This past week, rapper Macklemore has exploded back into the public zeitgeist after being dropped as the opener from Ed Sheeran’s ongoing Loop Tour, following his public support of Palestine on stage at Metlife Stadium.
While the news is only recently gripping headlines, Macklemore has consistently been a vocal advocate for human rights issues and his music has always had an activist bend to it. His debut album, The Heist featured the smash single “Same Love,” which advocated for same sex marriage and LGBTQ+ rights, reaching #11 on the Billboard Top 100 charts at its peak and receiving a Grammy nomination for Song of the Year.
Macklemore has also demonstrated strong support for the Palestinian people for many years. Most notably, in 2024, Macklemore released a song, “Hind’s Hall,” showing support for those calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. The song itself samples Lebanese singer Fairuz’s “Ana La Habibi.” The music video features imagery of student protestors and the atrocities in Gaza and the album art features a masked protestor waving the Palestinian flag.
The song borrows its title from a powerful student protest at Columbia University in Manhattan, which occurred that same year. There, dozens of students barricaded themselves in Hamilton Hall, unfurled a banner and sought to rename the building to Hind’s Hall in honor of Hind Rajab, a six-year-old girl killed in Gaza. In a period of less than 24 hours, the NYPD broke the barricade and arrested over 100 protestors including those outside the building who attempted to uphold the barricade and prevent entry.
One of the goals of the movement sought to have Columbia University divest from Israel, sparking a wave of similar protests on college campuses across the country.
Macklemore’s song pulls from these events, questioning and criticizing why peaceful protests are met with police force, why the U.S. government and institutions continue to fund Israel and simultaneously calls out musicians and the music industry as a whole for staying silent on human rights issues.
In the song he writes, “Never be defeated when freedom’s on the horizon/Yet the music industry’s quiet/Complicit in their platform of silence.”
Despite Macklemore’s direct statements two years earlier, his message has only recently met the masses, ignited after being dropped from Ed Sheeran’s massive ongoing tour.
On Sept 4, 2026 at MetLife Stadium, Macklemore shouted “Free Palestine!” on stage in an impassioned speech to remind the public about the ongoing tragedy in Gaza, which has been officially been classified as genocide by a United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry, among others.
Macklemore said one of his primary intentions with agreeing to this tour was to be able to say the words “Free Palestine” on some of the biggest stages in the world.
In return, stadium owners like Robert Kraft retaliated by pressuring Sheeran and his management into removing Macklemore from the remainder of the tour for his remarks.
Years ago on “Hind’s Hall,” Macklemore rapped, “What happened to the artist? What d’you got to say? If I was on a label, you could drop me today.”
Two years later, Macklemore walks the walk. He wrote on Instagram in light of recent events, “If those words cost me the stage, while turning the conversation back to Palestine, then it was the most successful tour I’ve ever been on.”
It is worth noting many of the stadiums which dropped Macklemore have had no problem hosting Ye’s recent record-breaking tour, despite Ye being an artist who famously released a track titled “HH” and has repeatedly made anti-Semitic remarks publicly.
When he was on stage, Macklemore made it a point to emphasize respect for Jewish people as well. “To all of my Jewish brothers and sisters: criticism of Israel, criticism of apartheid, being against genocide in no way is a criticism of you. My message is for peace; love for all human beings to be treated with dignity, respect, and equality.
Ed Sheeran has also come under fire for refusing to stand up to stadium owners and for keeping his political views private. Macklemore’s lyrics about complicity and silence in the industry seem to be resonating with the public, who on social media have claimed that Sheeran’s “no sides” stance is the equivalent of choosing a side regardless.
Meanwhile, Macklemore has pledged to give all $1 million he made on Sheeran’s tour to Pro-Palestinian charities.
Aside from raising awareness of the atrocities of Gaza, Macklemore’s protest raises important questions about the role of a musician in politics. Music has long been a vessel to incite change, from work songs in plantation fields, to folk music like Crosby, Stills and Nash and Young’s “Ohio” which protested the Kent State shooting of student protestors by the armed guard.
Now Macklemore has opened the floodgates for other artists to speak their mind and show support in solidarity. Every other opener for Sheeran’s tour has since dropped out, including Sheeran’s own band, citing that they stand with the Palestinian people.
Despite being released over two years ago, Hind’s Hall has undergone a massive chart surge on iTunes which is now sitting at number 10. Beyond that, Macklemore currently claims seven spots on the U.S. iTunes singles chart. Through it all Macklemore has made it a point to steer the headlines away from him and back towards the larger plight of the Palestinian People.
On Sept. 16 on Instagram he wrote, “With everything that has happened over the last 48 hours, I want to bring the conversation back to where it belongs: to the Palestinian people who are still being killed, still living under military occupation, and still fighting for their freedom…”
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