Macklemore addresses recently leading crowd in "Fuck America" chant
"Do not misconstrue the word 'fuck' for the word 'hate,'" the pro-Palestine rapper cautioned. "It's different to be angry than to disown."
Macklemore has issued a statement this week—bordering on, but not quite becoming, an apology—after leading a crowd at a show last Saturday in a “Fuck America” chant in protest of the United States’ support of Israel during the current violence in Gaza. “My thoughts and feelings are not always expressed perfectly or politely,” the rapper wrote in a lengthy Instagram post. “Sometimes I slip up and get caught in the moment.”
Macklemore was referencing a performance he gave on September 21 at Seattle’s Palestine Will Live Forever festival, where he reportedly led the crowd in chanting “Fuck America.” Backlash over the comments/chant has caused the “Thrift Shop” rapper to come under criticism, and to be dropped from Las Vegas’ upcoming Neon City Festival in November. Writing further about his feelings about the Seattle event, Macklemore expressed his regret that “The historic event in my hometown that brought thousands of people together to raise awareness and money for the people of Palestine has become overshadowed by two words.”
This isn’t the first time Macklemore has expressed extremely vocal support for Palestinians during the ongoing conflict: A few months back, he poked into the endless Drake/Kendrick Lamar feud to remind people that there may be more important things going on in the world. (His “diss” song, “Hind’s Hall,” contained lines like “The people won’t leave/what is threatening about divesting and wanting peace” and “I want a ceasefire, fuck a response from Drake.”)
In his post this week, Macklemore makes it pretty clear that he regrets the form of the message at the Seattle festival, but not the underlying sentiments, laying out his ongoing despair over the violence in the Middle East, and U.S. support for Israel’s actions. “But,” he cautions, “Do not misconstrue the word ‘fuck’ for the word ‘hate.’ It’s different to be angry than to disown.”
Macklemore’s career has been relatively quiet in recent years, although he released a new album, Ben—his first in six years—in March of 2023.
[via THR]