Is it too late now to say sorry? In a new cover story for Billboard, Macklemore admitted that he should’ve given Iggy Azalea a heads-up before releasing “White Privilege II” — a politically charged track in which he takes aim at the “Fancy” singer.
In one of the song’s verses, the Seattle native, 32, seems to dis Miley Cyrus, Elvis Presley and finally, Azalea — who have all, somewhat controversially, co-opted aspects of African American culture.
“You’ve exploited and stolen the music, the moment / The magic, the passion, the fashion, you toy with,” he raps. “The culture was never yours to make better / You’re Miley, you’re Elvis, you’re Iggy Azalea.”
When the single dropped back in January, Azalea, 25, responded by tweeting, “he shouldnt have spent the last 3 yrs having friendly convos and taking pictures together at events etc if those were his feelings.”
But the “Thrift Shop” rapper insists he never meant any harm by his rhymes.
“I don’t think people understood that I’m in my own head [saying], ‘You’re Miley, you’re Elvis, you’re Iggy Azalea’ — I’m talking about myself,” Macklemore explained to Billboard. “Iggy and I came up together. We were on the XXL ‘Freshman’ cover together. There’s enough of a relationship that I should have let her know beforehand. And I didn’t do that.”
He has yet to clear the air with Azalea herself. “I haven’t talked to her,” he said.
Macklemore isn’t the only musician to take issue with Azalea recently. As Us Weekly previously reported, the Australian hip-hop star’s biggest nemesis, Azealia Banks, reignited their years-long feud with a slew of insulting tweets and a threat to “kill this bitch.”