Rappers challenge hip hop to grow up
MCS sing about gay relationships
Macklemore isn’t afraid to tell you he was scared when he saw some of the destinations for his upcoming tour. Idaho. Montana. Texas. None of those places in the U.S. heartland seemed as if they’d be receptive to Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ left-leaning message, especially for the song Same Love, which offers support for the gay community.
To the 29-year-old rapper’s surprise, he found the crowds singing the chorus right back at him.
“Those were three places where people probably sang the loudest and it gives me some hope in the power of music and what music can do,” said the MC, whose given name is Ben Haggerty.
It’s a time of plenty for the Seattle alternative hiphop duo, which released its debut studio album, The Heist, to great acclaim last month. Haggerty and his producing and business partner Lewis sold more than 78,000 copies of the record the first week of release. That’s a staggering sum for an independent release, putting the album at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 all-genre chart.
“It’s a validation, absolutely,” Haggerty said in a phone interview.
Lewis said offers are coming from everywhere and the fans are increasing exponentially at every show.
Haggerty’s rhymes and stories go far beyond the braggadocio of the current archetype. Homosexuality isn’t the only subject he looks at closely.
The Heist opens with Ten Thousand Hours, a riff on the theories of author Malcolm Gladwell and an ode to hard work.
“I want to give 100 per cent of who I am to the listener and censorship is not an option,” Haggerty said. “And when I’m afraid, when I’m fearful, when I feel like I’m divulging too much information is usually when I know I’m writing a good song.”
We see that best on Same Love as he compellingly relates how when he was in Grade 3 he came to the conclusion he was gay.
Haggerty thinks the song’s cultural impact shows how hip-hop has changed.
“I hope we’re part of that transformation,” Haggerty said. “I don’t think a song like Same Love would have been received the same way even five years ago. We as a society and a culture have proven throughout time that we evolve, that we become slowly more compassionate and tolerant and accepting.”