Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Album Review | This Unruly Mess I’ve Made

Amazon Prime Music Set to Stream Album Release Show at Neumos

Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’ latest project, This Unruly Mess I’ve Made, has been independently released on Friday, February 26.

The Seattle hip-hop icons will be throwing an album release party at Neumos with a capacity of 650 guests on Friday evening. This intimate show in Seattle follows their 2016 United States tour, and their sold out shows at the Key Arena.

This album review takes a look at the unveiling to This Unruly Mess I’ve Made.

Their hometown show on Friday will be streamed on Amazon Prime Music February 26th 9:00 p.m. PST / Feb. 27th 12:00 a.m. EST.

This album started to show signs of life 6 months ago when the two artists joined with Ed Sheeran for ‘Growing Up (Sloane’s Song)’ on a collaborate for their first single. In mid-August the track was released online. We covered the maturity the three musicians shared on ‘Sloane’s Song.’

This Unruly Mess I’ve Made

Two weeks later Macklemore and Ryan Lewis rolled out their biggest single of This Unruly Mess I’ve Made with ‘Downtown‘ featuring Melle Mel, Kool Moe Dee, Grandmaster Caz & Eric Nally. The song caught fire at the MTV VMA’s in Los Angeles.

Macklemore and Ryan Lewis recaptured the vibrance the two created with The Heist. ‘Downtown’ is one of the only digital singles I have bought. Normally, I would just wait until the album release for new music, but ‘Downtown’ has such a compelling song structure and lyrical combination of singers, I had to have it on the go. It is smart track, and mirrors the history of Seattle hip-hop.

The single went gold in the United States & Italy, as well as going platinum in New Zealand and Australia.

Watch the video for ‘Downtown’ directed by Ryan Lewis, Jason Koenig and Ben Haggerty.

To kick off 2016, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis went on a tour covering 16 dates across the United States. The tour stretched across the Southwest, and rolled through the Midwest. They later announced dates for a European tour, as well as a performance at the Bonnaroo Music Festival.

The single for ‘Kevin’ featuring Leon Bridges was originally released on NPR in November. An official video was released recently on YouTube.

‘Kevin’ soaks in the overprescribed epidemic taking place across the world. The song takes a serious look at the pharmaceutical industry. As our generation utilizes the power of sharing data on the Internet, consumers are able to find patterns of side effects related to a number of pharmaceutics. Research the drugs you may consume. Ask your friends and family for help when needed.

I’ve seen drugs ruin lives, and help many others. Be smart, and live a healthy life.

In January, the duo released ‘White Privilege II‘ featuring Jamila Woods with NPR and on YouTube. The lyrics caught national attention, as they raised awareness to the ongoing racial divide in our country. Link up to the main website for more behind the song to find out more on the community in Seattle.

As our outlet works on bridging cultural gaps, I find that Haggerty’s lyrics showcase an individual opening up, and sharing his feelings on race. When I read reviews of his song, I found that the reviews were mirrors of the people writing them. Art, music and much of life is objective.

As human beings, we are all flawed, but when we point a finger at someone else’s flaws, it only amplifies our own. With that being said, I take away that Haggerty is trying to show his personal flaws in order to create progress on a whole. Before one can change others, they have to be healthy enough to take on additional responsibility. I see that Haggerty is struggling with trying to articulate his love and support for all races, at the same time being conscientious with cultural appropriation.

The song marks a strong point in This Unruly Mess I’ve Made. It has layers of the community bound to the album. Their album release is set for a small venue within the community, and the album showcases multiple Seattle musicians.

On Tuesday, February 23 Macklemore & Ryan Lewis released ‘Buckshot’ featuring KRS-One and DJ Premier. The song features: vocals by Macklemore & KRS-One, drums by Ryan Lewis, scratches by DJ Premier, and piano by Josh Rawlings.

Finally, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis have released all 13 tracks to This Unruly Mess I’ve Made on Friday, February 26. I forgot to review the track ‘Spoons’ for many reasons.