Macklemore and Ryan Lewis released a new song for free on iTunes, titled "White Privilege II."
The initial response to the track was varied, as some people were very positive about it.
And were happy with his intentions.
Others, however, were unhappy with every aspect of it.
The opening lyrics reference Macklemore's participation in the Black Lives Matters protest in Seattle after the death of Michael Brown.
He then explicitly mentions #BlackLivesMatter, and his own uncomfortableness around it. "OK, I'm saying that they're chanting out, "Black lives matter", but I don't say it back / Is it OK for me to say?"
People praised him for the use of his own white privilege to raise awareness of the wider issues.
In the next verse he links these struggles with white artists who've been accused of cultural appropriation in their music - "The culture was never yours to make better / You're Miley, you're Elvis, you're Iggy Azalea."
At around the time of the track's release Iggy Azalea tweeted this, which some people took to be a comment on it.
Then she talked about pasta a bit.
But Macklemore also makes reference to his previous album, The Heist, which was commercially very successful, saying "you've heisted the magic", implicating himself in cultural appropriation as well.
Charlamagne Tha God did not think that this mea culpa was particularly effective, however.
That verse finishes by returning to the period immediately following the death of Mike Brown, and seemingly asking whether white artists are only supporting movements like #BlackLivesMatter performatively, to improve how they're perceived.
One criticism of him is that his socially conscious music could actually be very cynical.
The new album, This Unruly Mess I've Made is scheduled for release on Feb. 26, the proximity of which has made some people suspicious.
A later verse uses language very similar to the older track. "If I'm aware of my privilege and do nothing at all... So what the fuck has happened to my voice if I stay silent / when black people are dying / Then I'm trying to be politically correct?"
There are also commonalities with a well-received interview Macklemore gave to Hot 97 at the end of 2014, where he described how he saw his position in the industry.
This self-awareness, however, did not stop the opinion that his innate white privilege could never be fully extricated from the music he was making.
Which means that he is still using his advantages to make money.
There are also explicit references to the system that maintains his position.
A number of people said that the wider refusal to listen to "the voices of millions of Black people" was equally at fault.
As other artists who said similar things were unlikely to get the same amount of coverage.
So while Macklemore accepts the help he got from the system, he continues to benefit from it.
However, there is still a fundamental problem that makes people angry.
The track ends with a hook from the singer and poet Jamila Woods.
Deray McKesson defended Macklemore for making the track, and repudiated the claims that he was "Columbusing" the concept of white privilege.
He also warned against reading more into the track than was actually there.
However, he also raises the thought that it is possible too limited in it's scope.
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis also released the song on its own website, which describes some of the process of its creation.
A number of collaborators, both musicians and activists, are also included describing how they came to be involved in the song and recommending further reading.
Some people just really, really didn't like the track.
Others made reference to the fact that there was likely to be a lot of discussion of it, and there were inevitably going to be a fair few thinkpieces about it.
And finally, some people found Macklemore to be, well, too Macklemore.