The rapper and his partner Ryan Lewis are gearing up to release 'This Unruly Mess I've Made', a follow-up album to their 2012 Grammy-winning set 'The Heist'.
- Feb 22, 2016
AceShowbiz - More than three years after the massive success of "The Heist", Macklemore and his partner Ryan Lewis are now getting ready to release its follow-up. Their newest project as a duo is titled "This Unruly Mess I've Made" and is scheduled to hit the stores on February 29.
In a letter accompanying the album's announcement, Macklemore said he and Lewis "bought a 1985 Suburban, loaded up some equipment and left town," recording the album somewhere in the "wilderness" of the Pacific Northwest.
"Growing Up (Sloane's Song)" was released last year as the first preview of their sophomore effort. Written by and featuring guest vocals from Ed Sheeran, the ballad was a tribute to Mecklemore's daughter whom he welcomed with wife Tricia Davis.
It was followed by "Downtown" which features hip-hop veterans Melle Mel, Kool Moe Dee and Grandmaster Caz. The upbeat tune managed to reach No. 12 on Billboard Hot 100, but the most-discussed song from the project was probably the single "White Privilege II", on which he name-dropped the likes of Miley Cyrus and Iggy Azalea for appropriating black culture.
Azalea, who first interpreted the track as a diss directed at her, hit back at Macklemore and ended up feuding with fellow rapper Talib Kweli. Macklemore has since explained that the song wasn't meant to attack anyone.
"That second verse is unpacking," he said in an interview with Rolling Stone. "It's an unpacking moment of internalised criticism and self-doubt, and 'What have I done,' and letting the criticism infiltrate who I am. 'Why am I insecure at a protest?' And I think that people get put into boxes, and the conversation around cultural appropriation - I was at the forefront of that, rightfully so. And that conversation also included Miley Cyrus and Iggy Azalea, and that's why their names are on the record."
In addition to the aforementioned songs, "This Unruly Mess I've Made" will include collaborations with other big names in the game like KRS-One, who along with DJ Premier is featured on "Buckshot", Chance the Rapper, YG and even Idris Elba.
