"Block the barricade until Palestine is free."
I haven't done one of these posts in awhile, but as the genocide in Gaza continues to play out on the grand stage of a mostly apathetic world, I don't want to stop talking about it. A repeated banger on my playlist over the past three months, Macklemore released this brilliant protest song at the height of student protests on college campuses across the US. He provides a compelling breakdown of the plight of the Palestinian people amid Israeli occupation, the role of the US political machine in propelling the conflict, and the importance of resistance, and does so in a way that's accessible to both Millennials and Gen Z listeners. In this song, he doesn't toe the line or back down, candidly admitting this is the advantage of being an independent artist. Shots are fired in numerous directions - Meta, the police, the shallow world of entertainment, and Biden himself. I'll forever respect an artist who has enough self-awareness and social consciousness to continue to use his platform to shine a light on these travesties of injustice. It would be easier to shut up and 'make music', but instead, he presses on. Art that grates against the status quo will always be my favourite kind. All proceeds from the song go to UNRWA.
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