Macklemore Releases New Song, “Next Year,” First Collab with Ryan Lewis in Three Years

Today (October 29), Grammy Award-winning rapper Macklemore released his new song, “Next Year,” featuring the singer Windsor. The track also marks the first collaboration between Macklemore and his longtime musical partner, Grammy-winning producer, Ryan Lewis.

The duo, of course, won several awards for their 2012 album The Heist, which featured the hit “Thrift Shop.” But they haven’t worked together much publicly since the album’s follow-up, This Unruly Mess I’ve Made.

The rapper posted about their re-connection on Instagram, saying, “After 3 years of not talking… I ran into Ryan at the store. NEXT YEAR TONIGHT 9 PM PST”

Check out the song, which is all about what’s good and yet to come, below. The music features keys, guitar, and Macklemore’s signature self-deprecating, fun lyrics.

Next year’s my come up / I’ve been lackin’ but I can feel that it’s the one / All the last three-sixty-five-one sucked / Like God group texted the world and dumped us / Bah, bah, bah, you better watch my bounce back / I’ma be the man in here / Glass to the sky, like we tryna grab the chandelier / I’d like to take this opportunity and toast to me / For bein’ exactly who I’m supposed to be / ‘Cause life is gonna do what life does / I don’t wanna look back and regret who I was / Let go of the expectations and then fire one /Forget the tally sheet before all my time’s up / And I, know I gotta roll with it / I’m well aware the universe doesn’t owe me shit / I know that, all of this pain means the growth, I think / That next year’s gonna be better than this (Let’s go).

The rapper, who recently launched a new golf gear brand Bogey Boys, debuted the song the night before in the Emerald City at his new golf clothing retail store during a listening party. Check out this fan-made video.

Macklemore later tweeted about the release, saying, “It’s been a long time my friends. Too long. So excuse me while I scream this shit… NEXT YEAR IS AVAILABLE WORLDWIDE NOW https://macklemore.ffm.to/nextyear“