Macklemore dedicated his “Free Palestine” tour date to “love and liberation” as he kicked off the three-show trek in Dublin, Ireland, just over a month after he was dropped as an opener for Ed Sheeran following a political speech on stage. After bringing out Hozier and Kneecap as surprise guests, Macklemore took a moment to share what the evening meant to him in the wake of the controversy. Two words is all that it took.
Two words that are rooted in love and liberation,” he said. But a call to recognize our shared humanity. The same thing that I want for all of us, freedom, dignity, the right to exist without fear.
Being able to raise our children in the homes that we grew up in, not having to prove our humanity to the rest of the world. They would rather silence those two words than confront what they actually mean. Because freedom that requires another person’s oppression is not freedom at all.
I said freedom that requires another person’s oppression is not freedom at all. And while the world debates those words, we see the videos, we see the footage, we see parents pulling their children out of the rubble. Devastation beyond our imagination.
And somehow, those words have become more controversial than the suffering that made them necessary. That’s why we are here tonight. That is why we are here, because throughout history, music has given people a place to resist, to come together as a collective, to share our grief, to share our stories, to move from the heart, to mobilize people with the frequency of love.
The heartbeat in our drum that makes us feel alive, that makes us feel connected.” The Dublin concert is the first of a three-show stint that will see the “Thrift Shop” rapper also perform in Paris and London alongside special guests, with all proceeds going to charities supporting Palestine. Macklemore also donated his $1 million salary from Sheeran’s tour to the cause. On Sept. 14, Macklemore was dropped from the remainder of Sheeran’s U.S.
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