Macklemore (Ft. Jamila Woods) • "White Privilege II"
If any one subject overtook our collective consciousness over the last year or so, white privilege and the understanding of the position in society that benefits the fairer skin with context to the rest of the world. That conversation began, in part, back in 2014 when Macklemore & Ryan Lewis beat out Kendrick Lamar's Good Kid M.A.A.D. City for Album of the Year at the Grammy Awards, in turn making the Seattle rapper essentially the figurehead for the term. Since then, Macklemore has leant his voice and actions to many movements to dispel his own privilege in a way and today he doubled down on that understanding with a new single "White Privilege II" that comes with a huge feature from Chicago's own Jamila Woods.
To be sure, you'd be hard-pressed to find many stronger females than Woods, who stepped out earlier this week as a solo act with the proper release of "blk girl soldier", her first as part of the Closed Sessions imprint. Here, Woods continues to build in two respects. First, as an amazingly talented singer who garnered two big looks in a matter of seven days while still fresh off the heels of her "Sunday Candy" performances. Woods is quietly becoming a star on the national scene. And second, this track paired with the country-at-large's first looks at her make for an image that is at once soulful, proud, and strong -- aspects not easily attained for a woman in today's music climate. We're all rooting for Jamila, but it's apparent that she's fine to do it all on her own. Check out the latest above.
