“The Heist” by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis is amazing musically, but it doesn’t stop there. The album has a message and divulges into topics not normally brought up in rap music.
First of all, Ryan Lewis, I tip my hat to you, sir. Every song on this album is dynamic and catchy. Lewis shows an incredible range in creating beats, while still creating an overall cohesive sound. The best example of this is “Bombom ft. The Teaching,” a completely instrumental song that is layered to perfection. It is quite clear that Lewis is a master and as such the album started off on a great note (no pun intended), which Macklemore continued with his lyrics.
Macklemore’s lyrics have evolved past the mainstream drugs, girls, and money. He raps about issues that plague us and our society. In “Thrift Shop ft. Wanz” he celebrates hand me down style and how glorious thrift store shopping can be. He continues this idea in “Wings,” a hauntingly beautiful ballad attacking consumerism in America. In the album, Macklemore also discusses the music industry in general. In “Jimmy Lovine,” he rants about producing companies and advocates for going the independent route. In “Make The Money” he urges artists to stay true to themselves and to “change the game, don’t let the game change you.”
The most powerful song, in my opinion, has to be “Same Love ft. Mary Lambert.” In this song Macklemore is both attacking the rap industry and the homophobia it seems to foster and showing his support for LGBT rights, specifically their right to marry.
If you haven’t already, I definitely recommend picking up “The Heist” or at least looking up the songs on YouTube. Even if you don’t like this kind of music, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis have done to hip-hop something that has never been accomplished before, they gave it a conscious.