“Straight White Male” by Tom MacDonald

Truth be told, in the era in which Tom MacDonald’s “Straight White Male” was dropped there have been attacks on straight White males waged by some parties in the American mainstream. Simply possessing those three attributes makes one naturally the antithesis of what is modernly viewed as progression in the United States. 

You can view the lyrics, alternate interprations and sheet music for Tom MacDonald's Straight White Male at Lyrics.org.

Or put alternatively, men who fall into this category have been historically identified as oppressors, i.e. who have traditionally been the primary beneficiaries of the system in power. And being that the entire idea of demonizing an entire demographic is borderline ludicrous in and of itself, Tom McDonald, who is in fact a “straight White male”, is making fun of this recent ideological phenomenon. 

But on a more serious note he is also, as usual, making an attempt to highlight the fact that he isn’t racist, which is more or less the core belief at the center of the straight White male stereotype.

The Stereotype

So on one hand, we have the rapper making fun of said stereotype. For instance, in the first verse he presents himself as someone who’s not really subject to the law, even when he breaks it. He also puts forth that he’s ultra-serious about playing by the rules, and when he speaks he always utilizes “good grammar”. Also, the fact that he has been blessed with White privilege makes it impossible for him to fail in the world.

But again, this is McDonald mocking how people perceive individuals such as himself. And in being more direct, what he is basically saying is that individuals who believe such stereotypes are shortsighted. For instance, he isn’t a racist or a sexist, nor does he have issues with gay people. 

And the way all of this is supposed to interconnect is by illustrating that how outsiders view “straight White males” is not how they actually are, with Tom’s way of thinking itself being used as proof of this argument.

The attack on the “Straight White Male” is infuriating Tom!

And premise-wise, the second verse starts off the same as the first. The vocalist mentions even more general characterizations which are levied against his lot.  This time around he also alludes to racism (on the part of straight White men) as well as his demographic being blamed for “building the system” as is. 

So McDonald comes off as if every fault in the world is being put on straight White men. However, this time around he doesn’t conclude by using his own example to counteract these stereotypes. Instead he takes a more aggressive tone by sort of putting forth that he doesn’t really care what people think about him, though he never actually says that directly. 

So it’s like at this point, you can tell that the assault against straight White men is something that actually gets Tom furious at times.

Feminist Tom

Then in the third verse, the vocalist partially takes on a role of a character whom some analysts have described as Feminist Tom. And basically, he is using this voice to illustrate the type of hate that he regularly faces. But more to the point is how narrow minded his critics are, classifying him a certain way even when he asserts the direct opposite in song. 

And the overall implication is that it is in a similar manner in which they are demonizing straight White males. In other words, the woke masses don’t care for who they are individually. Rather as a group they are presently the prototypical bad guy and are stereotyped accordingly.

Chorus of “Straight White Male”

Meanwhile the chorus also possesses that semi-comical tone Tom uses in mocking the idea that straight White males live a carefree life.  In the passage, he also basically taunts those who don’t fall into this category yet tend to blame their personal problems on the titular group.

Lyrics for "Straight White Male"

At the end of the day

So even though this song is pretty uniform, there’s a lot going on therein. Indeed Tom McDonald is one of the best rappers in the game when it comes to actually sticking to one topic on a track. And in this case, that topic would be the stereotypes that straight White men face during an era in human history where the system seems to have turned against them. 

It is a very-deep subject matter for a rapper – or any musician for that matter – to attempt to tackle in song, on top of being risky in terms of potentially offending certain people. 

So as far as a thesis sentiment goes, we would say premise-wise that generally speaking McDonald is putting forth that you can’t judge an individual based on the prevailing stereotypes associated with their group. But with this being done to a “straight White male” like him regardless, then the conclusion is sort of like he doesn’t really give AF either way. And why? How can he give AF when he personally does not conform to said stereotypes?!

When did Tom MacDonald release “Straight White Male”?

This track was released on 24 May 2019. It is one of the singles from Tom’s fifth studio album, “Ghostories”. And as usual as far as McDonald is concerned, it was a self-released effort. Moreover the rapper wrote and produced the song himself.

Who directed the song’s music video?

The director is Nova Rockafeller, who normally works with Tom McDonald in that capacity. Interesting to note is that as of the writing of this post, Nova and Tom are a couple. Nova, who is also a professional rapper, began dating Tom in 2017. In addition to directing all of Tom’s official music videos, Nova also assists him in writing his hooks. She also designed his official website.

Straight White Male

Summary

Within the overall framework of the history of the United States, White males have been perceived to be the most-privileged class. In more recent years they have come under attack by certain parties as the physical embodiment of a bad system. A negative system, which once again, is said to traditionally favor them. 

And in an even-larger context, with the rise of homosexuality and mass immigration, heterosexual, White men have come to personify, to some, the antithesis of certain ideologies taking hold in modern-day America.

And that is the basic backdrop of “Straight White Male”. White men, just like people from any racial group, are subject to stereotypes. And MacDonald is here to let the world know, albeit sarcastically, that he does not fit into the mold mainstream society has currently cast his racial and gender group in. For instance, he has no issues with Black people, immigrants, feminists or homosexuals. 

Moreover, despite beliefs to the contrary, he is also subject to the law as a White male. And he does not fit into the stereotype of poor White trash.

All in all

So overall – in a strange twist of fate considering the entirety of American history – rapper MacDonald is actually complaining about his racial demographic. And what is he complaining about? He is complaining about, White men, being subject to unfair stereotyping. And his primary means of doing so is by showing that he does not fit into these conceptual pigeonholes. Furthermore, he mocks the idea that his life is just dandy based solely on his gender, race and sex.

This song began the beef between MacDonald and Mac Lethal

Apparently this song was at the genesis (or at least part of the origin) of the beef between MacDonald and fellow White rapper Mac Lethal. In May 2019, Lethal made some discourteous comments about a White rapper who raps about the oppression of Whites. Despite Lethal not dropping any names, MacDonald felt those statements were directed at him. He therefore responded with the diss song titled “Lethal Injection“.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may also like...