YMMV / Macklemore

• Anvilicious: "Same Love" is something of an Author Tract on the subject of gay marriage and equality in the United States.
  America the brave
  Still fears what we don't know
  And God loves all his children, it's somehow forgotten
  But we paraphrase a book written 3500 years ago
• Award Snub:
  • Not to him, but many people claim that his 4 Grammy wins led to other artists being snubbed, most notably winning Best Rap Album against four very strong albums from Kanye West, Jay-Z, Drake and especially Kendrick Lamar. He himself admitted to Kendrick that he didn't think he deserved all those awards.
  • The 2014 Kids' Choice Awards. He & Ryan Lewis lost Favorite Group to One Direction. True, their odds of winning that award were virtually nonexistent, but, still, a loss is a loss.
• Awesome Music:
  • One highlight is "BomBom", without Macklemore rapping, and just Ryan Lewis on the instrumental. The result is five minutes long, and it's GLORIOUS.
  • While we're at it, "Same Love" (featuring Mary Lambert's beautiful chorus) "Thrift Shop," and "Can't Hold Us," both having the Audacity (even if they probably use Pro Tools) to use horns.
• Broken Base: When the Mack raps about black suffrage and gay rights, is he sending a sincere message about human rights and equality, or simply taking on the White Man's Burden for something he only barely understands?
• Ensemble Dark Horse: "Downtown" features Eric Nally, vocalist of the band Foxy Shazam, in the chorus. Most of the YouTube comments praise his performance and highlight him as the best part of the song.
• Funny Moments:
  • Every other line in "Thrift Shop." Specifically, everything that has to do with Macklemore getting hand-me-downs from his grandfather.
  • Also, in the same song:
    They had a broken keyboard, I bought a broken keyboard
    I bought a skeet blanket, then I bought a kneeboard
  • "And We Danced": The song alone sounds like it could've been written by Flight of the Conchords or The Lonely Island. Combine it with the over-the-top parodic music video, though, and you have a recipe for six straight minutes of laughter and cheesy fun.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: "Thrift Shop", a song about not spending a lot of money, made him rich.
• It's Popular, Now It Sucks!: Despite releasing an album completely independently, he's gotten a lot of hate on the grounds of reaching the mainstream pop stations.
• Memetic Mutation:
  • "The toast is toast.... Dammit, I burnt the toast"
  • One man's shit, that's another man's pissssssss
    • The tumblr post that inspired the above video's title
  • "Why the Hell would you buy a broken keyboard?!"
  • "You can find me in the Goodwill you can find me in the Goodwill you can find me in the Goodwill..."
• Misaimed Fandom:
  • "Thrift Shop" has been heralded as an anthem of local business and an attack on name-brand shopping, but the Mack has made it clear that he actually enjoys both.
  • His reputation as a "safe" rapper comes up in "White Privilege Part II," where a middle-aged mom compliments him on making "positive" rap, unlike the thuggish, depressing stuff that most other (read: Black) rappers make, completely ignoring the weight of the messages he tries to send.
• Moment of Awesome:
  • Starting out really small and independent and then debuting The Heist at #2 on the Billboard 200 charts (right below Mumford & Sons!). "Thrift Shop" then made #1 for multiple weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, then "Can't Hold Us" replicated the feat.
  • The ending of "Jimmy Iovine". Also doubles as a Heartwarming Moment.
  • "Thrift Shop" becoming the #1 song on Billboard's Year-End Hot 100 Singles chart in 2013. Many people thought "Blurred Lines" could overtake it, but "Thrift Shop" held Robin Thicke and co. back.
• Narm: "Stay At Home Dad" has the wonderfully memetic line above about burning toast.
• Narm Charm:
  • The Nah-Nah-Nahs near the end of Can't Hold Us. So... cheesy... and yet... so... AWESOME!
  • "Downtown." Never has a song about riding a moped sounded so anthemic.
• Older Than They Think: He was thought to be one of the biggest "new artists" of 2012-13. In reality, he released his debut album (The Language of My World) in 2005. His debut EP (Open Your Eyes) was released even earlier, in the year 2000. Even if you were to give this distinction to him as a duo with Ryan Lewis, that still doesn't work. Their first mixtape (The Unplanned Mixtape) was released in 2009.
• Sequel Displacement: Similar to his contemporary Eminem, most people think his first album was The Heist when it was actually The Language of My World released in 2005. Understandable, because back then the only people who knew about Macklemore were Seattleites into its underground hip-hop scene.
• Signature Song: "Thrift Shop" is the song that broke him out into stardom and sits at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Year-End charts of 2013. "Can’t Hold Us" is a close second.
• What Do You Mean, It's Not for Kids?: Because he's made songs about things other than money, bitches, murder, and drugs, many people seem to be under the impression that Macklemore is a "family-friendly" rapper. Not helping is that "Thrift Shop" was pretty popular with kids when it came out due to its wacky subject, and was covered by Kidz Bop and numerous other imitators. And then he gets nominated for Best Rapper in the 2014 Kids' Choice Awards. Of course, being a famous rapper, his music is rife with swearing, and his music has touched on not-so family-friendly issues in a non-glorified way, such as drug addiction and having sex.

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