Another voice has lent its opinion to the discussion about Macklemore’s latest single, “White Privilege II.” Talib Kweli is that new voice, and in so many tweets, it was clear that he was not a fan of Iggy Azalea or her response to the record.
To briefly catch up, Macklemore released his racially motivated single discussing his own white privilege as well as pointing the finger at Iggy Azalea and Miley Cyrus about cultural appropriation. Azalea promptly responded to the lyrics which stated she stole “the culture, the moment, the magic and fashion,” by calling Macklemore a hypocrite for “having friendly convos and taking pictures.”
While many pictures of the two at award shows swarmed the Internet, Talib Kweli isn’t accepting that response. “The fact @iggyazalea thinks Macklemore song was a diss to her, instead of actually listening, is proof of her privilege,” the Brooklyn rhymer tweeted. “F— Iggy Azalea.” He tweeted.
There’s no question of Kweli’s feelings about Azalea, but he actually stated that at one point he was on the Aussie rapper’s side. “I actually rooted for Azalea when she first came out. But she’s disrespected hip hop culture one too many times.”
One fan asked him to explain how she’s been disrespectful. He responded saying she “stole from Kendrick, tweets “nigga” dissed qtip, dismisses privilege.”
At the end of his short lesson, Talib managed to shout out another rapper who is similar to Iggy, but spreads a different message. “Invincible from Detroit is a white female rapper who will rap BaRS around many. But she don’t appropriate culture so u don’t know her.”
Check out the rest of Talib Kweli’s tweets below.
The fact @iggyazalea thinks Macklemore song was a diss to her, instead of actually listening, is proof of her privilege. Fuck Iggy Azalea.
— Talib Kweli Greene (@TalibKweli) January 22, 2016
True story. I actually rooted for Iggy when she first came out. But she’s disrespected hip hop culture one too many times. — Talib Kweli Greene (@TalibKweli) January 22, 2016
(Her response was wack AF cuz she validated that fan tweet) RT @QuintaleAzalea: that was a fan, not her. She was responding to a fan.
— Talib Kweli Greene (@TalibKweli) January 22, 2016
(Stole from Kendrick, tweets “nigga” dissed qtip, dismisses privilege) RT @ChellaChicago: what did she do to disrespect the culture ?
— Talib Kweli Greene (@TalibKweli) January 22, 2016
Invincible from Detroit is a white female rapper who will rap BaRS around many. But she don’t appropriate culture so u don’t know her.
— Talib Kweli Greene (@TalibKweli) January 22, 2016
But wait. It didn’t end there…
(Bullshit.) RT @IGGYAZALEA: i understannd the point of the song, it didnt go over my head. all i said was that im not bothered about it.
— Talib Kweli Greene (@TalibKweli) January 22, 2016
(Sooo, u ain’t tweet this?) RT @IGGYAZALEA: actually, what i said was: im not bothered if he mentions me… pic.twitter.com/RQnVeWVuoM
— Talib Kweli Greene (@TalibKweli) January 22, 2016
(Bullshit Iggy.) RT @IGGYAZALEA: @TalibKweli im not offended by Macklemores song tho, thats the thing. you seem to think iam. and im NOT.
— Talib Kweli Greene (@TalibKweli) January 22, 2016
(Iggy, this is a lie.) RT @IGGYAZALEA: yeah, im not upset about the song tho talib. you just want me to be, really badly it seems.
— Talib Kweli Greene (@TalibKweli) January 23, 2016
Chuck D noticed the conversation and added his thoughts on the matter:
.@BLAQMENCH @TalibKweli @IGGYAZALEA Technically we’re all in the same line of work,venues-promoters-services.This validates the conversation
— Chuck D (@MrChuckD) January 23, 2016
.@BLAQMENCH THIS AINT like the plumber debating w A bus driver about open sewer pipes lol @TalibKweli is a sage preventing this being a NORM
— Chuck D (@MrChuckD) January 23, 2016
.@bxmangu @TalibKweli @rolandsmartin @MHarrisPerry OLD Racism spelled out in NEW ways with NEW GENS closely sharing habits from 100 yrs AGO
— Chuck D (@MrChuckD) January 23, 2016
RT @MrChuckD: As @TalibKweli can attest,this is a life trade&commitment to stability of the FORM. Life work.No turn on-off switch
— Talib Kweli Greene (@TalibKweli) January 23, 2016
…And it is definitely far from over head over to Talib Kweli’s Twitter account, Iggy Azalea’s page and/or Chuck D’s handle to keep up with the dialogue.