Macklemore - White Privilege (a misshapedmixtape)

First of all... yikes! I've fallen behind on my posting! Never fear, I'm going to make up for lost time in the next couple of weeks... All that said... I might be a bit less eloquent on the write-ups (coz I am still trying to find a REAL job... though I do WISH that I could get paid for blogging... sigh....)

Okay then. This mixtape features select cuts from the Seattle MC, Macklemore. To be honest, I didn't even know this dude existed until like last month... but he has some fantastic songs out. So I wanted to introduce you to him in case you haven't heard of him. He is an excellent songwriter, ranging from rapping about his former addiction to cough syrup ("Otherside"), the implications of coveting expensive sneakers ("Wings"), the question of whether it's cultural-pillaging to be a Caucasian rapper ("White Privilege"), and, last but not least, a tribute to the Seattle Mariners ("My Oh My"). I appreciate someone rapping about their baseball team... I wish that Royce/Danny Brown/Elzhi would drop a Detroit Tigers song (produced by Black Milk and/or Apollo Brown).

That said, a lot of the songs contained on the mixtapes that Macklemore has dropped (he has four that I am aware of) don't really appeal to me. I mean, the dude has a party song about being Irish that (while it seems to be pretty popular from the look-in on youtube), I personally find to be stupid as shit. I mean, House Of Pain pulled off this kind of thing (quite awesomely), but Macklemore just doesn't do it for me. In fact, I find it rather embarrassing.

I'm going to move on (after all, this mixtape is a mixtape coz it separates wheat from chaff to save you the time of doing it yourself), but it does worry me to hear how often Macklemore makes reference (in his releases) to the fact that he wants to be a pop star (and I understand, he hasn't released an official album yet and he needs to get paid)... but he's an artist that thrives operating under the radar. I worry about hip-hop artists reaching for stardom. What is the cost? I have officially kicked Wale off of my radar because of this fact (his latest release is mediocre.... at best)... which is sad because Wale's earlier stuff showed such hunger and had deeper substance. This is a topic for another post.

Anyway, all that said (overstream vs. underground), Macklemore DOES have other great songs. In fact, he has EXACTLY fourteen great songs. So here they are, presented in misshapedmixtape form (after doing some extensive digging) to get you acquainted with him. If you like what you hear, I recommend scoping out his visuals on youtube (this link takes you to vids uploaded by his frequent collaborator and producer, Ryan Lewis). Macklemore has some love songs and other shit that I didn't feel deserved making the cut... but they're okay if you're into that kind of stuff. However, the last track I put on this mixtape, "The End," is a touching ode to prom night that samples a piano line from Antony & The Johnsons (unless my ears deceive me).

So here it is [with download link in the comments], the tracklist to Macklemore - "White Privilege" (a misshapedmixtape):

01 : Vipassana (ft Ryan Lewis)
02 : Fallin
03 : Wings (ft Ryan Lewis)
04 : City Don't Sleep (ft Don-P)
05 : Otherside (ft Ryan Lewis)
06 : I Said Hey
07 : Make That Money (ft Ryan Lewis)
08 : White Privilege
09 : My Oh My (ft Ryan Lewis)
10 : The Magic
11 : Ego
12 : Hold Your Head Up (ft Xperience)
13 : Can't Hold Us (ft Ray Dalton & Ryan Lewis)
14 : The End (ft Ryan Lewis)