Vipassana

Collage by Brock Lefferts

This artist I'm about to post has to be one of my favorite hip hop acts out there right now. In my opinion, Macklemore is the cream crop when it comes to the largely underrated Seattle underground scene. In a conversation I had with a friend of mine a few months ago, we got to the topic of our favorite scene in hip hop these days and when I told him mine was Seattle, he thought I was kidding. I wasn't. Not known as one of the typical hubs of the genre, Seattle doesn't get the respect that it deserves for putting out a ton of good underground acts. Blue Scholars are a group that has gotten a decent amount of exposure over the years, enough that they managed to drop their label for their most recent album--Cinematropolis (get that)--and fund the entire thing on individual fan donations. Who says this generation of music fans is apathetic and unwilling to pay for the art that they consume? But I'm not writing this post about Blue Scholars, although it wouldn't be a bad idea.

Macklemore is one of those artists that I honestly can't explain why they're not more popular. He tells stories through his music in a way that completely engages you, especially with the emotion that he puts into his verses. The other reason why I'm such a big fan of his music is because he works with Ryan Lewis. Also out of Seattle, Lewis is one of the most progressive producers in the game right now. Instead of your typical hip hop beat, Lewis' production feels much more like a musical composition. He doesn't fall into the usual repetitive nature of hip hop production, instead, his music breaks the mold and as a result I fing that it complements Macklemore's lyricism much better. My writing of this blog just got seriously stalled by the fact that I'm having the toughest time choosing which song to post. The problem: I have way too many favorite Macklemore songs. After much deliberation, I've decided on a song called Vipassana off of his most recent project, the VS Redux EP. Wikipedia tells me that Vipassana is a form of Buddhist meditation; well chosen title Mr. Macklemore. Listen to the song and you'll understand.

Vipassana (Ryan Lewis Remix) - Macklemore