Is Macklemore The Hardest Rapper Out Right Now?

Hip-Hop has already built its name on talking back to power. So where is everybody?

Look around. Plenty of artists made their reputations being outspoken, political and critical of institutions, and they’ve gone suspiciously quiet. Some of them are past quiet. They’re partnering with, and aligning themselves with, the same forces they used to rap against. Others act as the tip of a spear being chucked at the audience that continues to idolize them. We’re old enough to remember those songs they wrong. They know the game because they taught it to us.

Then there’s Macklemore.

I’m not a fool. As a white male, he carries privileges most Black artists never got. He’s also touring in a lane that’s decidedly pop, where the money is very good. Now look at what he did with that position. He was dropped from Ed Sheeran’s tour after making pro-Palestinian comments on stage at MetLife Stadium. Sheeran says the promoter made that call, and that venues said they would pull shows if Macklemore stayed on the bill. One of those venues was Gillette Stadium, owned by Kraft. This wasn’t his first time paying for his convictions either. He has admitted he’s lost endorsements, shows and business ties for speaking out. He also canceled a Dubai concert over the UAE’s reported role in the Sudan conflict

That’s the part that gets me. The privilege is exactly what makes the choice mean something. He had the most to lose and said it anyway. That’s called allyship. 

This isn’t really about politics or all the other topics.

It’s about who decides how much speech an artist gets to have. A handful of promoters, venue owners and sponsors control these stages, and they hold the leash. Similarly, a few own the labels and decide what sort of rap even gets heard. Macklemore just showed what happens when someone tests them. That’s the deficiency of a capitalistic society, on full display, and it’s why real allyship can’t be a hashtag. It costs something.

Reasonable people see this differently. Kraft has cited what he calls a broader history of antisemitic rhetoric. Pink, who is Jewish, has said the moment scared her and people she loves. Interesting for a chick from Philly. Those views deserve to be heard. But the question I’m asking is who’s willing to risk the check when it counts. 

Not rappers. And that is disappointing. 

Right now the loudest voices in the culture aren’t the ones who used to be loud. Other openers, including Finneas, walked off the tour in the fallout. Meanwhile, a white rapper from Seattle is doing what we used to demand from our own. Maybe he gets blackballed for it. That’s nothing short of ironic.

So is Macklemore the hardest rapper out right now?

This op-ed originally appeared on Chuck Jigsaw Creekmur’s Substack. Subscribe Here: https://chuckcreekmur.substack.com.