walking upstream…
Macklemore
Benjamin Hammond Haggerty, born in Seattle in 1983, began rapping as a teenager under the name Macklemore and spent years in the Pacific Northwest underground before pairing with producer Ryan Lewis. Working independently without a major label, the duo broke through in 2012 with 'The Heist,' whose singles 'Thrift Shop' and 'Can't Hold Us' topped the Billboard Hot 100 while 'Same Love' became a widely embraced anthem for marriage equality. His music pairs breezy, hook-driven pop-rap with confessional and socially conscious songwriting drawn from the East Coast underground he grew up studying.
the sound in question
2012
Thrift ShopMacklemore
walk the tributaries ↓
Talib Kweli2000s · Conscious hip hop / East Coast hip hop / Jazz rap
Macklemore has listed Talib Kweli among his core influences, and the two later toured together; Kweli's model of socially conscious, issue-driven rap shows up directly in Macklemore's willingness to build a hit single around a political argument rather than a party.
listen: upstream & here
2003
Get ByTalib Kweli
2012
Same LoveMacklemore
listen forPlay Kweli's uplift anthem 'Get By' and then Macklemore's marriage-equality track 'Same Love' — hear how both set earnest social commentary over a warm, soul-leaning beat and a sung, gospel-tinged hook.
Wu-Tang Clan1990s · East Coast hip hop / Hardcore hip hop
Macklemore has named Wu-Tang Clan among the East Coast underground and hardcore acts he absorbed growing up, alongside Mobb Deep and Nas. Their imprint is audible in his taste for dense, rapid-fire verses and the crew-cut energy of piling lines onto hard, sample-driven drums.
listen: upstream & here
1993
Protect Ya NeckWu-Tang Clan
2011
Can't Hold UsMacklemore
listen forPut on the breathless, elbows-out posse energy of Wu-Tang's 'Protect Ya Neck' and then Macklemore's 'Can't Hold Us' — hear how both stack tumbling, multisyllabic verses that sprint to keep pace with the beat rather than sitting back in the pocket.
Nas1990s · Hip hop / East Coast hip hop
Nas is one of the East Coast lyricists Macklemore has cited as formative, and the influence surfaces in Macklemore's turn toward vivid, first-person storytelling — building a whole track around a single scene or memory the way Nas did on 'Illmatic.'
listen: upstream & here
1994
N.Y. State of MindNas
2009
OthersideMacklemore
listen forCue Nas's street-level narrative 'N.Y. State of Mind' next to Macklemore's addiction confessional 'Otherside' — both anchor the verse in specific, unflinching detail and let the story, rather than the hook, carry the weight.