An Analysis Of White Privilege II

“White Privilege II” is a single made Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. The song features the work of various songwriters and Jamila Woods, an up-and-coming black artist. The single was released on January twenty-second of this year. In the song, Macklemore rap’s about social injustice, white supremacy in the United States, and how it affects his career as a white male rapper. The song uses interviews, simple lyrics, and simple music composition to bring awareness to the privilege that white people have in America.

“White Privilege II” has interludes of real life interviews to exhibit and compare the differences between the White-American and African-American perspective on social injustice. The first set of interviews comes from the White-American

For example, in the seventh verse, Macklemore how multiple artist and people take from black traditions without supporting black businesses or black rights, “We take all we want from black culture, but will we show up for black lives?” (6:15-6:20). In Macklemore’s asking of this question, he is simultaneously pointing how cultural appropriation is a popular way for White-American to take from a group of people without regarding how their lives are affected. Macklemore even goes as far as to point out this issue in his own work and the work of popular artists such as Iggy Azalea and Miley Cyrus. Macklemore tries to make up for his actions by making a reference to Audre Lorde’s essay title “Poetry is not a Luxury” in the last verse of the song. The actual lyrics sung by Jamila Woods reflect on how the current way of the hip-hop genre does not address social issues in the African-American community and minorities at large, “Your silence is a luxury, hip-hop is not a luxury...What I got for me, it is for me/ What we made, we made to set us free.” By having her end the song, she represents the African-American community and allows for them to have the last word. This makes the song appear to not be based on solely the opinions of

For example, in the section that features Jamila Woods, the only instrument that is heard is a piano. Because the melody of this section sounds uncomplicated and works with Jamlia’s voice the words being sung are easy understood. However, while the composition is simple, at times it seems to work against what Macklemore is saying. This emphasizes the lyrics and force the audience to pay attention. For example, in the fifth verse, Macklemore has a conversation with himself as a presumably White-American mother. In this conversation, the mother compliments the positive nature of Macklemore’s work and implies that if a person is pulled over by a cop, it is their duty to do as they're told no matter their race, “Even the protest outside - so sad and so dumb/ If a cop pulls you over, it's your fault if you run,”(3:57-4:02). During this section it uses music and the sound of muffled protesters chanting, “Hands up! Don’t shoot!” (2:57-3:00). The contradicting ideas between the lyrics and background sound force the audience to pay close attention what Macklemore is saying while getting the opinion of those who actually experience police brutality. These types of techniques play up the lyrics and the connection between the verses and interludes throughout of the