Pop Music: The Struggle

Macklemore wrestles with his place in hip-hop.

Hua Hsu

In 2005, the Seattle rapper Macklemore released his début album, “The Language of My World.” Its impact was modest, confined mostly to the Northwest. In a song titled “White Privilege,” he examined the tensions of his life as a white rapper: “Where’s my place in a music that’s been taken by my race / Culturally appropriated by the white face?” It was an honest, questing attempt to face the guilt of the gentrifier, wary of what he embodies yet pleased with the new view. The song also seemed to suggest that Macklemore was somehow different, blessed—or burdened—with slightly more self-consciousness than other white hip-hop artists or fans. “So where does this leave me? / I feel like I pay dues but I’ll always be a white MC / I give…

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The New Yorker (Digital) - 1 Issue, March 7, 2016

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