White Privilege lyrics - Macklemore

Now nod your head and wake up.

I see so many people lost who really try to pretend

But am I just another white boy who has caught on to the trend

When I take a step to the mic is hiphop closer to the end?

'Cause when I go to shows the majority have white skin

They marketed the windmill, the air flair and head spin

And white rappers albums really get the most spins

The face of hip hop has changed a lot since Eminem

And if he's taking away black artists' profits I look just like him

Claimed a culture that wasn't mine, the way of the american

Hip hop is gentrified and where will all the people live

It's like the central district, beacon hill to the south end

Being pushed farther away because of what white people did, now

Where's my place in a music that's been taken by my race

Cultural appropriated by the white face

And we don't want to admit that this is existing

So scared to acknowledge the benefits of our white privilege

Cause it's human nature to want to be part of something different

Especially when your ancestors are European Christians

And most whites don't want to acknowledge this is occurring

Cause we got the best deal, the music without the burden

Of being black in a system that really wants you to rock

Cause all you need is a program and you can go and make hiphop

And we hate the mainstream cause we're the ones that took it

Now we listen to Aesop Rock and wear t-shirts that say Brooklyn

But it's not about black and white right

I mean good music is good music regardless of what you look like

But when you don't give them props isn't that selfish?

That's like saying rock was actually started by Elvis

So where does this leave me?

I feel like I pay dues but I'll always be a white MC

I give everything I have when I write a rhyme

But that doesn't change the fact that this culture's not mine

But I'm gonna be me so please be who you are

This is something that's effortless and shouldn't be hard

I said I'm gonna be me so please be who you are

But we still owe 'em 40 acres now we've stolen their 16 bars

Hiphop started off in a block that I've never been to

To counter act a struggle that I've never even been through

If I think I understand just because I flow too

That means I'm not keeping it true, nope

Hiphop started off in a block that I've never been to

To counter act a struggle that I've never even been through

If I think I understand just because I flow too

That means I'm not keeping it true, I'm not keeping it true

Now I don't rap about guns so they label me conscious

But I don't rap about guns cause I wasn't forced into the projects

See I was put in the position where I could chose my options

Blessed with the privilege that my parent's could send me to college

Now who's going to shows the kids on the block starving

Or the white people with dough that can relate to my content?

Marketed the music now adapted to the lifestyle

What happened to jazz and rock and roll is happening right now

Where's my place in the music that's been taken by the media

With white corperations controlling what their feeding ya

I brought up aesop rock but I'm not even dissing dude

We love hiphop and what do you think caucasians are listening to

And I speak freely when I write this

If a black emcee examined race there goes half their fan base, white kids

And this is so true. and we didn't even have to fight the system

We just went and picked up the microphone too

And we got good at it so we should be rapping

But only supporting them is like burning Jimmy and buying Clapton

Now Clapton's incredible. but no Jimmy no foundation

So here comes history and the cultural appropriation

White kids with do rags trying to practice their accents

From the suburbs to the upperclass mastering a language

But hiphop is not just memorizing words

It's rooted in authenticity something you literally can't learn

But I'm gonna be me so please be who you are

This is something that's effortless and shouldn't be hard

I said I'm gonna be me so please be who you are

But as I'm blessed with the privilege, they're still left with the scars

Hiphop started off in a block that I've never been to

To counter act a struggle that I've never even been through

If I think I understand just because I flow too

That means I'm not keeping it true, nope

Hiphop started off in a block that I've never been to

To counter act a struggle that I've never even been through

If I think I understand just because I flow too

That means I'm not keeping it true, I'm not keeping it true