In case you missed it, for weeks now, there have been pro-Palestine protests at Columbia University, and they have taken over to the point that the school’s main commencement ceremony was just canceled. Macklemore is now showing support for these protestors with a new song, “Hind’s Hall.” The song is titled after the new name protesters have given the school’s Hamilton Hall, in honor of a 6-year-old girl who died in Gaza.
The track starts with a direct backing of the protestors as Macklemore raps, “Yeah, the people, they won’t leave / What is threatening about divesting and wanting peace? / The problem isn’t the protests, it’s what they’re protesting / It goes against what our country is funding.”
He also goes after President Joe Biden, rapping, “The blood is on your hands, Biden, we can see it all / And f*ck no, I’m not voting for you in the fall.”
Macklemore later nods to the ongoing Drake/Kendrick Lamar feud, saying, “What happened to the artist? What do you got to say? / If I was on a label, you could drop me today / I’d be fine with it ’cause the heart fed my page / I want a ceasefire, f*ck a response from Drake.”
This isn’t Macklemore’s first time speaking up about Palestine: At a November 2023 rally, he said, “They told me to be quiet. They told me to do my research, to go back, that it’s too complex to say something, right? To be silent in this moment. In the last three weeks, I’ve gone back, and I’ve done some research. […] I’m teachable. I don’t know enough. But I know enough that this is a genocide.”
Listen to “Hind’s Hall” above.