It’s taken Macklemore and Ryan Lewis a little over three years to finish their sophomore album, This Unruly Mess I’ve Made. By contrast, Drake has released three albums, Kendrick Lamar two, and Gucci Mane more than a lifetime’s amount. Yet, when you can create an unheard of level of success like The Heist did, there’s no need to rush.
In the video announcement, Macklemore narrated the journey of this album’s creation. He cited how he and his team decided to pack up and go record in the middle of nowhere. Disconnecting himself from technology and surrounding himself with nature had to have some interesting effects on the material created.
Is this album going to be more introspective? Can we expect the stadium-like anthems again? We’ll find out on February 26. Until then, here’s five things we hope for.
Songs detailing his personal struggle
Imagine being one of the biggest artists in the world? The amount of pressure and stress that comes with that is something that’s hard to adjust to. Macklemore has fought addiction for many years, but soon after meeting success, he relapsed. He wasn’t shy about detailing it in his cover story for Complex Magazine last summer.
“I held it together for a while, but, eventually, I stopped going to my 12-step meetings. I was burnt out. I was super-stressed. We weren’t sleeping—doing a show every day, zigzagging all over the country. In terms of the media I was getting put into a box that I never saw for myself. The pressure and the fame—everything. All the clichés, man—like not being able to walk around, having no privacy, and from this TV appearance to this TV appearance, and the criticism, and the lack of connection, and the lack of meetings—all of that put into one pie was just…I just wanted to escape.”
We already heard Mack make a song about his newborn daughter (“Growing Up (Sloane’s Song)”), but he hasn’t addressed his recent relapse. It seems possible we’ll hear about it as he’s done on songs like “Otherside” and “Starting Over.” Will it have the same impact as the other two, though?
The return of Raven Bowie
Raven Bowie is the exotic alter-ego of Macklemore. “And We Danced” first introduced this peculiar character. The Heist’s “Castle” brought him back. The thing about Raven is whenever he pops up on a song, it’s going to be crazy and completely out of the box. The lyrics will be absurd. Lines like “Girl’s booty was bigger than the stomach of Rick Ross” or “Don't make me pull my hose out/ Cause it's big, long, pink, strong” exist.
It’s ridiculous. Don’t believe us? Simply click play on the video below.
Some unexpected guest features
The Heist’s guest features made sense. On one end, you have Schoolboy Q and Ab-Soul fulfilling the big rap names, then a couple outside genre artists like Ben Bridwell.
What the album did well was help to establish brand new talent. Wanz (“Thrift Shop”), Mary Lambert (“Same Love”) and Ray Dalton (“Can’t Hold Us”) were able to start their careers in the best way possible: being apart of hit singles. They’ve won awards, toured with Macklemore more than once, and have built up the foundation to put out their own music.
Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’ sophomore album should follow this pattern again. So far, it’s doing just that. “Downtown” featured legends Kool Moe Dee, Melle Mel, and Grandmaster Caz. It also introduced Eric Nally, who got a ton of press off the single and is on the duo’s current tour. Ed Sheeran made an appearance on “Growing Up (Sloane’s Song)” too. Whether it's an untapped indie talent or a mainstream name we've yet to hear on a Macklemore song, we're hoping there's a few more surprises in store.
Maybe we can get a Kendrick Lamar collaboration too?
Ryan Lewis’ growth as a producer
Without Ryan Lewis, where would Macklemore be? Ryan is a special kind of producer. He’s turned down opportunities to work with some of the hottest artists in the whole industry to remain strictly creative with Mack. He serves as the DJ on tour as well.
What we heard on The Heist was a diverse mixture of beats, including stadium ready bangers like “Can’t Hold Us.” There was a lot going on throughout album.
The production is going to be a huge part of This Unruly Mess I’ve Made. What will Ryan have crafted? Will we see a more concise sound or something all over the place (in a good way)?
An album proving his abilities as a rapper
Macklemore by no means is a bad artist. He’s a lot more diverse than people will give him credit, however his skills often get buried under all the criticism. It’s easy for the blogs and social media to make fun of “Thrift Shop” than to praise the storytelling on “Jimmy Iovine.” Admittedly, outside of his music, a few critiques are brought on by himself. Most notably, his infamous text screenshot to Kendrick Lamar following the 2014 Grammys.
This Unruly Mess I’ve Made likely put tons of pressure on Macklemore. He’s conscious of the hate he gets, going as far as to say if he heard “Thrift Shop” by someone else he’d say “fuck that dude” too. He needs to shake off the idea that he’s a corny white rapper and establish himself as a talented rapper to those people who serve as his toughest critics. Will this awareness help him create a body of work that’s accepting within the hip-hop community? Will music listeners even give him a chance again?