Macklemore creates a storm with his latest New York gig appearance

The rapper may possibly have made a very small dent in his close to 31 million Spotify monthly listeners and his 10 million YouTube subscribers. Macklemore has certainly caused outrage and raised his profile in Scotland in particular. A number of his fans there have now declared they won’t be listening to him anymore. 

Rappers do run the risk of causing upset for a variety of dramatic or controversial reasons. You might expect it to be for some explicit lyrics or bad behaviour. Macklemore though has hit the news over in the UK and upset some fans at the weekend for something quite different.

He has been seen wearing a Celtic FC football top on stage at his gig at The Rooftop, Pier 17 New York on Friday. Like a true fan of the club he had his real surname Heggarty and squad number 83 printed on the back of the shirt. He was born in 1983 which is likely to be the reason for the choice of number.

Club rivalry sparks Macklemore backlash

Now this perhaps doesn’t feel hugely dramatic, and for many, it’s not really controversial. But over in Scotland, it’s hugely so. There is a very serious long-standing and intense rivalry between the two main football/soccer clubs in Glasgow, Celtic and Rangers.

To the extent that followers of Rangers have been horrified by the rapper's choice of a Celtic shirt. Some have already taken to social media declaring him as persona non grata and themselves as now ex-listeners and subscribers of Macklemore and his music. A number of others will probably still be wondering who Macklemore is!

Although both clubs have huge fan followings worldwide, it’s unlikely that those who were already fans of the rapper and have turned against him now will be a significant number. He might even have gained a few more fans amongst Celtic supporters delighted and amused by his choice of shirt. He does join Rod Stewart and Snoop Dogg as fellow music artists donning the Celtic shirt. In response to Macklemore’s choice of shirt Celtic FC issued an open invitation for him to visit the club. 

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