I, like many, was introduced to the duo of Macklemore and Ryan Lewis through their single 'Thrift Shop', and by extension, their first full length collaboration, The Heist. Being fresh out of college, and well acquainted with a Good Will store, I enjoyed this single, and I thought other parts of the album showed promise. Macklemore was, and is, a very talented rapper, and Ryan Lewis is a producer with a very grandiose, cinematic take on hip hop production, incorporating large degrees of instrumentation, namely pianos, strings and brass. However, I felt like that album, along with this new helping, suffer from the same problems; radical tone shifts and a severe crisis of identity.
I feel like Macklemore is a talented rapper; his delivery is skillful, and he can put words together and deliver complicated flowing lines. However, he has never shown much in the way of consistency. I don't really feel like he knows who he is as a rapper, and yet somehow he is undoubtedly very self aware in his lyrics and behavior, often to his detriment. I am referring to his want to be universally loved by all aspect of the music community; he wants to be conscious, yet funny and radio friendly. He wants to throw rap pioneers on his record to prove his "authenticity" in hip hop as well as talk about the recent events in the Black Rights Matter movement, yet make Deez Nutz jokes and rap about old man genitals on the same record. A person can get whiplash listening to this thing.
This constant tone shift is what really hurts the album for me. Do you want to be Talib Kweli or Asher Roth? Or even Weird Al (seriously, what was with 'Let's Eat'?) There are good moments here, like 'Buckshot' (mainly for KRS-One) and 'Kevin', but the silly moments are just too far. And I'm not going to even up the can of worms that is 'White Privilege II'. I'm not going to bore you with another think piece on that, though I find Macklemore's need to insert himself into things purely for reasons of self aggrandizement a little disturbing. These same neuroses also glimpse through on 'Light Tunnels', a long winded reference to his upset win over Kendrick Lamar for Best Rap Album at the Grammys a few years ago, and the subsequent events. Because it worked out so well the last time you brought that up.
All in all, this had some decent moments, but unless you're a Macklemore fan, you probably won't get too much out of this. He wanted this album to be accessible, yet appeal to hip hop heads, and it fails on both accounts. Pop listeners will find this too long winded, and hip hop heads will be turned off by its goofy songs, strange politics, and honestly, some pretty safe and unexciting production (Ryan Lewis' presence on this is not palpable, to put it lightly). I feel like Macklemore just needs to pick a path and stay on it, because cutting down the middle is not doing him any favors.
Out of a total of five stars, I give this:
I feel like Macklemore is a talented rapper; his delivery is skillful, and he can put words together and deliver complicated flowing lines. However, he has never shown much in the way of consistency. I don't really feel like he knows who he is as a rapper, and yet somehow he is undoubtedly very self aware in his lyrics and behavior, often to his detriment. I am referring to his want to be universally loved by all aspect of the music community; he wants to be conscious, yet funny and radio friendly. He wants to throw rap pioneers on his record to prove his "authenticity" in hip hop as well as talk about the recent events in the Black Rights Matter movement, yet make Deez Nutz jokes and rap about old man genitals on the same record. A person can get whiplash listening to this thing.
This constant tone shift is what really hurts the album for me. Do you want to be Talib Kweli or Asher Roth? Or even Weird Al (seriously, what was with 'Let's Eat'?) There are good moments here, like 'Buckshot' (mainly for KRS-One) and 'Kevin', but the silly moments are just too far. And I'm not going to even up the can of worms that is 'White Privilege II'. I'm not going to bore you with another think piece on that, though I find Macklemore's need to insert himself into things purely for reasons of self aggrandizement a little disturbing. These same neuroses also glimpse through on 'Light Tunnels', a long winded reference to his upset win over Kendrick Lamar for Best Rap Album at the Grammys a few years ago, and the subsequent events. Because it worked out so well the last time you brought that up.
All in all, this had some decent moments, but unless you're a Macklemore fan, you probably won't get too much out of this. He wanted this album to be accessible, yet appeal to hip hop heads, and it fails on both accounts. Pop listeners will find this too long winded, and hip hop heads will be turned off by its goofy songs, strange politics, and honestly, some pretty safe and unexciting production (Ryan Lewis' presence on this is not palpable, to put it lightly). I feel like Macklemore just needs to pick a path and stay on it, because cutting down the middle is not doing him any favors.
Out of a total of five stars, I give this:
I have a long list of reviews I'm planing on sharing, including the surprise Kendrick Lamar album, as well as the Waldgeflüster/ Panopticon split, among others. Stay tuned, and feel free to share your opinions on this record, as well as other projects you're excited about.
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