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Rapper Macklemore performs during the “Ben Tour” in Wisconsin last year.
CNN
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In a surprise new song, rapper Macklemore praises college students across the US who are protesting Israel’s war in Gaza, vowing that he will not vote for President Joe Biden come November.
The song, released Monday, is titled “Hind’s Hall” in reference to the new temporary name pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia University gave to a building they occupied on campus.
With its release, the Grammy-winning rapper becomes one of the first major music artists to explicitly condemn the US government’s continued aid to Israel and praise students who are protesting their universities’ financial investments in companies tied to Israel on campuses across the US.
“The problem isn’t the protests, it’s what they’re protesting,” Macklemore raps. “It goes against what our country is funding.”
Macklemore echoes the sentiments of pro-Palestinian protesters who say they’ll refuse to vote for Biden in the presidential election this year due to his continued support of Israel. There has been concern among Democrats that losing support among young voters frustrated with Biden’s handling of the war may cost him the election and see former President Donald Trump return to office.
The song also criticizes the police dispatched by universities to break up protests on college campuses. Several of the schools who called on police to intervene said its encampments were unlawful and that administrators had attempted to negotiate with student protesters before police got involved. When protesters refused to move at the University of California Los Angeles, police appeared to use rubber bullets against them. At the University of Arizona, law enforcement used pepper balls and rubber bullets on protesters.
Across the US, pro-Palestinian protesters have been occupying lawns and buildings on campuses, and many are requesting that their universities divest from Israel. Several protesters’ encampments have been raided by police, resulting in more than 2,300 arrests at schools across the country.
Many of those arrested at university protests were students, some of whom have been banned from their campuses and face expulsion.
Some of these campus demonstrations have inspired large counterprotests in support of Israel.
Hind’s Hall, the name pro-Palestinian protesters gave to Columbia’s Hamilton Hall, was named for the Palestinian child Hind Rajab, who was found dead in Gaza after she became trapped in a car with six of her relatives.
They were fleeing fighting in northern Gaza when their vehicle came under Israeli fire, CNN previously reported. Hind and everyone else in the vehicle, including her uncle’s four children, were killed, along with two ambulance workers dispatched to rescue them.
Macklemore’s lyrics reference the more than 13,800 children who’ve been killed in Gaza since the beginning of the war. The song asks listeners, as well as politicians, university officials and fellow artists who’ve not spoken out against the violence in Gaza, to consider the human cost of the war: “What if you were in Gaza? What if those were your kids? If the West was pretending that you didn’t exist?”
Macklemore calls the music industry complicit and says he supports a ‘free Palestine’
In “Hind’s Hall,” Macklemore accuses the music industry of being “complicit in (its) platform of silence,” he sings.
He’s likely the only major artist to write a song about the conflict. Several notable musicians have signed onto the Artists 4Ceasefire letter addressed to Biden, though, including Dua Lipa, Jon Batiste and Selena Gomez. Scottish singer Annie Lennox also verbally called for a ceasefire while performing at the Grammys in February.
Macklemore has said through his social media channels that when the song is released on streaming, all the proceeds will go to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees.
Macklemore has been an outspoken supporter of Palestinians since last year. Less than two weeks after the October 7 attack on southern Israel led by Hamas, which saw the deaths of at least 1,200 people and the taking of more than 250 hostages, he shared a post in which he mourned the loss of life in both Israel and Gaza.
“My heart deeply hurts for the Israelis that lost loved ones to such an abomination,” he wrote of the October 7 attack. ”… But killing innocent humans in retaliation as collective punishment is not the answer. That is why I am supporting the people around the world who are calling for a ceasefire.”
Later in the post, he wrote, “I stand for a Free Palestine and an end to the looming genocide of its people.”
In the same post, he referenced the controversial claim that criticizing the Israeli government is antisemitic. “I can whole heartedly (sic) love my Jewish brothers and sisters while simultaneously condemning the Israeli government for their mass killings and Apartheid.”
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Pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrate on the New York University campus in New York on Friday, May 3.
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Police officers block off an area on the Portland State University campus in Portland, Oregon, on Thursday, May 2.
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Pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrate on the George Washington University campus in Washington, DC, on May 2.
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Activists make protest signs inside a pro-Palestinian encampment at The George Washington University on May 2.
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Emma, right, sheds a tear as she and her friend Aryn listen to the names of Israeli hostages as they attend a pro-Israel rally at George Washington University on May 2.
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Police face off with pro-Palestinian protesters at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) on May 2.
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A protester is detained at UCLA on May 2.
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Pro-Palestinian protesters stand their ground after police breached their encampment at UCLA on May 2.
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Police take down a barricade as protesters gather at an encampment at UCLA on May 2.
