EARMILK EARMILK
  • NEW MUSIC
    • DANCE
    • ELECTRONIC
    • EXPERIMENTAL
    • HIP-HOP
    • INDIE
    • POP
    • ROCK
  • INDUSTRY NEWS
    • DOCUMENTARIES
    • EVENTS
    • FASHION
    • LIFESTYLE
    • MUSIC GEAR
    • MUSIC INDUSTRY
    • TECHNOLOGY
  • OPINION
  • ALBUM REVIEWS
  • GEAR REVIEWS
  • INTERVIEWS
  • FEATURES
    • FESTIVALS
    • EXCLUSIVES
    • LISTS
    • CONTESTS
    • Photo Journals
  • SERIES
    • Artist to Watch
    • Under The Crust
    • Flashback Friday
    • Suicide Sundaes
    • Daily 2%
    • The Club
    • Weekend Selector
    • Mashup Mondays
    • Artist Remixed
    • Wobble Wednesday
    • Night Rumours
    • Indie Sabbath
    • Straight No Chase
    • Straight From the Teet
  • Jobs
  • About EARMILK
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact Us
  • Submit Music
EARMILK EARMILK
EARMILK EARMILK
  • NEW MUSIC
    • DANCE
    • ELECTRONIC
    • EXPERIMENTAL
    • HIP-HOP
    • INDIE
    • POP
    • ROCK
  • INDUSTRY NEWS
    • DOCUMENTARIES
    • EVENTS
    • FASHION
    • LIFESTYLE
    • MUSIC GEAR
    • MUSIC INDUSTRY
    • TECHNOLOGY
  • OPINION
  • ALBUM REVIEWS
  • GEAR REVIEWS
  • INTERVIEWS
  • FEATURES
    • FESTIVALS
    • EXCLUSIVES
    • LISTS
    • CONTESTS
    • Photo Journals
  • SERIES
    • Artist to Watch
    • Under The Crust
    • Flashback Friday
    • Suicide Sundaes
    • Daily 2%
    • The Club
    • Weekend Selector
    • Mashup Mondays
    • Artist Remixed
    • Wobble Wednesday
    • Night Rumours
    • Indie Sabbath
    • Straight No Chase
    • Straight From the Teet
  • Hip-Hop
  • News

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis hit Platinum

  • August 28, 2013
  • EARMILK Staff
Total
0
Shares
0
0

On October 9, 2012, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis released an album entitled The Heist expecting minimal reaction.  With no mainstream promotion or support, the hip-hop duo hoped to crack 30,000 total units sold for a record that was independently produced, recorded and released.  But somehow, someway, the music caught fire.  Today, Mack and Ryan celebrate a new feat, one million copies sold, and their first platinum record.  But how exactly did they do it?

Maybe it was the funky, feel good trumpets on a first single like “Thrift Shop” that spread the popularity.  Maybe a music video that included the colorful visuals of Macklemore running over couches dropped the jaws of fans across the world.  Maybe it was it’s incredibly catchy hook that had little kids everywhere screaming “this is f****** awesome.”  Eventually, it became a song that infiltrated what seemed like every radio station in America and spread like wildfire across the world.  The single is now five times platinum.

Maybe it was the second single.  The inspirational and uplifting drums of a song like “Can’t Hold Us,” had fans everywhere feeling like they could be anything they wanted to, as if “the ceiling can’t hold us.” Maybe even captain of a pirate ship.  So when it came time to make a video for a song that is now 3 times platinum what did he do?  He rapped on a pirate ship, a traveling living room attached to a pickup truck and then sky dived out of an airplane onto the space needle.  That video now sits at around 100 million views and recently just one the VMA for best hip-hop video.  

But with all the radio success and platinum singles, the meaning behind The Heist sometimes gets lost.  The emotion, the struggle and pure writing ability of an independent artist who’s taken his notebook rhymes out of his mom’s basement and into the limelight has been blurred and mutated.  Songs that speak for something in this desensitized world get forgotten.  Tracks like “Wings,” “Starting Over” and ‘Jimmy Iovine” tackle really controversial topics in an extremely creative way with flawless production from Ryan Lewis.  So how do they avoid being called sell-outs when the mainstream media only covers their playful sound?

They release a beautiful track featuring the magnificent voice of Mary Lambert in an attempt to promote gay rights.  “Same Love,” carries a message that most mainstream music can’t compete with and has recently hit platinum as well.  As Macklemore stated in a speech at the VMA’s, it’s the record he’s “most proud of in his career.”  And he should be, an independent artist spent the last year stealing the spotlight from a lot of bigger acts with an album properly named, The Heist.

  • Purchase The Heist 
  • Macklemore on Facebook 
  • Macklemore on Twitter

 

Total
0
Shares
Share 0
Tweet 0
Share 0
Share 0
Related Topics
  • Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
  • The Heist
EARMILK Staff

You May Also Like
View Article
  • Afrobeats
  • R&B

TobySensey explores healing and heartbreak on Reckless

  • July 16, 2025
View Article
  • Hip-Hop
  • Indie

Emotional precision in cinematic hip-hop: DaddyPhatSnaps confronts the weight of expectation with “Superman”

  • July 16, 2025
View Article
  • Mainstage
  • New Music
  • Soul

Luke Marzec hits a home run with soulful single “Broken Promises”

  • July 16, 2025
View Article
  • Alternative R&B
  • New Music
  • Soul

GoldFord’s new single “Runnin” is a soulful jam that gets you moving

  • July 16, 2025
View Article
  • R&B
  • Rap

Shawn Tuck keeps it cool and confident on new single “Been A Vibe”

  • July 15, 2025
View Article
  • Grime
  • Music Videos

Skatta and Yeti On The Pads deliver a pre-rave anthem with “Getting Ready” [Video]

  • July 15, 2025
View Article
  • Hip-Hop
  • Music Videos
  • Rap

Soft Cuff teams up with 9henom on soulful "Dennis Quaalude (PTSD)"

  • July 15, 2025
View Article
  • Jazz
  • Soul

Tender Realisation: Flo Fields Finds Healing in Heartbreak In Debut Single "Dependency"

  • July 15, 2025
Popular Music
  • Emotional precision in cinematic hip-hop: DaddyPhatSnaps confronts the weight of expectation with “Superman”
    • July 16, 2025
  • LA Laura Paris shares re-interpretative album 'Underground Girl (Remixes)'
    • July 16, 2025
  • Henry J. Star shares emotionally charged anthem "Greenway"
    • July 16, 2025
  • TobySensey explores healing and heartbreak on Reckless
    • July 16, 2025
  • Photo provided by Rafael Pavarotti
    British Multi-instrumentalist Cktrl Returns With Harrowing New Single
    • July 16, 2025
Recent Scoops
  • Jay Tone is carving out his space with "Puzzles"
    • July 7, 2025
  • Matt Oakley is redefining country music with heart, soul and modernity
    • May 5, 2025
  • Texas’ Blacktop Mojo does rock music the way it should be done
    • April 29, 2025
  • Tha Rapper Haiti blends authentic style with musical passion
    • April 28, 2025
Community Voices
  • From Machismo To Mujeres: Women As The Face Of Reggaeton
    • July 14, 2022
  • Tyler the creator
    4 things I learned on the 'Call Me If You Get Lost' tour
    • March 31, 2022
  • 4 things every artist needs to think about in 2022
    • January 27, 2022
  • The TikTok Takeover of Hip-Hop
    • January 11, 2022

EARMILK EARMILK
  • Jobs
  • About EARMILK
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact Us
  • Submit Music
All Milk. No Duds.

Input your search keywords and press Enter.