I admit that I am not into rap. The beats are unoriginal and the music is too electronic for my ears. Many of the lyrics are not consistent with my core convictions, to say the least. The female rappers, what few there are, sound as if they’re yodeling around some of the notes rather than hitting them head-on. I do make one exception in this genre: Macklemore.
Macklemore (né Ben Haggerty) and his writing partner, Ryan Lewis, are Seattle natives. Local institutions figure prominently in his videos. In the iconic “Thrift Shop”, Macklemore ravages the downtown Goodwill store in search of bargains to the tune of a sassy saxophone riff. (He made a sizable donation to Goodwill for the privilege.) In “White Walls”, he raps from the top of the Capitol Hill Dick’s Drive-In burger joint. He also wrote a song, “My, Oh My”, in memory of longtime Seattle Mariners announcer Dave Niehaus.
What sets Macklemore apart from other rappers is a well-tuned social conscience. If you watched the Grammy Awards in 2014, you saw him perform his track, “Same Love”, with Mary Lambert as 31 same-sex couples got married by Queen Latifah. He has been open about his past drug addiction and appeared with President Obama earlier this year to discuss prevention and treatment. His song, “Drug Pusher”, alludes to this part of his life.
After the election, he posted a new track, “Wednesday Morning.” He describes his anxiety about what the next four years may hold for his young daughter and how he plans on fighting back with positive force. It’s worth a listen for those of us who are equally apprehensive about life after January 20th.
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