Macklemore isn't one to engage in onstage antics, but a twist of fate lent some very odd context to a recent performance of his. Moreover, he (along with many other artists) took the stage at the Lovestream Festival in Slovakia, and at one point, he invited a Slovenian fan onstage to perform a duet with him. After the woman boasted about it on social media, someone recognized her from an open police report (as a wanted woman) and informed authorities at the "Hind's Hall" MC's performance. Cops let her wrap her performance up and then arrested her for avoiding a fine from an alleged streaking incident.
Elsewhere, Macklemore instead usually draws up controversy for his music, whether for the right and wrong reasons. Most recently, his release of a pro-Palestine track stirred up a storm on social media, including a response diss from Wu-Tang Clan affiliate Remedy. Overall, this is a very complex situation and one that political and social polarization can obfuscate when it comes to the actual humanitarian issues at hand. Nevertheless, the "Thrift Shop" rapper's powerful single speaks volumes to the need to engage in these difficult conversations and definitely achieved at least part of its intended effect.
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Macklemore Performing In Paris
"I didn’t expect to be on a microphone,” Macklemore expressed during a pro-Palestine rally in Washington, DC. “There are thousands of people here more qualified to speak on the issue of a free Palestine than myself. But I will say this: They told me to be quiet. They told me to do my research, to go back, that it’s too complex to say something, right? To be silent in this moment. In the last three weeks, I’ve gone back and I’ve done some research … I’m teachable. I don’t know enough. But I know enough that this is a genocide."
"I have so many close lifelong Jewish and Muslim friends and I don't want to cause any additional harm to any of them," Macklemore shared on Instagram. "But I trust in our friendships that even if we disagree we can be rooted in love and acceptance in whatever dialogue transpires. I trust that these potential challenging and emotional conversations will not divide us in the end but lead to more compassion. Killing the innocent is never the answer. Revenge only breeds more hatred. Thinking of ourselves as separate from one another is a lie."