What Happened To Macklemore and Ryan Lewis?

Malcolm or Ryan Lewis were once an unstoppable duo that ruled radio and internet charts and received multiple viral moments, some better than others. Their reign was short-lived, but were they ever really intended to last? Macklemore and Ryan Lewis represent a very particular moment in popular music. the first viral craze of the 2010s, the year before they achieved international stardom we had the gangnam style which really helped pioneer the viral craze, you would then see the rise of songs like Harlem Shake which was released in 2012, but it really didn't. take off until 2013 then you also have

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yeoviz fox says and then we would have songs like thrift shop and we would reject so the world was obsessed with humorous and silly songs usually attached to some funny or downright wacky videos and I really think that the YouTube air and parodies also helped usher in this thrift store wave that took off at the right time, but the duo had been working for quite some time before the thrift store and it took them years of work. to finally gain widespread attention.

Ryan Lewis worked initially. As a photographer for Macklemore, when they met in 2006, they would eventually become the duo we would know them as, with Ryan taking on the production role, they released a couple of episodes in 2009 and 2010 that generated quite a bit of buzz for them: the debut single, Wings. was released in 2011. In this song, Macklemore talks about consumerism and unfortunately he's very serious, making it seem like a very melodramatic piece of pop rap in some ways. I understand why this was their first single. It felt more like a statement. song, something to set the tone for

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was to come from them, they would release two more singles, a title can't contain us, which features ray dalton on vocals and is one of their best moments, it's a motivational power pop anthem with a sound super catchy. hook, the next single they would release is a song titled Same Love, which is one of their most prolific moments, it's a song about gay love and gay marriage, which isn't really something that's commonly talked about in rap. or pop music during that time and especially in such a direct way, there are no clichés or exactly ambiguous lyrics that can apply to everyone in a certain sense, if you are strong, you are a fighter, you can be yourself, it was nothing like that, It actually tells a story of homosexuality. and gay marriage and according to the new york times it is the first song to explicitly embrace and promote gay marriage and it has made it into the top 40 gay rights advocates and radio executives said which is crazy to think on that, i don't think there has been a song this direct when it comes to gay marriage since this song came out, it's a very independent song that was released when players were still fighting to be legalized and mary lambert sang the chorus, both tracks They wouldn't become hits until after the thrift store closed. released, which was the penultimate single from the album, thrift shop was instrumental in the career of malcolm and

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, reaching number one in over 15 countries, including the US, some might argue that thrift shop is cheesy and can It may be a little cheesy but it's actually a very well crafted track, the sex lines, the adlibs and of course Macklemore's delivery it's a very catchy and attention grabbing song and it's one of the few songs that first promoted the glamor of second-hand shopping.

You'll see other people like Lil Dicky. Kind of an attempt to ride the thrift store wave with his 2015 song, save that money. boosted their previously released singles, the same love and can't hold us back from becoming overnight hits in their own right. What made malcolm or

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lewis

somewhat significant was not just their themes and sometimes sophisticated clothing, but also their independence. Famously, they were not signed to a major label and were the underdogs turned pop stars, although they were independent and owned all their music, they had a deal with Warner Music Group where they paid for radio promotion to give their singles more outrage. .

This is said to be a very unusual deal, but it is a very smart deal that leverages the power of a major label while retaining its independence. Their debut album, The Heist, was released in 2012 to positive reviews and commercial success. After the success of the Heist era, they received a lot of media attention, but the worst they got was in 2014, after winning the Grammy, the duo from Seattle won best rap album for his hit studio album, The Heist, which beat out Drake. Nothing was the same. Jay-Z's Magna Carta. Good Kid Mad City by Kendrick Lamar and Yeezus by Kanye West, being one of the weakest.

The albums in the category faced a lot of backlash, there are a lot of conversations about race and hip hop, and while it's clear there were better albums in the category, I think their win shows that there's more wrong with the Grammys themselves. and not necessarily the people who are being nominated or rewarded, they cannot control whether they are awarded, but it is quite obvious that mclemore and ryan lewis would be the center of the conversation considering that they were the ones who experienced this and caused the conversation. Their conversation was more a symbol of the failures the Grammys had made, but as a result of it becoming so open in the music world, I think some people took out their frustration on the duo and, as a result, it seemed like Macklemore harbored some sort of guilt for winning and he apologized too much, but in all honesty, I don't think it was that serious for him to stick with it, it's an infamous Grammy moment, but as we've learned, the Grammys aren't. very much in tune with the cultural significance, speaking about it in an interview in 2021, he said that it wasn't just the Grammys that we won.

I'm looking at the shelf I have in the corner. We win everything. There is a big conversation about yes or no. We should be in the best rap album category and I wonder why I don't rap. This is not a rap album. I understand that there are pop sensibilities. I get that there are unapologetic pop moments, but isn't Jimmy Levine a rap song? "Make money, it's not a rap song I'm fighting a lot. I'm benefiting from the system I've been calling since I was 20 years old. He felt that the color of his skin made it easier for him to win.

Here I am the highest level of artistic merit the Grammys and here I am benefiting from the same thing I've been talking about so I was conflicted people went to say it was his fault he says he feels guilty for being white that's so superficial there was an air of was that absolutely it? However, after the heist, their career persisted and in 2016 they released their second album titled This Unruly Mess I've Made, which was released to lukewarm reviews and moderate success. One of the singles from the album is called White Privilege. 2. addressed themes of racism and injustice and caused quite a bit of conversation shortly after their second album, they would go on hiatus to allow creative space and we all know that pause is a good word for a divide.

Mclemore alluded to a more direct reason for The division in his interview with Rolling Stone says that I think Ryan is very good at finding what he wants in people and bringing out the best in people. I think he can sometimes be a little discouraging when someone constantly says no, rewrite it, no, rewrite it. Rewriting it is a rebound from both of us being strong critics so we can make the best art possible, although they are on hiatus as a group, their careers have not stopped separately. Malcolm released his first album that he made without Ryan producing it since 2005. the album was released in 2017 and is called gemini all the singles went platinum selling over 1 million units the album went gold for selling over 500,000 copies in just The US didn't necessarily have a huge hit, but it did experience quite a bit of success.

Ryan Lewis co-wrote and co-produced Kesha's 2017 single, Prayer, which received rape criticism and gained worldwide attention. Ryan remains a quiet and private figure. Malcolm Ryan Lewis had worked for years, but when they finally started to gain attention, the rise was quite a bit. Fast, they were never able to recapture exactly the same magic of their first album, but Malcolm Moore in particular has done a great job of building a loyal fan base with years of groundwork. He started making music in 2000 and didn't get his big break until 2012 and Malcolm Moore did their best work with Ryan Lewis and went independent, which is pretty admirable.

Malcolm or Ryan Lewis may never return as a duo, and if they do, they most likely won't be at the level of pop stardom they once had. but for two guys who weren't signed to a major label, they still accomplished quite a bit.