Macklemore has resurfaced with a new single called “Hinds Hall,” a pro-Palestinian anthem that simultaneously serves as commentary on the Kendrick Lamar versus Drake beef.
The Seattle-bred rapper, who infamously bested Kendrick Lamar in the Best Rap Album category at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards in 2014, announced the track via social media on Monday (May 6). He promised to donate all proceeds to UNRWA, an independent 501c3 nonprofit organization that provides support for the humanitarian work of the United Nations Agency for Palestine Refugees.
The lyrics and accompanying video highlight the ongoing Israel-Hamas War, which erupted in October 2023. It was apparently inspired by the work of student protesters at Columbia University, who occupied the campus’s Hamilton Hall last week and renamed it “Hind’s Hall.”Throughout the track, Macklemore reiterates there are much more important issues to discuss than the lyrical warfare between two of rap’s most famous names.
“What happened to the artist?” he raps. “What do you got to say?If I was on a label, you could drop me today/I’d be fine with it ’cause the heart fed my page/I want a ceasefire, f### a response from Drake (Woo)/What you willin’ to risk? What you willin’ to give?/What if you were in Gaza? What if those were your kids?/If the West was pretendin’ that you didn’t exist.”
Macklemore quickly became a trending Twitter (X) topic shortly after the track’s release. Some are calling it the most revolutionary song to come out since Public Enemy’s 1989 anthem “Fight The Power.” Others are shaming DJ Khaled—who is of Palestinian descent—for not speaking up and letting a “white rapper” do it for him.
“For all the s### @macklemore gets from the hip hop community… dude dropped a serious f###### call out track saying what needs to be said,” one person wrote, while another said, “Didn’t have Macklemore dropping a harder track than Drake this week on my bingo card.” Other comments included, “Say what you will about Macklemore, at least he has a f###### spine” and “Macklemore going hard for freedom and justice while you beg your billionaire faves dancing in Black Panther Party costumes to say the word Palestine.”
But there are still a number of people on social media who feel he’s simply trying to capitalize off the Kendrick Lamar and Drake beef, while enflaming many in the Jewish community. At one point, he vows not to vote for President Joe Biden, which according to one commentator, “is genuinely a pretty rough hit to his base, like a whole lot of resist libs are feeling conflicted right now.”
As he raps, “The blood is on your hands, Biden, we can see it all/And f### no, I’m not voting for you in the fall (Woo)/Undecided, you can’t twist the truth, the people out here united/Never be defeated when freedom’s on the horizon/Yet the music industry’s quiet, complicit in their platform of silence.”
Whatever the case, Macklemore is getting a lot of praise for bringing attention to such a serious cause. Find the lyrics here and watch the video above.
