Macklemore and the Curious Case of True Hip Hop
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I know by now you all are tired of all the Macklemore think pieces but this is my blog and dammit I’ll write what I want *Cartman voice* To be honest I thought I would stay out of it but something clicked for me the other day.
I was listening to my favorite podcast, The Read, where Kid Fury and Crissles were talking about the Grammys and how Macklemore won 4. Kid Fury then went on a long, well thought out rant about how Macklemore was like parent approved rap, incredibly safe and marketed to a pop audience, which to him wasn’t true rap. I’d encourage everyone to go listen to the full thing below before reading the rest.
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On one hand, I’m glad someone was finally able to articulate how they really felt about Macklemore without getting into extremely petty things (though I do think everyone is tap dancing around some racial stuff). Fury’s comments are what I’m sure a lot of musical genre purists feel when someone, particularly when someone of another race/life experience comes through and changes the sound. After seeing your favorite music and musicians ignore routinely by an awards body and then to see someone doing something you don’t feel is organic and who easily wins, it can be incredibly easy to lash out. Rap music has long had to fight for respect at the Grammys and even the genius that is Kanye West can’t get win there. So when white bread, thrift store clothes wearing, Same Love singing Macklemore strolls up onto that stage to win 4 times that’s an incredibly tough pill to swallow.
But is this really the necessary reaction to have? After all, isn’t what he’s doing technically rap? Who is one to decide what rap is or isn’t? I love movies but I am certainly not THE arbiter to tell what’s good, although I do try. Like how can one form of hip hop or rap be THE form others have to judge music by? I think Beyonce is as pop as Britney Spears at times, and do people get this upset when she wins a pop vocal song? (Prob not, cause she’s Beyonce but I digress) Music is so incredibly fluid and ever-changing that bastions of the old guard are routinely forced to deal with new forms and interpretations of their beloved genre. This whole deal feels to me like that scene in Dreamgirls with the white and black versions of Cadallac Car, except without all the bribery and scheming. Macklemore is so far removed from what someone would think a rapper is that when he then becomes the face of the genre it can be jarring and upsetting. If you think someone is trash and they keep getting awards, then it’s easy to see why people would be mad. I’m just thoroughly confused as to why people actively want this man to fail so badly.
Personally, I don’t have an issue with Macklemore winning, although I actively HATE Thrift Shop and Can’t Stop. *shudders at memories of SXSW* I could also give less of a fuck about how he thought he was gay cause he could draw (people these days are so petty that when you don’t do something inherently masculine 24/7 they think you’re gay). I do think it’s interesting the kind of ire he’s drawing for some of his lyrics that seems to miss rappers that are way more offensive.
I don’t know why I’m saying all this but I find the conversation and subtleties of the conversation surrounding Macklemore fascinating if a little over done.
What do you all think?
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