Macklemore's White Privilege

Macklemore was put on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine this month, after his wildly successful album “The Heist” released this past year. In the magazine article, he talked about being a white rapper and the dynamics of race in the rap industry. He acknowledged the privilege he feels as a white person today as well as the credit he feels he must pay to the roots of rap. Macklemore credits part of his success to the fact that he is white, and is therefore more a of a “safe” rapper, one that parents are more likely to let their kids listen to, especially in songs like “Thrift Shop.” I see a connection between his own career and thoughts, and those of Moya and Markus, particularly when they discuss the conversation of being beyond race.  I believe Macklemore’s story illustrates that our society is not at all beyond race because so much attention is drawn to the fact that Macklemore is white and is therefore out of the ordinary for his industry. Macklemore, himself, draws on his own ideas of race when he claims he is “safer” because he is white.