Macklemore - White Privilege lyrics

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 Hip-Hop 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' profit's
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
Culturally appropriated by the white face?
And we don't want to admit
That this is existing
So scared to acknowledge the benefit's
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 Hip-Hop
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

Hip-hop started off on a block
That I've never been to
To counteract 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
Hip-hop started off on a block
That I've never been to
To counteract 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 choose my options
Blessed with the privilege that my parents
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 corporations controlling what
They're feedin' ya?
I brought up Aesop Rock, but
I'm not even dissing, dude
We love Hip-Hop, and what do you think
Caucasians are listening to?
And I speak freely when I write this
If a black MC 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 rappin'
But only supporting them is like
Burning Jimi and buying Clapton
Now Clapton's incredible, but no Jimi
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 upper-class
Mastering a language
But Hip-Hop 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

Hip-hop started off on a block
That I've never been to
To counteract 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
Hip-hop started off on a block
That I've never been to
To counteract 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