All production is handled by the talented jack-of-all-multimedia-trades, Ryan Lewis.
VS, however, is a concept album of sorts, at least when it comes to its sonic arrangements. (He dropped The Unplanned Mixtape a few months ago as a primer to this.) The Language of My World was solid, sensible, underground hip-hop, and The Unplanned Mixtape continued in that vein, save for a few wacky excursions into comedic territory. EP marks Macklemore’s second proper album release. But this is primarily an album review, not social commentary, so let’s get back on track… We are not as progressive as we would like to believe. This isn’t meant to criticize Macklemore (that would be faulty and completely unfair), it’s just an unfortunate condition of the racial atmosphere in Seattle. It doesn’t hurt that Mack has found success as a performer in lily-white Seattle, a city that is eager to embrace hip-hop’s defiant tendencies especially if they’re delivered by someone who appears “safe”. The fact that Macklemore was willing to recognize and explore the implications of his race in a song like “White Privilege” showed a unique engagement and unspoken pledge to honor hip-hop’s racial history.
Fair or unfair, white rappers typically have to work harder to be taken seriously, especially in mainstream hip-hop. It’s easy to accept Macklemore, a white man in a traditionally black and latino man’s game, because of the commitment he shows to the art form. He found some quick success when he was “discovered” by Myspace co-founder Tom Anderson, and was a featured music artist on the seminal social networking site. On his 2005 debut, The Language of My World, Macklemore showed he could bridge the gap between a white middle-class upbringing and hip-hop, without disrespecting the music’s origins. That is, if said nerds all had the gift of hip-hop gab like him which, alas, they don’t. He’s the rapper other wannabe rapper nerds strive to be like. For these reasons, he’s one of Seattle hip-hop’s biggest nerds and one of its coolest cats. He is at once confident, humorous, nostalgic, self-deprecating, and completely unapologetic for who he is. Macklemore makes music that’s nice to the ears and soul.
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