Macklemore Drops ‘Hind’s Hall 2’ Protest Track, Leads ‘F–k America’ Chant at Seattle Show

Macklemore continued his support for the Palestinian people over the weekend when he dropped “Hind’s Hall 2,” the sequel to his May song of the same name whose proceeds are aimed at the United Nations Relief and Words Agency (UNRWA), which provides assistance to Palestinian refugees. He also shouted a provocative slogan calling out the United States during a hometown Seattle show on Saturday at the Palestine Will Live Forever Festival.

The original song expressing solidarity with the Palestinian people has been updated with new vocals from Gaza-bred rapper MC Abdul, Palestinian-American singer Anees, author Amer Zahr the L.A. Palestinian Kids Choir, Tiffany Wilson and friends and the Lifted! Youth Gospel Choir. In the final verse, the rapper drops a caustic couplet taking aim at Israel’s nearly year-long war in Gaza sparked by the Oct. 7 raid by Hamas militants on Israel that resulted in the killing of more than 1,200 and the kidnapping of more than 250 men, women and children.

“Long live the resistance if there’s something to resist/ Had enough of you motherf–kers murdering little kids/ PC for a minute, I was tryna be a bridge,” the “Thrift Shop” MC raps before lashing out at Democratic presidential candidate and current VP Kamala Harris with a warning about potentially losing the large Arab-American/Muslim vote in Michigan if she continues to administration’s support for Israel.

“But there’ll never be freedom by pleading with Zionists/ World screaming Free Palestine/ We see the manual, we know how you colonized… Hey Kamala, I don’t know if you’re listening/ But stop sending money and weapons, or you ain’t winning in Michigan/ We uncommitted, and hell no we ain’t switching positions/ Because the whole world turned Palestinian,” he raps.

The song also features the antisemitic chant “from the river to the sea/ Palestine will be free,” a phrase the American Jewish Committee says has been a “rallying cry for terrorist groups and their sympathizers… [as well as] a common call-to-arms for pro-Palestinian activists, especially student activists on college campuses. It calls for the establishment of a State of Palestine from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, erasing the State of Israel and its people.”

Macklemore took to the stage with his message of solidarity with the Palestinian people and disdain for current American policy in support of Israel’s war against militant group Hamas during the debut performance of “Hind’s Hall 2” at the Palestine Will Live Forever Festival at Seward Park Amphitheatre in his hometown over the weekend.

“Straight up, say it, I’m not gonna stop you,” Macklemore, 41, says in fan video from the show after the crowd shouts unheard slogans at him. “I’m not gonna stop you… yeah, f–k America,” he adds to loud cheers from the audience, later adding “it’s a genocide and it has been since 1948” in reference to the year the state of Israel was established. The original “Hind’s Hall” and its sequel were named in honor of a young girl named Hind Rajab who was killed in Gaza in a shooting Palestinians have blamed on Israeli forces.

At press time a spokesperson for Macklemore had not returned Billboard‘s request for comment on his statement at the Seattle show.

Last month, the rapper canceled a planned show in Dubai on Oct. 4 over the UAE’s role in support of the RSF, one of the warring parties in the country’s devastating civil war.

Listen to “Hind’s Hall 2” below.

Gil Kaufman

Billboard