A rap artist who goes by the name Macklemore was slammed on social media after encouraging others in the crowd at his concert in Seattle to chant “F**k America.”
In a clip that surfaced on X over the weekend from his concert, the 41-year-old rapper-born Benjamin Hammond Haggerty appeared to react to something he heard in the crowd, telling his fans, “Straight up say it, I’m not gonna stop you. I’m not gonna stop you. Yeah, f**k America,” Billboard magazine reported.
The crowd then begins to cheer, yell, and clap loudly for the performer, before he debuted a new track titled “Hinds Hall 2,” which contains anti-Semitic rhetoric, in which he blasts Israel for defending itself following the deadly October 7 attack that left more than 1,200 dead and hundreds kidnapped.
It came during a music event in Washington titled, “Palestine Will Live Forever Festival.” The description of the event said, “All funds raised will be split between: Pious Projects, HEAL Palestine, UNRWA, Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, and grassroots mutual aid.”
“F*ck America” – Macklemore tonight in Seattle. The cheering crowd goes wild. pic.twitter.com/gF8AP6uAje
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) September 22, 2024
Reaction to the video was swift with people blasting the rapper’s comments.
One person wrote, “If you hate this country, then get [the f] out. Go find one that represents your ideals. American doesn’t want or need your trash here.”
Another added, “Hey @macklemore, since you hate America so much why don’t you leave? Thanks.”
While a third wrote, “Shame. This country made Macklemore possible. Where else could he have got rich and famous?? Shame.”
The rapper has been vocally anti-Israel, even dropping an earlier version of his song “Hinds Hall” in May which blasts the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas following the terrorist attack on October 7. The song references the many anti-Israel protests on college campuses that were happening at the time, Daily Mail noted.
In the song he called out President Joe Biden and raps, “’The blood is on your hands Biden, we can see it all. And f**k no, I’m not voting for you in the fall.”
Last year at another anti-Israel rally in Washington, D.C., Macklemore took the stage and told the crowd, “I don’t know enough, but I know enough that this is a genocide,” the outlet noted.
Weeks before the rally, the rapper released a statement in which he condemned both the bloody Hamas attacks on Israel and Israel’s response, calling the latter an “unfolding genocide” and a “U.S. backed human catastrophe,” Pitchfork noted.
