Rapper Macklemore's 'Same Love' Perpetuates Gay Stereotypes… of Conservatives

Rapper Macklemore's 'Same Love' Perpetuates Gay Stereotypes… of Conservatives

The rapper Macklemore has drawn a great deal of attention over the last year for his less-than-flashy rapper appearance. His music makes a strong effort to separate himself from the materialistic and shallow lifestyle of many in his genre, and has developed a strong cultural influence amongst adolescents and young adults alike. However, Macklemore has put himself nicely in line with the left-wing establishment with his single, “Same Love.” 

The song discusses his experiences and views on homosexuality. For those unfamiliar with the song, the lyrics can be found here.

Macklemore explained to the AP in late 2012 his view on the song:

“I don’t think a song like `Same Love’ would have been received the sameway even five years ago [in the rap community]. We as a society and a culture have proventhroughout time that we evolve, that we become slowly more compassionateand tolerant and accepting. The last couple hundred years in Americanculture have shown that. Obviously, there’s give and take. There’s timeswhen we haven’t and times that we lose ourselves, but I do think we’reevolving as a society and hip-hop is a reflection of that.”

Unfortunately, Macklemore’s lyrics do more to regress than progress the conversation. A good portion of the song recites the entertainment industry’s common liberal narrative: conservatives, particularly if they’re Christian, are preaching hate when they don’t support gay marriage or want their children indoctrinated by a homosexual agenda in schools. In his song, Macklemore definitely doesn’t mince words:

The right wing conservatives think it’s a decision
And you can be cured with some treatment and religion
Man-made rewiring of a predisposition
Playing God, aw nah here we go
America the brave still fears what we don’t know
And God loves all his children, is somehow forgotten
But we paraphrase a book written thirty-five-hundred years ago

Notice it’s not some “right wing conservatives”, it’s “the,” as in all conservatives hold this belief. He later follows that gem with his own perspective on church:

When I was at church they taught me something else
If you preach hate at the service those words aren’t anointed
That holy water that you soak in has been poisoned

Most Christians were raised to love the sinner while abhorringthe sin. The hatred described in “Same Love” is foreign to many. Christians and Conservatives recognize the wrong of hate, yet “Same Love” articulates the leap made by many in the leftist community that if you don’t believe in their ideas and fight for gay “rights,” you’re tantamount to the racists, misogynists, and xenophobes of previous eras. For a man preaching to us about loving homosexuals, we’re not getting much love in return.  

The song demands gay marriage, stating,

“And a certificate on paper isn’t gonna solve it all, but it’s a damn good place to start, no law is gonna change us, we have to change us”.

The final point of the song is not just for gay marriage, but to pursue a fundamental cultural change. Ultimately that change comes through indoctrination–and this song is part of that effort.

Macklemore’s message, analogous to the Left’s moral relativism, is fundamentally hypocritical as it reinforces prejudices against “the right wing conservatives” it blasts. If “Same Love” was intended to address prejudice, it failed and instead fell flat as genuine hypocrisy.

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