In a recent interview, Macklemore said that he and Eminem are guests in hip-hop.
On Saturday (April 1), Macklemore jumped on his Instagram account and shared a video snippet of his interview with CBS’ daily news show, CBS Mornings. In the clip, co-host Nate Burleson asked Macklemore how he feels about being a White rapper in a predominantly Black genre in which purists point to him and say, “You’re a guest.”
In response, Macklemore agreed with the statement and added it wasn’t easy for White rappers to be embraced in the genre during the 1990s. Nevertheless, the Seattle rhymer believes he belongs in the genre and that he and other White rappers should adhere to the house rules.
“I think it’s true. It is true and I agreed,” he stated. “If you look at the origin of where hip-hop came from and what was happening in New York City and what was happening in the Bronx. And the way that Black people and people of color been treated historically from the jump, this music was birth out of oppression.”
“Hip-Hop is inclusive so there’s always been an open door to a certain extent…but I’m a guest, Em’s [Eminem] a guest,” he continued. “Doesn’t matter how good we get. Doesn’t matter how great Eminem is. We’re guests in the culture. A hundred percent.”
“And that’s not to say that I don’t belong here,” the “Heroes” rapper added. “I absolutely belong here. But you still have to realize this is not your house. And that you’re a guest. Take Your shoes off and help with some dishes.”
Nate Burleson may be referring to Lord Jamar calling Eminem out in a series of interviews in 2018, stating emphatically that White rappers are guests in the house of hip-hop.
Eminem responded to Jamar on his 2019 Kamikaze diss track “Fall.” The Detroit rhymer spits: “And as far as Lord Jamar, you better leave me the hell alone/Or I’ll show you an Elvis clone/Walk up in this house you own/Brush my pelvic bone/Use your telephone and go fetch me the remote/Put my feet up and just make myself at home.”
Em would later acknowledged in an interview on KXNG Crooked’s show Crook’s Corner that he is indeed a guest in hip-hop.
“That’s the funny thing. I don’t know if I got a chance to say this yet. The funny s**t is, with the whole beef of a certain person, I never said I wasn’t a guest,” he said, referring to that “certain person” who’s presumably Lord Jamar. “I’m absolutely a guest. I never said I wasn’t. I never said I was king of anything, right?”
In the past, Macklemore has acknowledged his own privilege in hip-hop culture on the 2016 song “White Privilege II,” which you can listen to below.
Watch Macklemore Say That He and Eminem are Guests in Hip-Hop Below
