On white privilege, or being a white rapper in hip-hop: “If you’re going to be a white dude and do this s–t, I think you have to take some level of accountability. You have to acknowledge where the art came from, where it is today, how you’re benefiting from it. At the very least, just bringing up those points and acknowledging that, yes, I understand my privilege, I understand how it works for me in society, and how it works for me in 2013 with the success that The Heist has had. We made a great album, but I do think we have benefited from being white and the media grabbing on to something. A song like ‘Thrift Shop’ was safe enough for the kids. It was like, ‘This is music that my mom likes and that I can like as a teenager,’ and even though I’m cussing my ass off in the song, the fact that I’m a white guy, parents feel safe. They let their six-year-olds listen to it. I mean it’s just…it’s different. And would that success have been the same if I would have been a black dude? I think the answer is no.”
His song “Wings” is anti-consumerist but he still wears Nikes: “Am I being a hypocrite? Absolutely. But that’s OK. I’m a f–king human being and I don’t need to be perfect. I can make a song like ‘Wings’ and wear Nikes.”
He almost relapsed (he’s a recovering addict & alcoholic) after the success of “Thrift Shop”: “I went through a place of not being happy, getting put in the box of ‘This is a novelty rap song,’ and being like, ‘What did I sign up for’?” But the success of the pro-gay-rights track “Same Love” helped him relax. “The legacy that I’m leaving on the world is more than just a song about second-hand clothes,” he says.Here is a latest interview of Macklemore discussing his success
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