Macklemore was about business while accepting his award for “Favorite Album – Rap/Hip-Hop,” during last night’s 2013 American Music Awards.
While making his acceptance speech via satellite from Miami, Florida, the “Thrift Shop” hitmaker took the moment to address race discrimination in the aftermath of Trayvon Martin's death last year (2012).
“It has been an absolutely incredible year, I feel extremely blessed to be accepting an award from the AMAs and now that I'm sitting here in front of millions of people, I'd like to address something extremely important to me,” said Macklemore.
He continued: “I was talking to my friend… before the show and he reminded me of a great Martin Luther King quote. He said, ‘Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice anywhere’, and due to the fact that we are in Florida tonight accepting this award, I want to acknowledge Trayvon Martin and the hundreds and hundreds of kids each year that are dying due to racial profiling and the violence that follows it. This is really happening, these are our friends, our neighbors, our peers and our fans and it's time that we look out for the youth and fight against racism and the laws that protect it.”
Along with their speech, Macklemore and producer Ryan Lewis took the stage for a high-energy performance.
Founder and Creator of Singersroom.com and IncredibleWork.com. Follow me on Instagram at @gary.gentles.
