Macklemore is often the target of criticism for being a successful white rapper and this was on display when he won multiple awards at the 2014 Grammys. The Seattle rapper has admitted before that he benefits from white privilege and now describes the weight of the condescension from the predominantly Black industry.
“The scrutiny was difficult at first,” Macklemore says to MTV. “I get it. I think that if I was on the other side of it, if I was myself at 20 years old looking at the ‘Thrift Shop‘ guy, I would probably be like, ‘Yo, fuck this dude.’ I was the poster child for a while of like cultural appropriation and white privilege and how that panned out within Hip Hop and the white people winning all the awards that are given out by other white people that have this certain merit and all of that. I felt the same way as a lot of the criticism.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Macklemore describes how fatherhood forced him out of his addiction to drugs. When his now-wife, Tricia Davis, told him he missed her period, he prayed for the first time in a few years, hoping that she was not pregnant.
“I got down on my knees and I prayed, just like, ‘God, I’m not ready for this right now. I’m not ready to be a father like I can’t even get sober.'”
He heard Davis crying from the bathroom after taking a pregnancy test and he knew it read positive.
“It was a wake-up call that I desperately needed,” he says. “Like you’re about to be a dad. Dude, stop doing drugs and lying to people and sneaking around. Like do you want to live life or do you want to escape life? That was one of those pivotal turning points.”
He says that throughout Davis’ pregnancy, he slowly regained her trust as he learned to be completely transparent. He said he found himself happier and music came more natural. His daughter, Sloane Ava Simone Haggerty, was born in May.
“It’s this unconditional love that happens instantaneously,” he says of her birth. “That was one of the coolest things.”
Macklemore says he takes his job as a father seriously. He takes his daughter on walks and uses music to soothe her.
“I feel like she really likes Snoop Dogg,” he says. “Like “Gin and Juice” for some reason just calms her down. She’s just like (snap) and I’ve used it a couple times and it’s like worked every time.”
He released “Growing Up (Sloane’s Song)” earlier this month and is currently working on his sophomore album with Ryan Lewis.
well so much for the fun club macklemore joints…he was good..this new shot is wack
Brah he was never good cus he was never hip hop…he is right, he has white previldge going on ..
Didn’t know u could have kids with 2 guys wow
Lololololol
Macklemore is corny ass music for corny white kids who like Hopsin and Mac Miller
And you are a stereotyping black kid who thinks all white kids listen to corny hiphop music… yet i bet you listen to whack ass shit like kanye and drake or whiz lol, meanwhile real hiphop lovers are listening to artists from over the past 30 years that uve probably never even heard of like masta ace, reflection eternal and talib in general, common, Dilated Peoples, mobb deep, cunninglynguists, people under the stairs, scroobius pip, point is you dont know shit and think all white kids listen to mainstream crap, grow up and get your head out your ass kid.
Yea you are right faintest, anyone who categorizes people into colors of skin, nationality stereotypes, and all of.that shit is usually ignorant as fuck, and has to ‘play card’s so to speak. Imo, you cannot stereotype people of any race, of any religion, or nationally that are of ages 15-35. This is a diverse generation that does not know racism, sure we hear about it, sure we hear of politicians wanting to outlaw immigration, but bottom line look at.how much interracial relations there are and I’m not speaking strictly about sex and there being half white half black kids, I’m talking friendships, everyone I know, unless their only friends are their grandparents, or their part of supremacist cults, have friends of so many different colors, religions, and nationalities, and actually enjoy learning more about their friends families traditions. Key point old people know racism, their quiet about it but both old white people, old black people, old Russian people are stuck in their ways and really do ceaselessly feel superior and dislike other races, cultures etc, and unless your grand parents have been spoon feeding you their racist agendas your whole life, or you are part of a supremacist cult or gang, 90% of people in our generation are accepting of people and base their friendships and how they treat people off of their personalities that’s all….even experiments done between many different black kids and white kids all of different Income demographics concluded that these kids do not get racist jokes, do not act in judgmental or racist ways, and see different race people as people #FACTS
True..but you writing a book.lol..these kids won’t get what took living and thoughtfully critiquing life; to understand.
Even though I’m not into Mack’s music, i appreciate his honesty when it comes to his privilege. He even has a song about it, which I respect.
co-sign that.
blah blah, Em has a song about it as well, a few songs on top of that. But Em is truly an MC. Shit top 5 dead or alive. He earned that spot. But rappers like Macklemore. that music is not hip hop. You can appreciate his honestly all you want, he still will win over the best MC out now. So i aint buying it. His music is Pop Rap, Same as Iggys. Mac Miller is nice. He’s Hiphop. Yela is Folks rap. MGK is wack as the rest of these i need a beat to make it rappers. Point is, His fame is off his complexion not his reflection, and all cus he admits to his privilege, doesn’t mean he’s going to stop benefiting from it.
This lame let’s his kid listen to Gin and Juice?…His next album is a flop, he ends up in a motel bathroom with Scott Storch heating up rocks in a pop can…..get good with God by living the example