Georgia Roberts, Lewis’s thesis adviser from his time at the University of Washington, gave them a weekly, three-hour schooling on race that lasted six months. “All very sceptical of what we were doing at the beginning,” says Lewis, “and rightly so.” Hyper-aware of the criticism that might come their way, the pair reached out to black activists, scholars and songwriters to bring them onboard.
Their knack for novelty suggests they might not have treated a song about white privilege with the respect it deserves, yet nothing could be further from the truth. Critics don’t seem able to agree on what Macklemore should be doing: some say he needs to stop trying to write the white To Pimp a Butterfly and concentrate on his goofier pop side others say he is able to use his rarefied position for good, so why undermine it with goofy pop hits about fast food? But much of the duo’s output is dedicated to sillier songs such as Let’s Eat (“Fuck it man, I love fried shit!”) and Brad Pitt’s Cousin. The pair have never been afraid to tackle social issues – 2012 single Same Love was a passionate argument for gay and lesbian rights, which brought with it a fair amount of criticism for piggybacking on other people’s struggles (rapper Le1f tweeted: “I’m gonna write a song about disabled people, or the aboriginal struggle. As producer, Lewis takes a hands-on approach, not only making beats, but also pushing Haggerty into lyrical spaces outside of his comfort zone.
Haggerty grew up as a middle-class kid in Seattle, releasing his debut album, The Language of My World, in 2005 before hooking up with Lewis in 2008. And, on the night of the non-indictment, I got real clarity of what I could be doing with my art in terms of speaking up, speaking out and getting outside of myself.”įor an outside observer, Macklemore can be a difficult cultural figure to untangle. Because the silent, I-don’t-wanna-mess-up, fearful person that had emerged out of me is not who I truly am. “It was a jump that I felt was essential to … who I am.
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“But watching the non-indictment on TV and then going out into the streets …” He pauses, as he does frequently. Making a record that takes yourself to task so thoroughly, that dives headfirst into an issue loaded with controversy – that’s quite a jump to make from being unwilling to put yourself out there, no? Macklemore and Ryan Lewis: White Privilege II. Ultimately, Haggerty questions whether or not he is prepared to risk what he has when it really matters: “We take all we want from black culture, but will we show up for black lives?”
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It’s a record unlike any you’ll hear in pop right now, a nine-minute, multi-part exploration of Haggerty’s guilt (“Thinking if they can’t, how can I breathe? / Thinking that they chant, what do I sing? / I want to take a stance, ’cause we are not free / And then I thought about it, we are not we”), the tangled, contradictory thinking of mainstream America and the acceptance that Haggerty is operating in a world set up in his favour (“Fake and so plastic, you’ve heisted the magic / You’ve taken the drums and the accent you rapped in”). It was the flashpoint moment of a journey that ended with the creation of White Privilege II, the final track of This Unruly Mess I’ve Made. It also caused Macklemore to think about what his place in all of this was, about whether his solidarity was desired, about on whose side a rapper who had profited from the power structure of systemic racism could legitimately claim to be. The decision caused protests across the US.
On 24 November 2014, it was announced that Darren Wilson, the police officer who shot dead Michael Brown and sparked unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, would not face state criminal charges. The criticism made Haggerty “shrivel up” and avoid the public eye. He wouldn’t make a mistake like that again, he decided, because he wouldn’t put himself out there.Īnd then something changed. And that creates a culture of people who are constantly in a place of calculation.” So, you get more and more people afraid to truly put themselves out there. “If you make a mistake publicly, one that I’m still talking about two years later,” begins Haggerty, while Lewis giggles, “you realise that what the media chooses to highlight and create as the narrative lasts.
‘The tour requires every ounce of energy he can conserve’ – Macklemore playing the O2.
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