![]() He's making it safer, diminishing its symbolic weight until it fits comfortably on his shoulders-but he's doing it in a way that still leaves that power intact. Macklemore gets to lightly mock those stodgy old coots, who never heard the words white privilege much less rapped about it, but when he puts on the John Wayne jacket, he still gets the inner thrill of pretending to be a cowboy. The old symbols may be a joke, but they still have power. There's some self-deprecation that comes with assuming that look-"It's funny because I'm not a dangerous criminal, I'm white"-but underneath the layers of irony the clothes are still working their macho magic. As Macklemore boasts in the song's opening lines, wearing the outrageous furs makes him "walk up to the club like, 'What up, I got a big c*ck!'" Who needs Viagra? These clothes do just as well.Īnd these masculine signifiers don't just make your dick big. Part of being a "real man" is being "real," and these thrift-shop duds give Macklemore a crucial dose of authenticity. I call that getting tricked by a businessĪnd having the same one as six other people in this club is a hella don't I call that getting swindled and pimped (shit) Limited edition, let's do some simple additionįifty dollars for a T-shirt, that's just some ignorant bitch shit I'm like, "Yo, that's fifty dollars for a T-shirt." They be like, "Oh, that Gucci, that's hella tight." Hit the party and they stop in that m*therf**ker Check the way Macklemore describes people who wear designer labels: As the hook says, Macklemore is "hunting," and he feels the same way towards non-thrifters as a seasoned deer hunter feels about a vegan: They're soft, decadent, unmanly. Just as ironic masculinity arose in the wake of feminism as a way to make the old hallmarks of the patriarchy safe again (though your mileage may vary on that particular argument), so too is the ironic consumerism on display here a reaction to our post-capitalist society. In a world gone mad with materialism, Macklemore's embracing cheap vintage clothing to stand apart from the masses. While they mindlessly follow trends, he's the only one smart enough and brave enough not to fall for it. (In a dark twist, Macklemore's not as far outside the system as he thinks he is just like the Gucci crowd, he's relying on material possessions to send out an image of himself.)īut as much as Macklemore would set himself apart, there are still times on "Thrift Shop" when his lyrics seem all too similar to the "ignorant" masses he's criticizing. ![]() Kelly piss joke, it's lazy dudebro humor. But elsewhere, when Macklemore's not listing funny clothes he wants to buy, there's some brief ugliness. ![]() Is someone who owns a $50 Gucci T-shirt really an "ignorant bitch"? Just because they're spending their money on something Macklemore wouldn't? This isn't a huge deal, and we're not calling Macklemore a misogynist or anything, but it's weird that a rapper who observed "gay is synonymous with the lesser," wouldn't notice how often femininity is, too. Or, more likely, he did notice and didn't think this was a big deal. You can play the song at the bottom of the post! The rest of the album, that's the place for political lectures.
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