Macklemore, Ryan Lewis & Jamilia Woods: “White Privilege II”

Macklemore, who is known to fully support the gay rights and civil rights movements, whether it be in the form of art, lyrics, or actual protests is back after a two year hiatus. What better way to make a return to you passion except to spark a conversation – and Macklemore, Ryan Lewis and Jamilia Woods are doing just that with the new single, White Privilege.

Addressing controversial issues has never been a problem for Macklemore, in fact this single is the follow-up from the original single “White Privilege” produced in 2005. For nine minutes, Macklemore addresses looking at racism through the eyes of a white man and a white artist. He talks about Black Lives Matter, and even calls out other white artists like Iggy and Miley Cyrus in terms of white artists benefiting from the culture but not showing up when the lives that make up this culture are threatened.

Many artists have done songs addressing racism and Black Lives, however hearing this from the perspective of a white artist definitely makes an impact in terms of how some of the white supporters of the Black Lives Matter and other civil rights movements feel when dealing with issues of race.

Here are some of the lyrics:
You can join the march, protest, scream and shout
Get on Twitter, hashtag and seem like you’re down
But they see through it all, people believe you now
You said publicly, “Rest in peace, Mike Brown”
You speak about equality, but do you really mean it?
Are you marching for freedom, or when it’s convenient?
Want people to like you, want to be accepted
That’s probably why you are out here protesting
Don’t think for a second you don’t have incentive
Is this about you, well, then what’s your intention?

Do yourself a favor, for the next nine minutes, check it out and tell us what you think.

If you don’t have Spotify, here you go:

Here is the original 2005 “White Privilege”