Macklemore sang “f*** America” on Saturday while performing in Seattle at a charity festival benefiting Palestinian refugees.
The 41-year-old Seattle native took the stage at the Palestine Will Live Forever Festival in support of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees and encouraged people to “directly” join in the chant, according to a Sunday article. TMZ.
The rapper told the audience he wouldn’t stop them if they did and then said, “Fuck America” as the audience erupted in cheers.
Macklemore, whose real name is Benjamin Hammond Haggerty, has been highly critical of US foreign policy as the war between Israel and Hamas has escalated.
In May 2024, she released a protest song titled Hind’s Hall in support of the 2024 pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses.
Macklemore, who was due to perform in Germany in September 2023, sang “f*** America” on Saturday while performing in Seattle at a charity festival benefiting Palestinian refugees.
All proceeds from Hinds Hall will be donated to UNRWA.
The Grammy-winning rapper in the protest song criticized US President Joe Biden for providing military support to Israel.
In his song he said: “The blood is on your hands, Biden, we can all see it. And fuck no, I’m not voting for you in the fall.”
The rapper, best known for his pro-LGBTQ+ rights song Same Love, also slammed the music industry for being “complicit in their platform of silence.”
The video accompanying the song intersperses its lyrics with clips from protests at American universities, which saw a rise in clashes between protesters and campus police.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees saw much of its funding cut this year following allegations that its workers were involved in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel.
Macklemore has long been a supporter of the Palestinian people.
In November, Macklemore gave an impromptu speech at a pro-Palestine rally in Washington DC, telling the crowd: “I don’t know enough, but I know enough to believe that this is genocide.”
The 41-year-old Seattle native, appearing in March in Los Angeles, encouraged people to “directly” join in with the chant, according to a TMZ report Sunday.
Macklemore, who appears in March 2023 in Texas, has been highly critical of US foreign policy as the war between Israel and Hamas has escalated.
His speech was preceded by a statement on October 19 in which he condemned Hamas’s bloody incursion into Israel and Israel’s brutal response against the Gaza Strip, calling the latter an “ongoing genocide” and a “US-backed catastrophe.”
Macklemore rose to fame collaborating with producer Ryan Lewis as the duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis from 2009 to 2016.
Her single Thrift Shop reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart in 2013 and her second single Can’t Hold Us also reached number one on the Hot 100 chart.
The duo won four Grammy Awards at the 2014 ceremony, including Best New Artist, Best Rap Album, Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance.