Macklemore And Ryan Lewis Release “White Privilege II,” Call Out Miley Cyrus And Iggy Azalea

Macklemore and Ryan Lewis have released a new song “White Privilege II,” and are pointing some fingers at fellow musicians, Miley Cyrus and Iggy Azalea.

The duo are set to release their next album, The Unruly Mess I’ve Made and just released the track, “White Privilege II.” Macklemore raps about racism, “Black Lives Matter,” white privilege, and cultural appropriation in the eight-minute song. The new song is a sequel to “White Privilege” from the 2005 album The Language of My World.

THE LYRICS 

“Take all we want from black culture, but will we show up for black lives?” Macklemore raps. He calls out Cyrus and Azalea, rapping, “You’ve exploited and stolen the music, the moment/ The magic, the passion, the fashion, you toy with/ The culture was never yours to make better/ You’re Miley, you’re Elvis, you’re Iggy Azalea.”

The rapper continued calling out the singers for their “watered down” version of hip hop. “Fake and so plastic, you’ve heisted the magic / You’ve taken the drums and the accent you rapped in / You’re branded hip-hop; it’s so fascist and backwards / That Grandmaster Flash’d go slap it, you bastard / All the money that you made / All the watered-down pop bulls— version of the culture, pal.”

Macklemore opens the track referencing the unease he felt marching in Seattle to protest the police shooting of unarmed teen Michael Brown in Ferguson.

“Ok, I’m saying that they’re chanting out, ‘Black lives matter,’ but I don’t say it back / Is it ok for me to say?” he raps. “I don’t know, so I watch and stand in front of a line of police that look the same as me.”

Macklemore has voiced his opinion on respecting the black culture. During a 2014 visit to Hot 97’s Ebro in the Morning, he said, “This is not a culture that white people started. So I do believe, as much as I have honed my craft, as much as I have put in years of dedication into the music that I love, I do believe that I need to know my place, and that comes from me listening.”

In a statement on their website, Macklemore said, “this song is the outcome of an ongoing dialogue with musicians, activists, and teachers within our community in Seattle and beyond. Their work and engagement was essential to the creative process.”