THE BORE
General => The Superdeep Borehole => Topic started by: Steve Contra on January 25, 2016, 07:45:04 PM
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What the fuck is this shit? Can we get rid of this guy?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_rl4ZGdy34
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Sure I'll give you an opinion right after I finish listening to nine minutes of Macklemore.
Just hold tight, I'm getting right on that.
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I listened to maybe 2 minutes of it and skipped around looking for a money shot (and all I got twas the aural equivalent of a :nsfanyone link)
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Apparently he calls out Miley Cyrus and Iggy Azalea for cultural appropriation and profiting off a watered-down version of black culture.
This is Macklemore.
I mean, you know.
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Someone already discussed it for us, so we don't have to
http://theconcourse.deadspin.com/macklemores-problem-is-that-macklemore-is-bad-1754519310
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Well I listened to the song and decided to waste my time writing a long ass post about it. :doge
It's probably some of his best rapping as far as rapping goes, but overall it's not a good song. It's alright I suppose, but then again it strikes me as something I'll never listen to again; I can think of all types of protest or serious songs I've heard and listened to tons of times because they work as songs, not simply as protests or statements. This strikes me as a big idea that could have been done decently across an album, but instead is being dumped on one 9 minute and probably won't make the album.
My problem with Macklemore is that he seems far too obsessed with apologizing for his success, explaining it, and making decisions that seem calculated. This summer he released a song with Kool Moe Dee, Melle Mel, Grandmaster Caz that seemed more like a pre-emptive "hey don't criticize me" than an authentic throwback song. Back in 2013 he made a big show of apologizing to the collective hip hop world because white 60 year old Grammy voters liked his album more than one of the best rap albums of the decade.
We all know what it is. There's a long tradition of white people being super impressed by fellow white people who do something that black people traditionally do. As if they view black talent in these fields as natural, they tend to hail white success stories as ones of hard work or overcoming odds/impediments, and thus more impressive. So Eminem borrows AZ's flow and suddenly becomes the greatest rapper of all time. Or Kenny G (or Dave Brubeck) plays some notes and becomes the greatest jazz musician. Or now Adele is the greatest soul singer.
I prefer how Eminem handled this. He acknowledged his privilege and even shit on some white people with White America, yet never seemed particularly apologetic. He kept it moving and didn't give a fuck what people said. Give me that over someone constantly apologizing for shit he can't control...
BTW I'll also say I don't think white people making hip hop is an issue of theft. It's art. The only thing I dislike are those who take something and then pretend like they created it. Eminem never did that; in fact, Em is a bigger hip hop head than anyone I know. Macklemore is a backpack rapper who acknowledges where his influences come from. Amy Winehouse was a legit jazz head who gave her influences plenty of shine. I don't think any of them are appropriating anything, or pretending to be something they're not.
On the flip side I know Kenny G has insinuated he created smooth jazz, and Iggy Azalea has argued "no one" has ever done what she's doing.
TLDR: If a white kid tells you Marshall Mathers LP is better than Illmatic, slap him. But if a white dude wants to deeply debate the merits of Wu Tang solo album rankings, dap him.
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TLDR: If a white kid tells you Marshall Mathers LP is better than Illmatic, slap him. But if a white dude wants to deeply debate the merits of Wu Tang solo album rankings, dap him.
And if you're running into either of these clowns regularly, stop hanging out at your community college cafeteria
Seriously tho, I will say that as a white rap fan, I am deeply suspicious of my kind. A majority of white dudes who say they're rap fans seem to fall into one of three categories:
- Golden Age dino to whom anything after 1996-97 isn't hip hop (this type of mentality transcends race, but there is a shocking contingent of white dudes who were four years old when Illmatic came out that fit the profile)
- Stereogum commenter who wrote a dissertation about the intellectual value of the We Got It 4 Cheap series and flew themselves to see that Lil B MIT lecture, but scoff at Chedda tha Connect
- Jock guy who knows the entirety of the lyrics for Reasonable Doubt, yet still manages to be intensely racist
As far as creatives go, it's basically impossible for me to give a white rapper the benefit of the doubt. There are plenty of white rappers I greatly enjoy, but since shit like Sam Adams and Asher Roth continues to happen every other melanin deficient MC faces an uphill battle against my better judgement.
BTW if that was his intent for Downtown, it backfired miserably when people realized he wrote their verses so he wouldn't have to give them royalties lol
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ya'll like that fruit bowl? :lol
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Perhaps The Coli said it best (http://www.thecoli.com/posts/17360909/): "he's like a film maker that only makes movies about slaves and mentally challenged kids prevailing"
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Specifically with the help of an earnest white mentor who totally understands.
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It's self-congratulatory, navel-gazing bullshit that puts a white ally at the center of black activism.
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I wouldn't say he puts himself in the center per se, he does talk about being hesitant and feeling out of place at protests. But it does feel self-congratulatory. I think he's probably a good dude who wants gay and black people to have all the rights he has...but I think he expresses it in a very bland and basic way because he's a very bland and basic artist. I wouldn't expect Ja Rule to write anything as evocative as Nas for instance, and likewise I'm not surprised this song feels so emotionless. Especially after a year in which multiple artists put out a whole bunch of emotional, evocative, and politically charged rap music.
The other problem is that he just sounds corny apologizing. Rap music doesn't "belong" to black people, he can do it if he wants. Just recognize who created it and keep it moving, fam. So when I hear him apologize and hand wring over it I almost want to ask "well, why don't you retire and just make pop music?" If this is so haram to you, why continue?
