'Desperate for attention!' Macklemore & Ryan Lewis' White Privilege II rap sparks mixed reaction among fans and critics

Rappers Macklemore & Ryan Lewis are the centre of a growing controversy just 24 hours after releasing their new song, White Privilege II, on Friday morning.

In it, the pair, who are both white, explore racism and hip-hop, rapping about a white person's position in a society where black people fight injustice.

But critics and fans are divided about the pair's motivation for the single, which zoomed to No. 1 on the real-time Billboard Plus Twitter Trending 140 chart. 

In the spotlight: White rappers Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, on stage at The Forum in Inglewood, California, on December 4, caused controversy with their new track, White Privilege II, which explores racism and hip hop

In the rap, Macklemore, real name Ben Haggerty, calls out himself, Miley Cyrus, Iggy Azalea and Elvis Presley for appropriating black culture.

The nine-minute track starts with the 32-year-old Grammy winner at a march in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, asking himself some very deep questions.

'I wanna take a stance because we are not free, and I thought about it, we are not we,' he raps. 'Am I in the outside looking in? Or am I in the inside looking out?'

Right or wrong? Macklemore, at the American Music Awards in Los Angeles on November 22, raps about a white person's place in society where black people fight injustice in the song, which has split fans and critics

Cori Murray, the entertainment director for Essence magazine, told AP: 'I appreciate his honesty and all the ways he's looking at racism and his part in it.

'I don't think there's an easy answer and I think that he really did just say very plainly...I know I'm appropriating black culture but I'm trying to do it in the most authentic way.'  

The Seattle-based duo's website says the song 'is the outcome of an ongoing dialogue with musicians, activists, and teachers within our community in Seattle and beyond.'

Activists: Ryan Lewis, left and Macklemore, aka Ben Haggerty, pictured on New Year's Eve at Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve With Ryan Seacrest, are longtime supporters of racial equality and gay rights

What has gotten major attention on social media from the song was Macklemore namedropping famous singers who are regularly accused of appropriating black culture.

'You've exploited and stolen the music, the moment, the magic, the passion, the fashion you toyed with, the culture was never yours to make better, you're Miley, you're Elvis, you're Iggy Azalea,' Macklemore raps. 

'At another point he says: 'We wanna dress like, talk like, walk like, dance like, but we just stand by, we take all we want from black culture, but do we show up for black lives?'

Azalea, known for the hits Fancy and Black Widow, responded on Twitter after a fan pointed the song out to her.

'He shouldnt have spent the last 3 yrs having friendly convos and taking pictures together at events etc if those were his feelings,' Azalea wrote.

Hip hop radio station Hot 97's Peter Rosenberg said the diss was just Macklemore being honest.

'You can take it as an all-out insult, as Iggy did ... but that's appropriate, it's done factually. 

'I like Elvis's music, I think a lot of people appreciate the icon Elvis is, but that's very much what it is,' said the co-host of Ebro In The Morning that played White Privilege II early Friday.

Twitter users had mixed feelings about the song. Some thought it was necessary for the duo to call out their white privilege to move the race conversation forward while others thought it was hypocritical.

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis became a success when they independently released their 2013 debut The Heist,which featured the multi-platinum No. 1 hits Thrift Shop and Can't Hold Us.

They are longtime supporters of racial equality and gay rights. Their new album, This Unruly Mess I've Made, will be out on Feb. 26.

The track that caused the debate:  White Privilege II will be on Macklemore & Ryan Lewis's new album, This Unruly Mess I've Made, which will be out on February 26