When fans saw rapper Macklemore had cancelled an upcoming gig, some of them assumed it was in solidarity with Gaza.

But it wasn’t. The gig was in Dubai and he’d cancelled over the war in Sudan, which has already killed tens of thousands of people, left millions more hungry and triggered a humanitarian disaster.

The glamorous Gulf city of Dubai is the biggest in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) – which has been widely accused of funding the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), one of the warring sides in Sudan.

“The crisis in Sudan is catastrophic,” Macklemore said in his post on Monday. Some food security specialists estimate up to 2.5 million people could die of starvation and illness by October.

“I have to ask myself what is my intention as an artist?” continued the rapper, who rose to fame on 2012 classic Thrift Shop.

“If I take the money,” Macklemore said, “while knowing it doesn’t sit right with my spirit, how am I any different from the politicians I’ve been actively protesting against?”

His moral stand thrust the brutal conflict – which has garnered far less global attention than Ukraine or Gaza – into popular culture, and activists hope other artists will follow suit.

“It was huge,” says an activist in London who’s been campaigning for a ceasefire. “In the comments there were a lot of people saying, ‘oh, my God, what’s happening in Sudan?’

“I think it opened people’s eyes.”