Looking around the Internet, I can pretty much conclude that the world thinks that Kendrick Lamar should have won Best Rap Album last night at the Grammy's. However, I believe that the decision to give The Heist the nod over good kid, m.A.A.d city was not a statement about who is the better rapper, but more about the content of the two albums.
Sure, GKMC is probably the best rap album that we've seen drop in years when it comes to actual skill and artistic content. We've seen a resurgence in the rap game over the past couple years that has now been spearheaded by Dre's personal protege. Ever since Kendrick Lamar has hit the scene, he's gained support from some of the game's finest talents, and has constantly impressed everyone who's listened to him. When people doubted him, he's come out and dissed them, asserting himself as the current king of the rap game. Nobody has yet to challenge him. He's a talented rapper, and will eventually go down as one of the best to ever do it. However, his message is pretty much the same as any other rapper.
That's one thing about the rap game. There really aren't that many guys who stray from the normal subject matter of rap. It's been the same for a while, and even though guys keep thinking of more inventive ways to talk about money, drugs, hardship, and girls, it's really hard to keep listening to the way that they talk about certain topics.
Enter Macklemore, a white, hipster-looking guy from Seattle, Washington. The dude doesn't look like a rapper. He looks like a backup singer for Bon Iver.
Turns out he's pretty good. I had heard about him before and had heard "Otherside" but that was pretty much all I knew about Macklemore, so I didn't really give it a second thought when someone said that I should listen to his new album about a year ago. Then I started to listen to more of what people were saying about him and I heard "Thrift Shop" and I thought it was at least catchy enough. So I gave the album a listen. I was thoroughly impressed with his flow in combination with the production that Ryan Lewis brings to the table. But the thing that stuck out to me the most was the message.
So many times on a daily basis, I hear the words "fag" or "gay" used by my family, friends, and those around me in a derogatory manner to describe someone else or something that happened. I used to use those words all the time and I have just recently given up the habit after I sat down and had a talk with a friend of mine that has a gay brother and grew up watching him suffer through adolescence being teased and picked on. I have since changed my thinking about homosexuality and I believe that Macklemore did something extremely brave in making a song about acceptance of people, regardless of sexual orientation. "Same Love" did something that no rapper has ever tried to do before by addressing the issue of intolerance that is engrained into our society, specifically toward those who aren't "traditional" when it comes to their sexual preferences.
And it's not just intolerance that he addresses. Macklemore talks about consumerism and how it's ruining our society in "Wing$". He (obviously) addresses our addiction to the high-price lifestyle in "Thrift Shop". These songs were put on the album for a reason: to enact change. He wants to send a message, not to his haters or to the rap game; but to the world. He wants us to listen to his songs and start to think differently, to change our ways, to progress as a society and to start to maybe see the world from a different angle than we have been. His music is truly geared toward making the world a better place, and that's why I believe The Heist was the Best Rap Album of the year.
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