![]() On the anti-drug track “Kevin”, he gives a tribute to his friend who died from overdose. He gives advice to his daughter as he imagines her at all stages in her life, which is juxtaposed by his own admission (via Ed Sheeran’s hook) that he himself is still growing up and learning about life. Conveying his thoughts and fears as a father-to-be, he ponders out loud on “Growing Up”. The first single released last year had Mack at his most introspective. If you’re wondering, yes, I does my thing ![]() I’m eating chicken wings and onions rings “Brad Pitt’s Cousin” has a middle-eastern sample and frenzied drums and contains some of Mack’s more playful lines: His topics range from funny, heartfelt, melancholy to serious. For me, it’s certainly one you can nod your head to:Īs far as the lyrical side of the album goes, Mack adapts his flow to Ryan’s varied beats. With dusty drums, click-clacking spray cans, dark piano riffs, he provided the most apt urban sonic backdrop for Mack and KRS to shine a light on their past shared hobby of graff-writing. Featuring a verse from the Blastmaster KRS-One and scratches courtesy of DJ Premier, Ryan Lewis really shines as a producer with the beat he provided on this one. The latter single “Buckshot”, is a love letter to East Coast hip-hop from the ’90s. ![]() But if someone like Jay-Z were to do the exact same thing, those people wouldn’t much, if anything, say about it all. I personally and unexpectedly found myself taken with both and, at the same time, understand why some people think they have “hipster” written all over it. Upon the debut of the song and accompanying video, its real surprise was that they both featured rap pioneers Kool Moe Dee, Grandmaster Caz, and Melle Mel. Lyrically, Mack takes an old school flow and narrates a first-person story of buying a moped simply for the hell of it. They upbeat “Downtown” kind of picks up where “Thrift Shop” left off. The second and third released singles convey this message in the form of homages, of sorts. With this album, they set out to prove that they are indeed hip-hop. The album starts off in full-storytelling mode with “Light Tunnels”, a recounting of the duo’s night at the 2014 Grammys and Mack’s experience about being there. Given their success, detractors, and shifts in their respective personal lives, their sophomore album turned out to be better than I expected. Similar to De La Soul’s second album, “De La Soul Is Dead”, the Seattle duo created a sound that dispels popular notions of them. That changed when they released singles from their most recent album that showed people more than just a return. I thought they’d go the way of Lauryn Hill: Releasing a debut album that’s awarded with several accolades and then never to be heard from again. I liked the production as well as Macklemore tackling issues that hip-hop mostly shies away from, but I wasn’t exactly thrilled at his technical ability as an emcee. ![]() Their 2012 debut “The Heist” was just an O.K. They aren’t products of the major labels that manufacture transitory assembly-line stars, keep them in monetary debt, and prohibit true artistry. What many people fail to recognize is that they are independent artists who had a huge breakthrough. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis have been accused of cultural appropriation and even pandering, but neither of those are true. city” should have won the award for the top rap category. Gaining four wins (three in the rap categories) at the 2014 Grammys caused outcries of racism and White Privilege as many people, including myself, believed that Kendrick Lamar’s “ good kid, m.A.A.d. ![]() In 2013, I couldn’t go into a supermarket or a fast-food joint without hearing it, as well as the upbeat “Can’t Hold Us”. I didn’t hear his raspy voice again until he practically kicked down the door of pop mainstream with the tongue-in-cheek “ Thrift Shop“. They started in the underground which is where I first heard Macklemore via “Close Your Eyes” on CunninLynguists’ 2009 release “Strange Journey, Vol. The Seattle-based Macklemore & Ryan Lewis have become a polarizing duo within the hip-hop community as well as across pop music landscape in general. ![]()
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