Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - The Heist

After the explosion of the song “Thrift Shop” on popular radio, indie producer and rapper Macklemore and his production partner, Ryan Lewis, have broken into mainstream success. After telling my brother I was starting this music blog, he begged me to do a review of the album “Thrift Shop” is off of, The Heist, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’s first major label album. I told him I would, but I didn’t have high expectations. He told me that I would be surprised to see that “Thrift Shop” wasn’t like the rest of the album, and that the album was awesome! So I got my copy and started it up. Not even after the first song, I had to admit defeat, as my brother was right. The Heist is one of the biggest surprises I have had with an album in a very long time.

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis understand that rap has to stand for something. Macklemore has a lot of great topics to talk about in his songs. Take for example “Same Love”, a song about Macklemore calling out the rap genre for being homophobic. Songs like this I can get behind. Not only does it stand for something, but Macklemore is taking it a step further calling out his peers on something that needs to be changed. It is a great idea that accelerates Macklemore above his competition.

Another factor that gives Macklemore an edge is the amazing production done by his partner Ryan Lewis. Lewis has wonderful skills behind the production desk as he showcases he knows his skills on every song. The prime example of this is the instrumental track “Bombom”, a amazing track that showcases he knows his musical craft and that he knows how to experiment well.

I know I’m going to get a lot of lip for this next paragraph, but I honestly feel like “Thrift Shop” is the one song on the album that doesn’t fit. With all the other songs breaking the common tropes of rap songs and having meaningful messages, “Thrift Shop” just feels out of place. The lyricism, while catchy, just falls into the tropes of making Macklemore seem awesome, even if he is wearing his grandpa’s coat. It just doesn’t feel right to me being on the album. I will give credit where credit is due though, the production by Lewis is awesome on “Thrift Shop”. It feels like an old school rap song that honestly made me think of Will Smith in a good way.

The final verdict: The Heist is a major surprise in my book. My low expectations because of “Thrift Shop” were shattered by the first song as Macklemore & Ryan Lewis showed that they were a rap group that stood for something. Each song has fantastic messages, some even calling out the tropes of rap that need to change. I hope these two don’t let the fame get to their heads, and they keep making albums like The Heist.

FINAL GRADE: A-
CHOICE CUT: Bombom
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNZkN7k-7qg