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Pro-Palestinian protesters gather outside Fordham University’s Lincoln Center campus after a group created an encampment inside the building in New York on Wednesday, May 1.
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A man is detained after a scuffle as pro-Palestinian protesters rally outside Fordham on May 1.
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Police officers stand guard after clashes erupted on the campus of UCLA.
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Counter-protesters attack a pro-Palestinian encampment at UCLA.
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Police detain a protester at Columbia on April 30.
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Pro-Palestinian protesters climb a fence during demonstrations at The City College of New York on April 30.
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An NYPD bus transports arrested demonstrators at Columbia on April 30.
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Protesters confront police at The City College of New York on April 30.
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NYPD officers march into Columbia on April 30.
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Protesters occupy Columbia’s Hamilton Hall early on April 30.
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A protester breaks the windows of the front door of Hamilton Hall in order to secure a chain around it and prevent authorities from entering early on April 30.
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Columbia University students gather for a picket organized by the Student Workers Union (UAW Local 2710) on Monday, April 29.
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Pro-Palestinian protesters confront a Texas state trooper at the University of Texas in Austin on April 29.
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A protester at Columbia University wears the university’s disciplinary notice on April 29.
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Demonstrators march past Low Library while chanting “Free Palestine” on Columbia’s campus on April 29.
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Students from George Washington University stand on top of police barricades as they protest in Washington, DC, on April 29.
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Pro-Palestinian students and activists participate in a demonstration at UCLA on Sunday, April 28.
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Students and pro-Palestinian supporters occupy a plaza at New York University on April 26.
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Georgia State Patrol officers detain a demonstrator on the campus of Emory University during a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Atlanta on April 25.
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Jewish students wave Israeli flags as a counter-protest near a pro-Palestinian camp at UCLA on April 25.
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Texas state troopers try to break up a pro-Palestinian protest at the University of Texas in Austin on April 24.
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Students at the University of Texas at Austin watch a protest from a classroom window on April 24.
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Protesters link arms at Emerson College in Boston on April 24.
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Demonstrators’ tents are set up on Columbia’s campus in New York on April 24. The school is also preparing for graduation ceremonies.
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Demonstrators work on a banner April 24 at Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania.
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Protesters demonstrate at the University of Texas in Austin on April 24.
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Demonstrators and Texas state troopers face one another in Austin on April 24.
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Police stand near protesters at the University of Southern California on April 24.
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New York police officers stand near protesters outside the main entrance of Columbia University on April 24.
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Columbia students prepare to camp overnight on April 23.
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A makeshift memorial at Columbia, seen on April 23, pays tribute to Jewish hostages taken by Hamas in October.
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Students protest near New York University on April 23.
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Students at the University of California, Berkeley, set up an encampment at Sproul Hall on April 23.
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Police and protesters face off at New York University on April 22.
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Police officers clear away tents from an encampment at New York University on April 22.
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People watch from a window as New York University students set up a tent encampment on April 22.
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Students and pro-Palestinian supporters rally at The New School in New York on April 22.
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Students rally at an encampment at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge on April 22.
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A pro-Palestinian protest is held at the steps of Columbia’s Lowe Library on April 22.
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Some Columbia professors rally in support of their protesting students on April 22.
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Israeli flags are reflected in the sunglasses of a demonstrator in front of Columbia University on April 22.
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Student activists set up camp at a New School cafeteria on April 21.
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Pro-Palestinian protesters gather outside a Columbia building on April 20.
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Police officers stand near barriers as pro-Palestinian protesters gather outside of Columbia on April 18.
Macklemore also appeared at a pro-Palestinian march in Washington in November. In an Instagram post shared after the event, he said that he was heartened by “Jewish and Muslim youth marching side by side, belting words of resistance together.”
Macklemore has faced accusations of antisemitism before. In 2014, he wore what he called a “random costume” of a large fake nose and thick black beard to surprise Seattle concertgoers. Several detractors, including Seth Rogen, called his costume antisemitic, prompting Macklemore to “acknowledge how the costume could, within a context of stereotyping, be ascribed to a Jewish caricature.”
The rapper has made political statements throughout his career. He was nominated for a Grammy for the 2012 song “Same Love,” which advocated for LGBTQ equality and support for same-sex marriage. In 2016, he appeared on a remix of the YG song “FDT, Pt. 2,” which stands for “F**k Donald Trump.”
Macklemore continued to speak out against Trump after he entered office. And protesters on college campuses are still speaking out against the war on Gaza, even after some universities canceled or altered commencements and have already disciplined fellow student protesters.
Laura Davis is an entertainment aficionado who delves into the glitz and glamour of the entertainment industry. From Hollywood to Broadway, she offers readers an insider’s perspective on the world of movies, music, and pop culture.
