Music

Macklemore says being white helped his success

by Tyler Munro

Macklemore is a smart, hard working veteran of the hip-hop scene who, after almost ten years on the circuit, finally achieved success this last year alongside longtime producing partner Ryan Lewis. What really did it for the duo was “Thrift Shop,” their irony laden smash hit that stretched from teens to moms with its silly music video and undeniable hook, but Macklemore cites other factors for he and Lewis’ success—being white. Sort of.

For clarity’s sake, let’s run with the whole quote here, cited by Gawker from the latest issue of Rolling Stone.

“We made a great album,” he continues, “but I do think we have benefited from being white and the media grabbing on to something. A song like ‘Thrift Shop’ was safe enough for the kids. It was like, ‘This is music that my mom likes and that I can like as a teenager,’ and even though I’m cussing my ass off in the song, the fact that I’m a white guy, parents feel safe. They let their six-year-olds listen to it. I mean it’s just… it’s different. And would that success have been the same if I would have been a black dude? I think the answer is no.”

What’s happening here is a successful artist acknowledging, while not glorfying, what’s known as “white privilege,” a subject he’d rapped about long before making it big (see above).

“If you’re going to be a white dude and do this shit, I think you have to take some level of accountability,” he said earlier in the feature. “You have to acknowledge where the art came from, where it is today, how you’re benefiting from it. At the very least, just bringing up those points and acknowledging that, yes, I understand my privilege, I understand how it works for me in society, and how it works for me in 2013 with the success that The Heist has had.”

Since its release in October 2012, The Heist has gone onto sell more than one million copies worldwide.