Macklemore and Ryan Lewis respond to criticism in XXL interview

By The Hip Hop Writer
Hip Hop Vibe Staff Writer

It is hard to pinpoint why Macklemore and Ryan Lewis are so popular. Whatever the case may be, there are more people for them than against them. Mackelmore and Ryan Lewis have several multiplatinum singles out and a gold album with The Heist. But, they are best-known for their “Thrift Shop” single with Wanz.

Despite the immense success of the single, most within the hip hop world have dismissed the rapper/producer duo as corny. In hip hop, that is a title most do not take lightly and do all they can to remove the title from their name. But, if corny is what pays the bills, then so be it.

XXL caught up with Macklemore and Ryan Lewis yesterday and they addressed these critics head on. These critics have come out in droves to target Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, but specifically Macklemore. During the interview, Macklemore addressed the New York Times article where he was criticized so heavily.

Read an excerpt of the interview below:

Mack, there was a NY Times article that came out in February that talked about you and Baauer and your chart-topping success. In the article, Jon Caramanica wrote, “Macklemore’s success is a reminder that in 2013 it is possible to consume hip-hop while remaining at a far remove from the center of the genre.” What’s your response to that?

Macklemore: Well, that sounds like it’s coming from a thirtysomething-year-old white man, and they tend to be bitter and cynical. I think that we as humans who have grown up listening to hip-hop music, hip-hop is a certain thing to us. For me, the “pure” hip-hop is the Golden Era. That’s what brings back that nostalgia, that feeling of being a kid and connecting with music, like, “This is the real shit. Everything else is fake,” and it goes through all these different phases. But you had Puffy come out with the shiny suit after that, and then it was like, “Oh, hip-hop is dying. What is this?” Then it was like, “Oh, the skinny jeans! Skinny jeans are fucking killing hip-hop! That’s what’s the matter with music, is these fucking skinny jeans.” And now it’s Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, and now it’s really over.

But that’s bullshit. I think that the dude who wrote that probably hasn’t listened to the whole album. When a song like “Thrift Shop” becomes a part of popular culture and soccer moms are bumping it and 5-year-olds are singing, “This is fucking awesome,” it’s really easy to go in with a scalpel and dissect it and scrutinize the shit out of it. If it was somebody else who made the song, I’d probably do the same thing, particularly if it was two white dudes. But I still think “Thrift Shop” is a really great record. I think that the beat’s slapping, I think that I’m rapping my ass off, and I think that it has a really catchy chorus, and those things came together and made a record that crossed over to pop. But we made a song about secondhand clothes; it’s about thrift shopping. How is that…there was no mass plan, like, “We are going to take over the industry by making a song about clothes that smell like piss!” That’s a horrible marketing scheme. [Laughs] But in terms of that writer and in terms of anybody else who says anything like that, I understand. I am that guy, too, and I do view music in that same way, but I think it’s narrow-minded and I would encourage people to listen to the full record before typecasting us and putting us in a box.