Music

Macklemore released a nine-minute song about white privilege

by Jeremy Mersereau

*Looks at headline* “Uh oh, better bring out the big guns. Finally, I get to take this baby out for a spin!” *Powers up Appropriate-Tone Locator Device* ATLD: “BEEP-BEEP! Please rephrase: ‘bring out the big guns.’

In the most Macklemore move possible, the man/anthropomorphized distillation of Seattle formerly known as Ben Haggerty and partner-in-smug-rhymes Ryan Lewis have unleashed a bombastic exploration of the concept and repercussions of white privilege… for the second time.

“White Privilege II” is the sequel to a much more concise song from their 2005 pre-“Thrift Shop” (rhetorical, probably not literal) album The Language of My World. It’s a free download today on Google Play and Amazon. Let’s take a listen:

Oof. I haven’t heard something this overblown since I accidentally blasted the Cyrano de Bergerac audiobook through a distortion pedal. My nomination for the best part: *newsbite samples of people giving their hot takes for 30 seconds* MACKLEMORE: “Damn… lot of opinions.” Trenchant stuff my dude.

Even without getting into the actual lyrical content of this thing, you have to admit: structurally, this monstrosity isn’t boring, at least. Not fascinatingly batshit like “Downtown”, though, which at least had the decency to not sound like four different OK songs, just one insane one.

As for the message of the song itself, it can basically be boiled down to the following lyric: “My success is the product of the same system that let off Darren Wilson.”

You’re… not wrong, and kudos on your self-awareness and writing and releasing a song about it, but do you have to say it like that? (i.e. in the context of an endless, insufferable audio marathon?)

Macklemore’s aware enough that I’m sure the cognitive dissonance of a white rapper releasing a song about white privilege occurred to him and he decided to go ahead anyway, which is undoubtedly a real dude move. But in the end, the most ironic thing about this song from a white rapper about white privilege is that it’s nine minutes long. That’s the essence of this baffling yin yang. Such is life in 2016.