Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
This Unruly Mess I Made (Independent)
Breakdown: After the success of their debut album ‘The Heist’, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis left their record label and started work on their follow-up album ‘This Unruly Mess I Made’. The album’s lead single ‘Downtown’ became one of their biggest hits to date while promotional track ‘White Privilege II’ saw the duo explored the theme of police brutality and racism in the United States.
How Many Good Tracks: 7 of the 13.
What I Liked: Macklemore and Ryan Lewis are poets before they are rappers. Every song on the album is written so beautifully and is very conversational. I love that the duo aren’t afraid to explore awkward topics and uncomfortable truths. They touch on topics from the entertainment industry to racism and the honesty in their music is refreshing. The album also includes many guest artists from Idris Elba to Ed Sheeran and Chance The Rapper who add a lot of value to the tracks.
What I Didn’t Like: The longer I listened to the album, the more I saw that the duo following a very similar recipe with every song. Also, unlike their first album, ‘This Unruly Mess I Made’ is a heavy album and isn’t very radio-friendly and I don’t hear many singles on the album which will obviously hamper this record commercially.
Best Track: Light Tunnel (Feat. Mike Slap)
Rating: 3/5
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