This is a daring, often scary track especially during the sound-bite portion of the song. Like Kendrick Lamar’s “To Pimp A Butterfly” album, here Macklemore has chronicled the tension and uneasiness of our times, but from a different angle. It may not be as succinct as its predecessor but its messiness shows the chaos of our times. “White Privilege II”(Featuring Jamila Woods) With all the stories in the news about injustice, this makes for an interesting modern civil rights anthem. It is just extremely spotty, but there are some really bright glimmers of hope. “This Unruly Mess I’ve Made” isn’t an awful record. Macklemore is actually best as a thought-provoking consciousness rapper and not as a hook-heavy pop-minded radio star. Macklemore calls out the people who claim to be his fans but don’t like other hip-hop and in the face of injustice, guest-vocalist Jamila Woods is addressing the struggle of what it is still like to be black in America by telling the other listeners, “Your silence is a luxury.” In other words, we all need to speak up until we are all equal. This is an effective conversation about race relations from a white performer, which is actually a shockingly rare occurrence. Macklemore debates if it is his place to shout “Black Lives Matter” and in the process comes to a conclusion that it takes all of us to speak up when we see injustice. It sounds more akin to something off a Talib Kweli record, as if nodding to Gil Scott-Heron. This track, along with “Buckshot,” is this album’s saving grace. When you think all is lost, then comes “White Privilege II,” which although a bit of a sonic mess is a nearly nine-minute meditation on racism, social injustice and the Black Lives Matter movement. The diet-themed “Let’s Eat” doesn’t help things either. “Dance Off” tries some stunt-casting by sticking Idris Elba in the mix, but it still winds up being shockingly lame in spite of Elba’s efforts. This album would be much better if there were less forced pop hooks and more tracks like “Buckshot,” which nicely features KRS-ONE and DJ Premier and effectively calls back to both Eric B & Rakim’s “My Melody” and KRS’ “Out For Fame.”Įlsewhere, here’s a lot of wasted space on this record. Macklemore seems more interested in making a record with pop hooks to maintain his and Lewis’ newfound status than he does in making straightforward hip-hop.
The Ed Sheeran-assisted “Growing Up” tries to muster the same kind of thought-provoking magic as the Mary Lambert-aided “Same Love” did on “The Heist,” and its lessons on new fatherhood slightly succeed and make it a possible highlight, but it is a pale ghost compared to its gut-gripping predecessor. Things don’t get much better on “ Brad Pitt’s Cousin” which delivers little more than embarrassment for everyone involved. The song is just an aimless exploration about buying a Moped that then gets lost in a tangent. The fact that the track wastes the talents of hip-hop legends Melle Mel, Grandmaster Caz and Kool Moe Dee and doesn’t make the best use of Foxy Shazam’s Eric Nally is almost beside the point. Then comes “Downtown,” which is little more than a rewrite of “Thrift Shop” with some awkward, Broadway-style flourishes. Songs about glitz and being on television from a personal standpoint can come off as stale. It’s a woefully uneven collection that doesn’t come close to the high points found on “The Heist.” Its main problem as a set is that it is way too self-conscious for its own good.įrom the beginning of “Light Tunnels,” when Macklemore is rapping about his newfound fame, it immediately becomes uninteresting. “This Unruly Mess I’ve Made” is an all-too-appropriate title for Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ second album post-success. That being said, he is from Seattle, so the kinds of subjects he raps about are going to be different than the New York or California perspectives we are more used to hearing. Listen to his song “White Privilege” from his 2005 album, “The Language Of My World,” and it is evident that he not only understands the fundamentals of hip-hop’s history but he also knows his place within the culture. Second of all, Macklemore gets a lot of flak that he doesn’t really deserve. Quicklist: 1title: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ “This Unruly Mess I’ve Made” **1/2text: First off, I really enjoyed “The Heist.” It was fresh and exciting and sounded unlike the other hip-hop of the time. It’s a really interesting week with lots of records to discuss.
— - intro: This week hip-hop duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis return, The 1975 embrace their pop side for their sophomore effort, electro-dream-pop act School Of Seven Bells release what is more than likely to be their last album, Santigold returns, Bonnie Raitt drops another collection of reliable blues-rock, Willie Nelson sings Gershwin and London indie-rockers, Yuck forge ahead.
0 kommentar(er)
