"Moving out of your parents' basement in your late 20's is always a good thing," jokes Ben Haggerty. Better known as Macklemore, the Seattle-based musician is also partly serious, which is kind of how he is as a person. He plays around a lot, but there's another side to him that is revealed in his music. True, that's like most people, but with the kind of reach Haggerty is beginning to have; his words carry the potential to have a lasting impact on a massive audience.
Since emerging in 2000 with the Open Your Eyes EP, he has been on a steady grind to share his style of hip-hop with the rest of the world. However, after his 2005 debut, The Language of My World, Haggerty was forced to go on hiatus to address a menacing drug problem that was spinning out of control. Then, at 25-years-old, he did move back to his parents' basement. And that wasn't funny. He went to treatment and there was a moment when he realized life is ok without the substances that were clouding his mind.
"I was so ready to be sober. I mean, I guess I was scared to live life without the drug I had become dependent on. That's what was scary. Like 'can I get through my existence without being high on this substance?' So yeah, I was scared, but I was also ready," he recalls. "The first couple days when the fog wears off, you start to see clearly again and it becomes exciting. I went to treatment and at some point in that treatment, it hit me that life is so much better sober and I can enjoy myself and feel connected to the universe in a way that I haven’t felt in years. That was definitely a moment."
After he got clean, he quickly got back to work. On his new material, many of his lyrics are born out of his struggles with drug addiction and his brave decision to get clean, delivered with a refreshing sincerity not normally found in the commercial hip-hop world. Along with partner in crime, producer Ryan Lewis, Macklemore has tapped into a new generation of kids itching for a fresh take on hip-hop. It's paying off. All of a sudden, he is on the fast track to commercial success, something that would seem impossible to a former drug addict. Rolling Stone recently reported on him and he's been selling out shows all across the country. While he is happy about all of the attention, he is simply doing what he loves.
"It's all just a progression and hard work. There's a lot of sacrifice that goes into making art. I am just fortunate it's at the level it is right now," he says. "It all comes down to doing the one thing that you love over and over again and being willing to put other things in your life on the backburner and make that sacrifice."
With songs like "Otherside" and "Thrift Shop," Haggerty once again proves his versatility as an artist. "Otherside" is an incredibly poignant opus that sends shivers through the spine as he spits about the toll substance abuse has taken on not only the man who wrote it, but people in general.
"Music is just an outlet for me to kind of clean out the cobwebs and go through whatever I am going through emotionally on paper. That's what music has always been in its purest form. 'Otherside' was that song for me. It took me 15 minutes to write the whole thing. It was the fastest song I've ever written. People are all affected by addiction in some capacity and can relate to it."
"Thrift Shop" is a track that shows Haggerty's silly side. He still knows how to have a good time, sober or not. His sense of humor was always intact; perhaps it's just a little more evident now.
"That's just me. If I was to only talk about serious subject matter then I wouldn't be true to me," he says, "I want to be as authentic as possible. Shooting 'Thrift Shop’ was a blast. We shot it in Seattle and it took about 4 days, but it was the most fun I've ever had shooting a video."
There's a lot to be admired when it comes to the Mack. He is putting himself out there, exposing who is really is to the core and at the same time, putting on one hell of a show. It's refreshing to have an artist, especially one that is getting so much attention, put a positive message out there when so much mainstream music is filled with garbage.
"What makes me frustrated is when people who don't drink or do drugs rap about it, glorify it and try to make money off of it just because it's popular. To me, that's really whack," he concludes. "You can either expose your experience or hide it. I wanted to put it out there for the people because I thought that the disease of alcoholism or drug addiction was something a lot of people, particularly the younger generation, go through. It's important to represent all sides of myself. It's the reason I am, where I am."
By Kyle Eustice for RAPstation.com
Exclusive: Macklemore - The RAPstation Interview
"Moving out of your parents' basement in your late 20's is always a good thing," jokes Ben Haggerty. Better known as Macklemore, the Seattle-based musician is also partly serious, which is kind of how he is as a person. He plays around a lot, but there's another side to him that is revealed in his music. True, that's like most people, but with the kind of reach Haggerty is beginning to have; his words carry the potential to have a lasting impact on a massive audience.
Since emerging in 2000 with the Open Your Eyes EP, he has been on a steady grind to share his style of hip-hop with the rest of the world. However, after his 2005 debut, The Language of My World, Haggerty was forced to go on hiatus to address a menacing drug problem that was spinning out of control. Then, at 25-years-old, he did move back to his parents' basement. And that wasn't funny. He went to treatment and there was a moment when he realized life is ok without the substances that were clouding his mind.
"I was so ready to be sober. I mean, I guess I was scared to live life without the drug I had become dependent on. That's what was scary. Like 'can I get through my existence without being high on this substance?' So yeah, I was scared, but I was also ready," he recalls. "The first couple days when the fog wears off, you start to see clearly again and it becomes exciting. I went to treatment and at some point in that treatment, it hit me that life is so much better sober and I can enjoy myself and feel connected to the universe in a way that I haven’t felt in years. That was definitely a moment."
After he got clean, he quickly got back to work. On his new material, many of his lyrics are born out of his struggles with drug addiction and his brave decision to get clean, delivered with a refreshing sincerity not normally found in the commercial hip-hop world. Along with partner in crime, producer Ryan Lewis, Macklemore has tapped into a new generation of kids itching for a fresh take on hip-hop. It's paying off. All of a sudden, he is on the fast track to commercial success, something that would seem impossible to a former drug addict. Rolling Stone recently reported on him and he's been selling out shows all across the country. While he is happy about all of the attention, he is simply doing what he loves.
"It's all just a progression and hard work. There's a lot of sacrifice that goes into making art. I am just fortunate it's at the level it is right now," he says. "It all comes down to doing the one thing that you love over and over again and being willing to put other things in your life on the backburner and make that sacrifice."
With songs like "Otherside" and "Thrift Shop," Haggerty once again proves his versatility as an artist. "Otherside" is an incredibly poignant opus that sends shivers through the spine as he spits about the toll substance abuse has taken on not only the man who wrote it, but people in general.
"Music is just an outlet for me to kind of clean out the cobwebs and go through whatever I am going through emotionally on paper. That's what music has always been in its purest form. 'Otherside' was that song for me. It took me 15 minutes to write the whole thing. It was the fastest song I've ever written. People are all affected by addiction in some capacity and can relate to it."
"Thrift Shop" is a track that shows Haggerty's silly side. He still knows how to have a good time, sober or not. His sense of humor was always intact; perhaps it's just a little more evident now.
"That's just me. If I was to only talk about serious subject matter then I wouldn't be true to me," he says, "I want to be as authentic as possible. Shooting 'Thrift Shop’ was a blast. We shot it in Seattle and it took about 4 days, but it was the most fun I've ever had shooting a video."
There's a lot to be admired when it comes to the Mack. He is putting himself out there, exposing who is really is to the core and at the same time, putting on one hell of a show. It's refreshing to have an artist, especially one that is getting so much attention, put a positive message out there when so much mainstream music is filled with garbage.
"What makes me frustrated is when people who don't drink or do drugs rap about it, glorify it and try to make money off of it just because it's popular. To me, that's really whack," he concludes. "You can either expose your experience or hide it. I wanted to put it out there for the people because I thought that the disease of alcoholism or drug addiction was something a lot of people, particularly the younger generation, go through. It's important to represent all sides of myself. It's the reason I am, where I am."
By Kyle Eustice for RAPstation.com
