Macklemore is on the receiving end of a new diss track from Wu-Tang Clan affiliate Remedy in response to the former’s pro-Palestine song, “Hind’s Hall.”
Remedy first appeared on the Wu-Tang Killa Bees: The Swarm album in 1998, giving a lesson on the Holocaust on the cut, “Never Again.”
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Released on Thursday (May 30), Remedy’s new song and video “Ben” is meant to serve as a reminder to Macklemore of “when he dressed up in antisemitic stereotypical Jewish garb and how he heisted the Grammy from Kendrick Lamar.”
He also attempts to debunk many of Macklemore’s claims about Israel, apartheid, colonialism and genocide. Per a press release, Remedy will be donating the profits of the song to Polyphony, an organization that bridges the divide between the Palestinian and Israeli communities, by using music as a common ground.
Earlier this month, Macklemore dropped “Hind’s Hall” in solidarity with the nationwide demonstrations and promised to donate all proceeds to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.
In April, a group made up of staff, students, alumni and allies took over the institution’s Hamilton Hall and renamed it “Hind’s Hall” — an homage to Hind Rajab, a six-year-old Palestinian girl who was tragically killed by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) earlier this year.
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Last year, Macklemore took to social media to explain his stance on the bloodshed in Palestine.
“When I say ‘Free Palestine,’ it’s not against anyone,” he said in late December. “It actually means we should protect everyone. It means equality for all. Respect, peace and love. It means the right to exist, regardless of what sector you’re from.
“My intention is to never offend anyone. I want every soul in this arena to feel the reflection of love. But there’s innocent humans out in Gaza getting murdered with our dollars, and those precious human lives are an extension of us.
“I can’t get up here and jump around in a fur coat and pretend while in my gut … my gut’s saying, ‘you know better, Ben.’ The ancestors yelling, ‘You’d better step up for us!’”
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He concluded: “I love my Jewish brothers and sisters so much, and my perspective is one that’s saying ‘Free Palestine’ is also rooted in your protection, my loves. And there isn’t a drop of anti-Semitic thought in my head or my blood. ‘Never again,’ means never again for all.”
