Albums : Macklemore & Ryan Lewis : The Heist
Albums : Macklemore & Ryan Lewis : The Heist
Listen To Macklemore & Ryan Lewis : The Heist
Who Is Macklemore & Ryan Lewis?
Ben Haggerty (born June 19, 1983), better known by his stage name Macklemore and formerly known as Professor Macklemore, is an American musician. Macklemore works with Ryan Lewis (producer), Andrew Joslyn (violin) and Owour Arunga (trumpet). Haggerty has been releasing music independently since 2000, and has since gained a significant online fanbase. He has released one mixtape, three EPs and two albums without major label support. His music videos "Same Love" and "Thrift Shop" have been viewed on YouTube more than 11 and 45 million times, respectively.
Macklemore released his debut studio album The Heist on October 9, 2012, which entered at number 1 on the US iTunes download charts and No. 2 on the US Billboard 200 charts, selling 78,000 copies in the first week.
Growing up in Seattle, Washington, Haggerty attended Garfield High School and Nathan Hale High School, going on to earn a bachelor’s degree at The Evergreen State College. Interested in reaching a younger generation through his music, he took a job at a juvenile-detention facility. There, he was a part of a program focusing on education and cultural identity called "Gateways for Incarcerated Youth" where he facilitated music workshops.
Though he was not born to a musical family, both of his parents were supportive of his musical ventures. Macklemore was seven years old when hip hop first came in to his life by way of Digital Underground. As he grew older, he and his friends would spend their summers making tents to stay in, listening to the radio, and making dubs and mix-tapes of played songs, as they were unable to buy any due to being underage and without parental consent. Macklemore was fourteen when he started writing lyrics. At this age, his friends would refer to him as Möcklimore. Attending Garfield High School, Macklemore observed a strong racial divide. Despite living in an all-white neighborhood, his school was racially diverse. Macklemore states he came to reflect on his ignorance of social status at the time and how race impacted the areas where one was able to live and to work.
When he started to rap, Macklemore would listen to "a lot of East Coast underground hip hop .. Freestyle Fellowship .. Aceyalone, Living Legends (From California)", Wu-Tang Clan, "Nas, Talib .." being of much influence on him.
In 2008, 2009, and 2011, Macklemore performed at Bumbershoot, a major arts and music festival in Seattle. In 2011, he also performed at the Sasquatch Music Festival in the Washington gorge and at the Outside Lands Music Festival in San Francisco, CA.
Macklemore hosts an annual fan appreciation pizza party, an idea first proposed in 2010. Fans get the chance to prove their love of music and get a ticket to go to the party by showing off their creativity in a contest. Fans have had to sing, paint, draw, and play to get a chance to meet and watch a performance by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis.
In February 2011, Macklemore and producer Ryan Lewis kicked off a multi-city tour in Pullman, Washington, which included three sold-out shows at Showbox at the Market, a Seattle music venue. That same year, the rapper appeared at many U.S. music festivals, including Bumbershoot, Outside Lands, Lollapalooza, Rock the Bells, SoundSet and Sasquatch.
Starting on September 17, 2011, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis started the Fall Tour across the UK, Ireland and throughout North America. They kicked off their tour in America on October 4. This tour included guests Champagne Champagne and Xperience. Macklemore and Ryan Lewis sold out 18 of their 27 venues in the U.S. including the Bowery Ballroom and Troubadour. Their tour ended on December 17 with their final show at The Depot in Salt Lake City.
"The Heist" tour started in Fall 2012 to promote his first studio album: The Heist. (Read More)
The Heist Review
Don't judge Seattle-born rapper Macklemore by his cheeky, catchy hit tune Thrift Shop alone. Because his debut album with producer mate Ryan Lewis reveals Macklemore as a sensitive and socially conscious smartarse. And it's a refreshing combination.
Similar to Thrift Shop, with its incessant brassy hook and dirty lyrical shenanigans ("smells like R Kelly's sheets"), which has held the No 1 single spot in New Zealand for four consecutive weeks, The Heist is clever, innovative good-time hip-hop and pop music. But what makes it even more surprising and inviting is how beautiful many of the 15 songs are, like Thin Line which, as well as its boppy beats and shimmering blips, recalls crooning and swooning new romantics Spandau Ballet. Or the tender gay support group anthem Same Love, a simple piano and brass-driven song with a nod to the tune of People Get Ready. It's also a song that could have been written for our very own John Key with Macklemore's line, "Have you seen the YouTube comments lately, 'Man, that's so gay', is dropped on a daily basis."
Thirty-year-old Macklemore has been releasing music independently since 2000, building up a solid online fanbase. But this year the duo took off, and the album reached No 2 when it was released in the US recently (coming second only to banjo rock phenomenon Mumford & Sons). Which sure ain't bad for an independently released album. (Read More)
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