Macklemore

Macklemore is the stage name of Benjamin Hammond Haggerty, an American rapper and songwriter from Seattle, United States. He is associated with conscious hip hop, hip hop, pop rap and west coast hip hop. He records through Macklemore Publishing and is also linked with the acts Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Bogey Boys, Step Cousins and Elevated Elements.

Early life and background

Haggerty is born in Seattle in 1983 and grows up in the city’s Capitol Hill neighbourhood. He is one of two sons born to Bill Haggerty and Julie Schott, and he has a brother, Tim. He has Irish heritage and is raised Catholic. Hip hop first enters his life at the age of six through Digital Underground, and by 15 he is writing lyrics. He attends Garfield High School and Nathan Hale High School.

At Nathan Hale, he develops the stage name Professor Macklemore for an art project centred on a made-up superhero. At Garfield, he starts the hip-hop group Elevated Elements with other students, and the group releases the album Progress in 2000. He later spends a year at the College of Santa Fe, then returns to Seattle after not being admitted to the music programme. He goes on to study at The Evergreen State College in Olympia and completes a bachelor’s degree in 2009.

Music career

Macklemore becomes part of the Seattle hip-hop scene and develops his style through Elevated Elements before moving on to a solo career. His early musical influences include Hieroglyphics, Freestyle Fellowship, Aceyalone, Living Legends, Wu-Tang Clan, Mobb Deep, Nas and Talib Kweli, reflecting an interest in East Coast underground hip hop.

His releases include one mixtape, three EPs and four albums. His second mixtape, The Unplanned Mixtape, is released in 2009 and later reaches No. 7 on the iTunes Hip Hop chart. The mixtape includes the singles “The Town” and “And We Danced”, with the latter featuring Ziggy Stardust. “The Town” is later remixed by Sabzi of the Blue Scholars.

His debut album, The Language of My World, presents socially conscious and personal writing, with lyrics that address uncomfortable or taboo subjects. Macklemore also works in education and youth outreach through a programme called Gateways for Incarcerated Youth, where he facilitates music workshops.

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

Macklemore collaborates with producer Ryan Lewis as the duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. Their single “Thrift Shop” reaches number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 2013, and “Can’t Hold Us” also reaches number one. This makes them the first duo in the chart’s history to have their first two singles both reach the top position. Their success comes without major-label support, with Macklemore working under an unusual arrangement that involves Warner Bros. Records’s radio promotion department.

The duo’s debut studio album, The Heist, is released in 2012 and reaches number 2 on the US Billboard 200. At the 2014 Grammy Awards, they win four awards: Best New Artist, Best Rap Album for The Heist, Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance for “Thrift Shop”. Their second album, This Unruly Mess I’ve Made, is released in 2016.

Solo releases

After his mainstream breakthrough with Ryan Lewis, Macklemore releases “Glorious” in 2017, featuring Skylar Grey. It is his first major single produced without Lewis since that breakthrough. Later that year he releases his second solo studio album, Gemini. In 2021 he releases “Next Year” featuring Windser, which also marks another collaboration with Ryan Lewis. He follows this with “Chant” featuring Tones and I and “Maniac” featuring Windser in 2022, then releases his third solo studio album, Ben, in 2023.