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Friday, February 1, 2013

Video / 206 Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Get A Record Deal

Posted by Larry Mizell, Jr. on Fri, Feb 1, 2013 at 3:53 PM

Macklemore and Ryan Lewis Get A Record Deal from Macklemore

Last time, Funny Or Die had "Odd Future" getting the hard pitch from Paul Scheer (as a clueless record label slime). This time, it's M&RL, the local boys done good beyond anybody's predictions—except mine, of course, but even I didn't believe it could really actually happen like this.

I mean, double platinum and counting; I guess now lazy writers can feel justified in comparing the local hiphop scene to the grunge era. All I know is that we were just in St. Louis and the homie Parker was telling us that "Thrift Shop" is getting heavy spins on the hood radio stations that only play cats like Yo Gotti and Young Jeezy. Meanwhile, Mack's anti-consumerism, anti-Air Jordan worship piece "Wing$" is turned into a heavily-edited promo spot for, what else—the NBA All-Star Game (peep after the jump). Blink, and these guys will have won a Grammy; blink twice and they'll be on VH1 thrift shopping with Lena Dunham and Trinidad James. Blink one more time and you may never recognize rap again, if you could in the first place.

Some people are furious, spitting M&RL's names like curses, blaming them for everything from cultural appropriation to the spread of smallpox. Others trumpet them everything from "cute" to the chosen saviors of a wayward artform they never felt comfortable with in the first place—something like a formerly "rough area," now looking a lot less less dangerous, with reasonable rents, better schools and a Starbucks. I don't know what's happening but the feels are coming fast and furious. '90s scene heads: I know that after "Baby Got Back" came out, shit got kinda ugly; so how was it after "Teen Spirit"?