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It's self-congratulatory, navel-gazing bullshit that puts a white ally at the center of black activism.
How is it self-congratulatory? He is criticizing himself in the song.
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I just want to know what social issue will Macklemore tackle next. Gay marriage is old, and perhaps black stuff won't matter (:doge) in a few months. What's next?
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I just want to know what social issue will Macklemore tackle next. Gay marriage is old, and perhaps black stuff won't matter (:doge) in a few months. What's next?
He could refute the hit that made him a star by sampling Common People on his next song.
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I just want to know what social issue will Macklemore tackle next. Gay marriage is old, and perhaps black stuff won't matter (:doge) in a few months. What's next?
Trans rights, it's obvious
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Reminder that this happened:
(http://www.inflexwetrust.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Macklemore_Jewish_Costume_ifwt.jpg)
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when I heard B.o.B. shout out a holocaust denier this morning I didn't imagine there would be competition for most anti-semitic hiphop experience of the day.
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He said he wasn't going for a Jewish look with that costume and wasn't even thinking about it when he put the costume together. I'm inclined to believe him.
(http://i.imgur.com/fr1d814.png)
nah breh, nah
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He said he wasn't going for a Jewish look with that costume and wasn't even thinking about it when he put the costume together. I'm inclined to believe him.
lol because why
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Grammy voters liked his album more than one of the best rap albums of the decade.
nah breh, nah
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Isn't Macklemore Drake for people that are threatened by Drake?
:heh
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He said he wasn't going for a Jewish look with that costume and wasn't even thinking about it when he put the costume together. I'm inclined to believe him.
What could he have been thinking of when he put it together?
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He said he wasn't going for a Jewish look with that costume and wasn't even thinking about it when he put the costume together. I'm inclined to believe him.
What could he have been thinking of when he put it together?
Maybe he wanted to cosplay as Igor from Persona...
(http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/megamitensei/images/8/82/Igor_in_P3M.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20131125144856)
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Which one?
I've got two posts in this thread with seven likes.
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Fuck Macklemore.
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okay jon chait
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I don't think same love is 'problematic' but it is the most insanely condescending shit on earth. The opening bars boil down to 'when i was six i could draw so i asked my mom if that made me gay, and she was like 'nah you've loved pussy since you were a baby'"
this is the best thing to come out as a result of mackemore to date
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSbR15qJX3o
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I can't fault him here. I think the song is clumsy but I'll always give a thumbs up to a white person speaking on this issue because they're the only ones who can convince other white people it exists. In essence, Macklemore is doing his job as an ally. Probably not in the best way, but he's trying. There's nothing a racial minority can say or do to convince white people of white privilege and supremacy. Which is exactly why I no longer get into race arguments with cacs. For that, you need a white ally to do the job. Plus, he calls out Miley and Iggy, which is always proper form.
As for the song itself....eh. But I realize I'm not in his target audience as much as I love Thrift Shop and that other positive song he has that I can't remember the name of because they're all pretty similar.
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War making for strange bedfellows :aah
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I can't get mad at dude, he's just living life. Whereas Iggy is an entitled piece of shit. Miley is annoying but hasn't said anything that rustled me.
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I don't think same love is 'problematic' but it is the most insanely condescending shit on earth. The opening bars boil down to 'when i was six i could draw so i asked my mom if that made me gay, and she was like 'nah you've loved pussy since you were a baby'"
this is the best thing to come out as a result of mackemore to date
What I like about that song is that it's supposed to be a super open-minded, self-congratulatory anthem for gay rights... but he spends the first 30 seconds reminding you that he still gets pussy, like he's terrified someone might think HE was gay. Just disrespect and contempt for his audience. :yuck
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I am getting a little tired at all of this talk about "how can we deal with imperfect allies?" -- The fuck, are there PERFECT allies? Even the Fellowship of the Ring had Boromir in it. FFS
:cac :larry
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I didn't actually expect anyone to discuss this shit. Come on people. :doge
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What's worth discussing is who caught the biggest L, PD for writing a mini thesis on Macklemore, or Walrus, for the feels.
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Feels.
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The homophobic start of One Love was all right....like probably every guy has been afraid at some point that they might be gay. Probably when young and first learning what it really is. Or maybe that's just something you experience being raised in religious households? Either way, the start of that song was to basically acknowledge that society teaches you to fear homosexuality from a young age, not that he's a super masculine.
Personally, I always just thought that Macklemore is an entertaining man-child who makes a few songs for his more diverse buddies even though he's probably never wrestled with these subjects. Sheeeiiit, anyone who has had a serious argument about civil rights knows you cite hardcore assholes like religious clerics or Bell Hooks as an authority, not soft and doughy rap songs about how people might be just a tiny little bit ignorant. Although this type of activism that does open up fence-sitters to not be so afraid of these societal changes. He's basically pressing the turn signal stalk after the persecuted minorities built the entire vehicle for (lane) change.
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I'm tired of all this "how can we deal with imperfect allies?" Are there PERFECT allies? Even Fellowship of the Ring had Boromir in it. FFS
Edited this down to under 140 characters. I'll RT you.
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I'm tired of all this "how can we deal with imperfect allies?" Are there PERFECT allies? Even Fellowship of the Ring had Boromir in it. FFS
Edited this down to under 140 characters. I'll RT you.
Edited, it has been thus twat.
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I keep seeing this thread title and thinking "No, and we shouldn't" and it keeps getting bumped and it makes me sad.
(Didn't read any of the posts)
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No lie I wish St Corny was here to post in this thread and get rustled. Shitty dude but great hip hop head.