When the Iron's Hot, it Burns
White Privilege II by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat. Jamila Woods
Recommended by Cristina
She says, "I'm gonna recommend you the neglected hip-hop category. I don't listen to Macklemore that much, but this is one of the most important hip-hop songs I've heard all year."
"The neglected hip-hop category" is a fair critique. Hit up my submission box.
But let's consider for a moment the overwhelming irony in that a song written by white guys for other white people is getting called "one of the most important hip-hop songs I've heard all year." When that song literally questions whether white people are even valid participants in this genre.
I mean, she's not wrong. I agree that it has the potential to be a very important song, politically and socially. (Whether it's doing anything important for the hip-hop genre creatively is another story.)
But still.
This song isn't super fun. It's almost 9 minutes of commentary on white privilege and cultural appropriation (in his words, exploitation). It could be a rant, but it's well-organized and self-aware. That's what makes this track work. He's not trying to talk about race issues objectively - an impossible task; rather, he's going at it from his own perspective, a narrow, white perspective. Narrow on purpose, because who is he to talk about what he hasn't experienced? Who is anyone?
A summary: White dudes drawing the attention of other white people to a universal social issue through a genre that grew predominantly out of black culture, but they keep it real by acknowledging mid-track that the track itself (called White Privilege II) is going to benefit from white privilege which is why they had a responsibility to write it.
(What?)
But, um, I still like it.
Yeah. I mean, I'm not about to work out or jam in my car or fall asleep to it, but I think Macklemore makes some valid points, and the execution is more than fair.
The nontraditional, linear structure was a good call; it would've felt weird with hooks and refrains.
The actual news/interview clips were a little "too much" except that it wouldn't have worked without them. If that makes sense. Like, "Oh wow he's gonna insert clips of s**t white people say. Oookay." But I mean you could say that about the whole song, and people do: "White privilege? Dude can you just, like, rap. It's not that deep."
But, like, it is that deep. And it should be. Macklemore recognizes that he's in a position where people will listen, even if he's been put in that position due to a corrupt system.
One option would be for him to haul ass out of the hip-hop genre. He could say It's pretty f***ed up that I'm creating music in this genre that was made what it is by black artists, and now people are telling me I'm the only artist in this genre that they like. I'm going to stop participating in this system.
But there is more than one option, always. Clearly Macklemore has decided to stay in the game, and I think that if he's sticking around, White Privilege II is the best way he could have chosen to do so.
He chooses to take on some real issues. And once he's there, why not make a 9-minute song that actually really gets into it? This thing feels like performance art from a social justice rally, anyway.
At least it's committed to that role.
The big question for me is whether the target audience is going to be receptive to the message. White Privilege II is aimed at white people who benefit from the current social paradigm and maybe haven’t ever actually read an article, actually had a dialogue, actually looked at [themselves], actually got involved.
This is where that potential to be important comes in.
I appreciate this song for taking a look at a topic that is tearing our country apart right now. I think it’s well-written and well-executed. But there’s a lot of literature out there that does that, if you look for it.
The reason it’s significant for Macklemore to put it into a song is so that these ideas might reach the people who don’t want to do a Google search. It brings these ideas into the foreground and makes them accessible. It makes people want to talk about them, and it makes us feel like we can. That’s important. That could bring about change.
Look I'm gonna cut myself off in a second because I've been listening to this song for two hours and I'm losing it, and this post is way too long already, but there's one more piece of background worth mentioning:
You hear Jamila Woods at the end of this track, but her voice alone doesn't reveal the fact that she and another woman of color, Hollis Wong-Wear, collaborated with Macklemore and Ryan Lewis on this piece. From what I've read, there were a lot of good minds working on this thing, and I think it shows.
Overview:
Genre:
Hip-Hop / Rap
Favorite Lyrics:
We are not we.
I've heard that silence is an action, and God knows that I've been passive.
Verdict:
Important.
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