Macklemore will release his latest solo album, Ben, on March 3.
Videos by American Songwriter
The Seattle-born rapper boasts two songs that have gone diamond—he’s one of only a few artists to ever achieve that feat, along with others like Eminem, Katy Perry, and Ed Sheeran. Those songs are “Thrift Shop” and “Can’t Hold Us,” which he released along with producer Ryan Lewis.
But while the world knows the 39-year-old Macklemore’s music, we wanted to dive in here to what the famous musician has to say about the world at large, about life and love, and his craft.
[RELATED: Macklemore Opens Up About Addiction, Premieres Video for Sobriety-Inspired New Song]
So, without further ado, let’s look at the 20 best Macklemore quotes.
1. “Thrift shopping is all about going into the thrift shop and having no expectation of what you might find.”
2. “I find that when I put my spiritual life first, the rest of my life is easy. When I put my career first, that’s when I have problems.”
3. “I definitely use ‘smiling while rapping’ as a tool in the booth. I want to have fun while recording.”
4. “I don’t feel like I’m grown up. I feel like I’m a kid.”
5. “I just want to give the people 100% of myself as an artist.”
6. “I put myself in the place of the listener when editing my writing. The last thing that I want to do is be preached at and told who to be or what to think when listening to an artist. However, I do want to be inspired. There’s a fine line.”
7. “Do you want to live life, or do you want to escape life?”
8. “The reason why I meditate and pray in general is just to remind myself that it is not about me.”
9. “It’s easier, as a white person, to be silent about racial injustice. It’s easier. On paper. But it’s not easier on the whole, because injustice affects all of us, whether we know it or not, whether we acknowledge it or not.”
10. “We have to tell people who need help that it’s OK to ask for it.”
11. “Bullying is a national epidemic.”
12. “I think that there will always be artists out there who think they need to sign a major label deal in order to be successful. And that machine is what is going to work for them—there’s tons of examples of pop stars who need that machine.”
13. “Music is therapy. Music moves people. It connects people in ways that no other medium can. It pulls heartstrings. It acts as medicine.”
14. “You can only watch injustice go on for so long until you’re compelled to say something. To speak out against it.”
15. “I got sober, and I got happy again.”
16. “I want to make music that I like; not something that I have to make because I think it’s going to sell.”
[RELATED: The Top 10 Macklemore Songs]
17. “I’m someone that examines culture and tries to break down why things are the way that they are whether it’s hip-hop music, sex, race, or consumerism. I try to examine it and scrutinize it to the point where I can write a song.”
18. “Reading a piece of poetry with no beat in front of 20 people is way more challenging than rocking for 10,000 people.”
19. “I don’t write a great song every day. I don’t write a great song every couple of weeks. It comes in such random times.”
20. “I don’t want to look back and be like, ‘You had it all, and you weren’t even present for it. You weren’t able to enjoy it.’ I want to be here, be now, and be grateful.”
Photo by Naomi Rahim/WireImage
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