he did on MMLP with kill you

"That's why they put my lyrics up under this microscope
Searching with a fine tooth comb, it's like this rope"

he was talking bout nikkas like you

How am I doing that? I'm using what he actually said in the song, not reading between the lines. I'm taking his words at face value, not looking deeper to try and discredit him.

 

[MiC]

Still wondering why yelawolf Asher Roth mgk Mac miller all can't hit gold if it's so easy for a white rapper to sell. Past 8 years only 2 white rappers went gold or more...sounds super easy

 

[SunZoo]

This song only touches on it in one or two lines, but backtracks within the song itself and then backs down at the end completely when says he was just joking around and "you know I love you America."

The whole song itself is about him being a product of "White America" and the connection between his skin color, his craft and his influence on the youth as someone who is looked at as a degenerate or an undesirable. The last two verses get into the specifics of co-signs from the black audience via Dr. Dre is only reason why people even get to hear what he has to say. Even the white people weren't going to jump on his bandwagon without black people accepting him first. He's spoken more on that in interviews and in his book.

As for the "just playin, you know I love you" bit, it's a reference from the previous "track 2" on the previous album where he says the same thing to "ladies", it's one of those easter egg type things that connects the albums, like Dina Rae always being featured on track 13, ect, this is something you wouldn't know/catch if you aren't an eminem fan though, so it's understandable that you took it that way.



Kill u was done in character, in satirical fashion with an honest moment of "i didn't really mean any of that" on the outro, white america was done in reverse, the song itself was the honest moment, with the outro being the satire.

Macklemore's statement > this song right now in terms of addressing the issue.

I wasn't really trying to compare them but I'll agree he's gone more into detail...but that's his routine.

Not saying that his brand of hip hop activism isn't something he believes in, but he seems to be filling that niche of "conscious", or even "cause" rap...I think homosexuality is one of the last important things for hip hop to really discuss but I hate that HE'S the one at the forefront of shyt like that, next thing you know he'll be the environmentalist rapper, spitting about whales and shyt, it's a little too deliberate.

Now you have white broads on tumblr who never really listened to rap music raving about his message moreso than his skillset. Both are important but him being at the forefront of "activist rap" should come second to him being a dope artist, and he's just not all that nice...

Problem is, what black artist not only has a similar message and aim, a fresh face...but the ability to be silly enough to drop a catchy/safe record like thrift shop? Lil B? He has the type of following and similar enough in content with his positivist angle but technically...even compared to caclemore he's fukking horrible.

You got cats like Donald Glover that might be able to run in that lane but he hasn't put nearly as much time into his craft as this dude, for whatever that's worth.

 

[Ethnic Vagina Finder]

I have yet to hear one single song with him on it

 

[bigbadbossup2012]

I respect this.
Has Eminem ever acknowledged his white privilege? If not, Macklemore gonna have to replace Em in my 1500 greatests rap artist at 1495.

Yes he has

 

[Amestafuu (Emeritus)]

Still wondering why yelawolf Asher Roth mgk Mac miller all can't hit gold if it's so easy for a white rapper to sell. Past 8 years only 2 white rappers went gold or more...sounds super easy

Simple macklemore appeals to white folks outside or rap music listeners. I've heard his songs in Hicksville Canada where no hip hop has played on radio

 

[MiC]

Asher Roth appealed to listeners outside of rap too. And plenty of white rock bands and pop stars appeal to listeners outside of rap and don't all go platinum, so obviously it takes more than a "white, non-rap" fanbase to sell a million records.