Macklemore Opens Up About Iggy Azalea Feud, Says He Should Have Notified The Rapper Of Name Drop
Macklemore is finally opening up about his feud with Australian rapper Iggy Azalea. In an interview with Billboard magazine, he opens up about his song “White Privilege II” in which he talks about how Caucasian artists use the staples that African Americans have created in music for their own gain, and how appropriating culture is real in the music industry. As some might know, this led to a fall-out with rapper Iggy when he named her in the song without telling her.
If you’re not familiar, in the song, Macklemore, who’s also Caucasian, raps, “The culture was never yours to make better – you’re Miley, you’re Elvis, you’re Iggy Azalea.”
Macklemore explains that he wasn’t making himself the exception by singling out other white musicians that make money off of African Americans contributions to music. “I don’t think people understood that I’m in my own head [saying], ‘You’re Miley, you’re Elvis, you’re Iggy Azalea’ – I’m talking about myself.”
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis got “schooled” on race and white privilege https://t.co/BNO2cooTiX pic.twitter.com/ksWuud8kRj
— HuffPostEnt (@HuffPostEnt) March 3, 2016
Despite his process, the rapper does admit that when it came to name dropping Iggy, he should’ve notified her instead of surprising her when the track came out.
“Iggy and I came up together. We were on the XXL ‘Freshmen’ cover together. There’s enough of a relationship that I should have let her know beforehand. And I didn’t do that.”
The rapper admitted that he still hasn’t reached out to Iggy.
Iggy Azalea seemed hurt when she found out about the song. Back in January, Iggy tweeted, “He shouldn’t have spent the last 3 yrs having friendly convos and taking pictures together at events etc if those were his feelings.”
Macklemore regrets not warning Iggy Azalea about “White Privilege II” https://t.co/S6J5YHKCb6 pic.twitter.com/9nAeKwvN4u
— billboard (@billboard) March 3, 2016
Here’s where it gets interesting. When TMZ cameras caught Iggy back from a flight, she admitted that she agreed with some of the things Macklemore was talking about in the song. That said, she doesn’t agree with the “bad stuff” he raps about her.
Other people got in on the discussion when Macklemore called her out, including rapper Talib Kweli.
True story. I actually rooted for Iggy when she first came out. But she’s disrespected hip hop culture one too many times.
— Talib Kweli Greene (@TalibKweli) January 22, 2016
He went on to say, “The fact @iggyazalea thinks Macklemore song was a diss to her, instead of actually listening, is proof of her privilege. F**k Iggy Azalea.”
Azalea was paying attention and responded back to Talib on Twitter, “i didnt ever tweet ni**a and part of the problem is people tweet that (like you just did) as if its facts and then others see it”
She continued, “I actually love hip hop, i wouldnt endure the amount of s–t i get if i didnt. maybe i dont showcase it in the way you like.”
Macklemore and Talib Kweli aren’t the only artists in the hip-hop game to call out Iggy. Azealia Banks has had plenty to say at the rapper, especially on if she appropriates black culture for money and fame.
In an interview with radio station Hot 97, Banks said,
“I feel like in this country, whenever it comes to our things, like black issues or black politics or black music or whatever, there’s always this undercurrent of kinda like a ‘f**k you… That Iggy Azalea s**t isn’t better than any f**king black girl that’s rapping today… The Grammys are supposed to be accolades of artistic excellence. Iggy Azalea is not excellent.”
Tell us! Do you think Macklemore should’ve given Iggy a heads-up about the name drop?
[Photo by Isaac Brekken/Getty Images for iHeartMedia]
