Jabari profiles Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, grinding and grinding some more
Kevin / October 24, 2012
Just as Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’ The Heist debuts at #2 on Billboard’s Hot 200 albums chart with 78,000 sold, BET’s Jabari Johnson releases his profile on the duo, who are prospering without that mighty record deal. The profile touches on how Ryan Lewis and Macklemore teamed up, Macklemore’s sobriety and rehab episode, the experience of performing in front of Seattle Mariners Opening Day, and the filming of the video for his leadoff single, “Thrift Shop”. Most of all however, was about their grind—what Macklemore and Ryan Lewis are doing to promote their brand, run their merch, and everything else in between, and how exhausted they are but unwilling to concede that control so that they won’t compromise their art. They turned down Interscope and Jimmy Iovine and made a song about it, and here we see all the implications from that.