The independent hip hop sensation that began to take over the airways in 2012 is back. Are you ready for another heist?

After touring the world off the success of their platinum selling album, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis have announced the sophomore follow-up to 2012’s The Heist titled This Unruly Mess I’ve Made, set to be released on February 26.

According to an open letter posted on their website, the album comes after a long period of trials and tribulations.

As detailed in Complex magazine’s August 2015 cover story, Macklemore relapsed with months of smoking marijuana and taking sleeping pills. After learning in January 2015 that his wife, who also serves as the duo’s tour manager, was expecting a baby, he knew he needed a change.

“I’ve gotten back to what makes me happy,” he said in the cover story weeks after embarking on a road of recovery. “Not in the immediate moment, [but] what’s going to make me happy in the long run. None of the money, the fame, the attention, the touring, the endorsement, the Jordan shoe, the TV appearances—none of that, literally none of it, comes close to the fulfillment and gratitude that I feel showing up to a meeting and being sober today.”

This new outlook has spearheaded their new sound.

He mentions in the open letter: “There is creativity for validation. And there is creativity for survival. They are very different places […]. Making music not because we had to, but because we got to. I had forgotten how to do that.”

And that, quite honestly, is something musicians forget far too much now a days. But that. quite frankly, is a recipe that might not get Macklemore & Ryan Lewis the same type of success they had back in the “Thrift Shop” and “Can’t Hold Us” days.

During the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards  the duo performed “Downtown,” the lead single off their new album. The performance sparked some controversy. Some people applauded the Eric Nally, Melle Mel, Kool Moe Dee, and Grandmaster Caz collaboration. Others called it, “weird.”

When the 2015 American Music Awards came around, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis performed “Kevin,” a Leon Bridges collaboration chronicling a long battle with addiction.  The reaction was better but it still bears the question, will their new album be a sophomore slump or the comeback of the year?

Here’s to finding out on February 26.

The post ICYMI: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Announce New Album appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

In some ways, what Drake is saying makes sense. After all, the backlash towards Macklemore‘s win was almost entirely geared towards the universal agreement that Kendrick should have won. However, one can see how the other three nominees, despite being arguably the three biggest names in hip-hop for quite some time now, would feel slighted by not receiving the same apology from the Seattle newcomer.

On the other hand, it would seem that the core of Drake‘s statement is his belief that gkmc was not the only nominated album superior to The Heist. In fact, by claiming that “we all need text messages,” Drake is essentially saying Macklemore‘s album was the worst of the entries and that he should be apologizing to all four of them for snatching the award from more deserved hands.

While many dedicated hip-hop enthusiasts, myself included, would tend to agree with the notion that The Heist, while a good album in its own right, was not the “Best Rap Album” of the bunch, it’s ironic that Drake is the first one to speak up about the texted apology. After all, the media’s most notorious loose cannon was amongst those who went home empty-handed on Grammy night. In addition, one could make the claim that Nothing Was the Same isn’t necessarily a pure rap album, or even Yeezus for that matter.

In the end, the controversy surrounding The Heist‘s Grammy success is emblematic of the mainstream’s approval of “socially conscious rap” and a crossroads for the genre as a whole. Macklemore and scores of other fans believed Kendrick put out the superior album, and whether or not Drake gets the apology he thinks he deserves is no longer relevant.

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If you always cheer for the underdog, Macklemore is your hero. The Seattle indie rapper released his debut album, The Heist at the top of October and quietly sold almost 80K units. That’s a helluva number for somebody 100% independent running their brand out of a garage. Anyway, Macklemore and MMG‘s Wale crossed paths in Nola recently.  Good to see this guy getting some shine. Who wants to hit the thrift store now?

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“If I was gay I would think that hip hop hates me.” Since Frank Ocean came out, the hip hop world has been in a frenzy of support. Murs released a video in which he kisses another man, and now Macklemore and Ryan Lewis are teaming up to let everyone know that we all have the “Same Love.” They tell a story of growing up and how the word “gay” is used way too loosely in society. The track is featured on their debut album The Heist which is slated to drop on October 9th. Open your ears and mind to this track as you take a listen.

The post New Music: Macklemore x Ryan Lewis – “Same Love” appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.