Macklemore tells Biden in song supporting Palestinians: “Blood is on your hands”

Macklemore has released a scathing new song denouncing white supremacy and condemning the war in Gaza.

On Monday night, the rapper posted the song “Hind’s Hall” on social media, naming it after the Columbia University building that pro-Palestinian student protesters occupied last week. The protesters officially renamed the building Hamilton Hall in memory of Hind Rajab, a six-year-old Palestinian girl who was likely killed by Israeli forces in January.

In the accompanying video, between the lyrics of the song, there are images of protesting students, war-torn areas and politicians whom Macklemore accuses of being complicit in the murder of – as is now believed – at least 35,000 Palestinians.

“The people won’t leave,” Macklemore, whose real name is Benjamin Haggerty, begins the song. “What’s threatening about divesting and wanting peace?/ The problem isn’t the protests, it’s what they’re protesting against/ It’s contrary to what our country funds/ Block the barricade until Palestine is free.”

After a sharp reference to NWA’s 1988 song “Fuck tha Police,” Macklemore references the bill passed in April that aims to ban TikTok in the U.S. or force its Chinese owners to sell: “Take us out of the algorithm/ But it’s too late, we’ve seen the truth, we’re bearing witness.”

The song contains particularly poignant lines for President Joe Biden, telling him, “The blood is on your hands” and, “We can see everything. And hell no, I won’t be voting for you in the fall.”

Macklemore also accuses the music industry of its “platform of silence” and says: “If I were on a label, I could be dropped today.”

Referring to the much-discussed feud between rappers Drake and Kendrick Lamar, Macklemore adds: “I want a truce, fuck a reaction from Drake.”

“Hind’s Hall” was not available on streaming platforms as of Tuesday morning, but Pitchfork reported that proceeds from the song will go to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.

Military operations in Gaza began after Hamas militants killed around 1,200 Israelis and took another 250 people hostage in an attack on October 7. Since then, Israeli forces have killed tens of thousands of people in the Palestinian territories, displaced much of the population, destroyed the region’s infrastructure and prevented most humanitarian aid from reaching people there.

Macklemore spoke out against Israel’s occupation of Gaza at a rally in Washington, DC, last November, telling people, “I don’t know enough. But I know enough that this is genocide.”

Four months later, Francesca Albanese, a United Nations special rapporteur who monitors the Palestinian territories, said there were “sufficient grounds” to believe that Israel’s actions there amounted to genocide.

Watch Macklemore’s full video here.

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