I published a pile of blubbering goop about Kanye West’s “ Only One” months before my baby was even born, and I’ve only gotten sappier since then. I’m also an open-minded music fan with a sentimental streak and a taste for pop, rap, and pop-rap. My wife gave birth to our first child, also a daughter, three weeks after Macklemore’s fianceé ( now wife) Tricia Davis brought baby Sloane into the world. My personal objection to “Growing Up” is that it fails at its primary objective: tugging the heartstrings of new parents. If nothing else, credit these guys for sticking to their guns. “Growing Up” is exactly what you’d imagine a Macklemore song for his newborn child would sound like, and it will polarize in the way all Macklemore songs polarize. It’s got an impassioned chorus from a guest singer - in this case, ubiquitous folk-pop hobbit Ed Sheeran. It’s got a slightly gravely Macklemore dropping sentimental and/or inspirational lyrics derived from his personal experiences of How Life Should Be. The song bears Lewis’ unmistakable fingerprints, a rich live-band/DJ hybrid arrangement topped off with triumphal brass.
Released yesterday as a free download, it marks Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ first new music since 2012’s star-making The Heist, and it suggests the formula that launched them into the pop stratosphere is still firing on all cylinders. What will probably not win Macklemore respect from his haters is “Growing Up (Sloane’s Song),” the track he wrote for his new baby daughter, Sloane Ava Simone Haggerty. It’s a good read, and it might win some begrudging respect from those who’ve made a sport out of scoffing at “the first rapper to successfully dominate the commercial sphere by speaking from a purely white gaze.” “serious” songs), and the way they’re trying to keep their operation grassroots now that they’re global superstars.
Regarding “White Privilege 2,” a new anti-racism song he’s been workshopping, he poses the question, “How do I participate in this conversation in a way that I’m not preaching, where I’m not appearing like I know it all? ‘Cause I don’t know it all.” Writer Kris Ex also offers closer looks at Ryan Lewis’ in-depth production style, the duo’s perspective on constructing an album (it involves a carefully plotted ratio of “fun” songs vs. It also reveals that three years of blowback about appropriation, moralism, and that whole Grammy ordeal have made the Seattle rapper keenly aware of his place in the universe. The feature details how Ben Haggerty’s rapid rise to fame toppled him back into drug addiction and how learning he would be a father spurred him to kick pills and weed by returning to 12-step meetings. Listen to the song here.If you want to approach Macklemore as a human being and not a sanctimonious rap-Muppet bent on world domination via free love and cheap clothing, Complex’s recent cover story is a good place to start. Macklemore is expected to drop a new album later this year, though Faderreports “Growing Up” will not be the lead single.
It’s a very raw and intimate statement from an artist who recently detailed his rough relapse with substance abuse and sudden fame in his recent Complex cover story. “Growing Up” is earnest and pleasant, and thought its sentiment and Jack Johnson-esque sound probably won’t convert any Macklemore haters, his intentions - and lyrical recommendation for his daughter to “read The Alchemist“ - are pretty pure. We just wanted to put out good music, directly to the people that have been here since the beginning. We didn’t want to do a big campaign or anything over the top with this. It’s where I’ve been the last year, through all the ups and downs. This is why “Growing up” felt like the right song to re-emerge with. “When you try to escape yourself, life has an interesting way of creating situations that force you to come back. He explained a bit of his motivation in sharing the song in a letter to his fans on his website: He’s Backlemore! The “Thrift Shop” rapper and Ryan Lewis have launched their comeback with a new song - a delicate and heartfelt (if a little maudlin) number titled “Growing Up.” Featuring a guest chorus from Ed Sheeran, the song is directed towards Macklemore’s newborn daughter, Sloane.