Adele declined to make an appearance on the new Macklemore album This Unruly Mess I've Made, the rapper has revealed.
Macklemore released his new album this past Friday (Feb. 26) with frequent collaborator Ryan Lewis, featuring names such as Chance the Rapper, Idris Elba and Leon Bridges.
In an interview with The New York Times, Macklemore revealed that he had approached Adele to contribute to the record with some vocals on “Growing Up.” When she “graciously passed” on the project, he used singer Ed Sheeran for the song.
“I’m sure that there were times that we never heard back from somebody’s manager or something like that,” Macklemore said to The Times.
Despite Adele turning the pair down, Macklemore and Lewis are gearing up for an arena tour in the U.K. in April. The tour will run from April 12 through the end of the month and includes dates in Manchester, Glasgow, Newcastle, Leeds, Nottingham, Birmingham and London according to NME.
In other Macklemore news, the rapper sparked a controversy when he released “White Privilege II,” which referenced both Miley Cyrus and Iggy Azalea. Macklemore later had to backtrack and explain that the song was not, in fact, a diss aimed at Azalea.
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Macklemore explained some of the concept behind the song and that he dropped Cyrus and Azalea’s names as part of a larger discussion, saying, “It’s an unpacking moment of internalized criticism and self-doubt, and ‘What have I done,’ and letting the criticism infiltrate who I am.”
“'Why am I insecure at a protest?’” He further said, “And I think that people get put into boxes, and the conversation around cultural appropriation -- I was at the forefront of that, rightfully so. And that conversation also included Miley Cyrus and Iggy Azalea, and that’s why their names are on the record.”
