“I’m fucking rich now,” Macklemore says jokingly with a laugh, leaning back on a black and shagged out futon backstage at the Soundset music festival. He is here to perform with his bandmate and collaborator, Ryan Lewis. They are also two Hip Hop kids from Seattle, Washington that are literally in the midst of blowing up. While they’ve been touring regularly the last few years, and selling out shows throughout the world, their industry profile grew a great deal thanks to Macklemore’s inclusion in the 2012 XXL Freshman list. The cover served as a validation for Macklemore, who’s music moves between genres and is sometimes slighted by the hardcore rap fans and blogsites.
“It’s obviously a high honor, and it’s something that I wanted to be a part of since I’ve been doing it,” he says. “To be on that cover is a big deal to me, probably more personally than it actually has an impact. I think a lot of people that weren’t familiar, particularly on the industry side or the real rap-rap fan side, the blog side, I think that was an introduction or the stamp that solidified the movement that we have going on.”
That movement is only getting stronger. Macklemore and Lewis are currently in the studio finishing up a new album, and will also be featured at this year’s Lollapalooza. Here they talk about their new LP, the XXL Freshman cover, and remaining true to themselves throughout the hype. Check it out.