Macklemore Opens Up About White Guilt, Iggy Azalea, and More on 'Sway in the Morning'

The conversation about his new single, "White Privilege II," treks on.

Macklemore and Ryan Lewis are currently in the middle of a press run for their new single, "White Privilege II," which means the conversation surrounding the song isn't slowing down anytime soon. In their latest interview, Macklemore and Lewis talk with Sway Calloway on Sway in the Morning about how the song took more than a year to make, the feelings of white guilt, and much more.

On what the song's intention is at its core, Macklemore says that it's about white hip-hop artists stepping into the conversation in an authentic way to engage a dialogue about the epidemic of police brutality. He also admits that him making the song, or showing up to #BlackLivesMatter protests, could all be from white guilt, but that he came from an angle where he didn't want to lecture people with the track, but show his true feelings.

As far as naming Iggy Azalea on the song, he backs up what he said yesterday, and that it wasn't a diss toward her or anyone else he put in the lyrics. "That whole verse is me implicating myself, I think a lot of people have misinterpreted it," he says. "We're all in the same place, we're all in the same sphere. We're white artists that in the last couple of years have been rightfully critiqued for appropriating black culture and benefiting from it. I'm putting myself in the exact same box as them."

Throughout the rest of the interview, Macklemore and Lewis talk about the process of making the song, and how they leaned on a variety of people to eventually get it done. While the reception to the song has been very mixed, Macklemore says that the ultimate impact of the song won't be seen until way down the line. "White Privilege II" will be featured on their upcoming album, The Unruly Mess I've Made, which drops next month. 

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