Macklemore
With rap music these days, it seems to always be about sex and money. You tend to think of songs like “make it nasty” or “bags of money” with their repetitive empty lyrics. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes these songs are exactly what you wanna’ hear getting ready for a party or out on the dance floor, but when it comes to quality music, sometimes it feels the rap genre is fading. Then, every now and again, there comes an artist like Macklemore: an artist who sings about reality, about problems that face people every day, about social change. With the release of his new album “The Heist,” Macklemore is making headlines, breaking barriers, and finally receiving all the credit and fan support he deserves.
His newest music video, “Same Love,” speaks to gender equality and equal rights for everyone despite their sexual orientation. His past song “Otherside,” talked about drug addiction within the hip hop culture, exploiting the true horrors and negativity in contrast to the “glamor” Hollywood sometimes portrays. Not only does Macklemore tackle real issues, but he has a funny side too. His hits such as “And We Danced” and “Thrift Shop” are comedy pieces that have hilarious lyrics, mixed with sick beats in order to create the perfect party songs. No matter your mood, there is a Macklemore song to perfectly serve as a soundtrack to your life.
Macklemore is not just a solo act though; he teams up with a master DJ named Ryan Lewis to create his music. Between Lewis’ incredible sounds, beats, and rhythms, combined with Macklemore’s compelling voice and ingenious lyrics, they will continue to change the face of the rap music industry. Macklemore is knowingly, actively, trying to transform the image of typical rap music into an art, and bring back an appreciation of uniqueness, individuality, and purpose.
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Kendrick Lamar
I’m sure many of you have heard the cool new rap song, “Swimming Pools” where they say “Drank” during the chorus. However, everyone should get to know the up-and-coming amazing rapper behind it. His name is Kendrick Lamar, and he is definitely someone to keep an eye out for because he’s starting to make it big.
His new album, released at the end of October, is called “good kid m.A.A.d city.”
“It’s two, two meanings,” Lamar explained in a recent interview. “The first is ‘my angry adolescence divided,’ and the basic standout meaning is ‘my angel’s on angel dust.’ That’s the reason why I don’t smoke. That was me. I got laced. The reason I don’t smoke…it’s in the album. It’s in the story. It was just me getting my hands on the wrong thing at the wrong time, being oblivious to it.”
Kendrick has been recognized as the newest hot shot to collaborate with. His newest hit “B**** Don’t Kill my Vibe” was originally a collaboration with Lady Gaga. He has also produced music with such popular artists as Dr. Dre, Drake, Rick Ross, Young Jeezy, Talib Kweli, Busta Rhymes and Lil Wayne. Kendrick’s music style is very unique to most rappers. He has often been compared to Tupac, Eminem, Nas, and Jay-Z. I relate him to Lupe Fiasco.
He uses light female voices as a background harmony over deep bass beats in combination with sick raps full of creativity and intelligence. My personal favorite off his new album is “Poetic Justice” featuring Drake. One of the great things about both Drake and Kendrick, is their ability to balance enteric raps and catchy choruses. They leave enough repetition for you to sing along to, and work a common theme through the song, without letting it overpowering the song and diminishing the value of the rap. Kendrick finishes his songs with a funny, creative, speaking ending. His layering of different sounds to create a unique vibe of music is completely his own. Clearly, this is an artist with staying power, and plenty of style.
* Article by Kelly Guin