Clizbeats Salutes Macklemore And Ryan Lewis’ Independently Earned Chart Topping Status!
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
We here at Clizbeats want to take a moment to say a special congratulations to indie Hip Hop duo Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. As of this week their independently released single “Thrift Shop” topped Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, knocking Bruno Mars’ “Locked Out Of Heaven” down to the number 2 spot by a margin of approximately 9,000 chart points. After measuring platforms like Spotify, Rdio, Muve Music, Slacker, Rhapsody and Xbox Music, it is also adds up to be the number 1 most streamed song of the week with a hefty 1.54 million on-demand streams. That achievement dethrones the previous record holder Gotye, who’s 2012 smash “Somebody I Use To Know” peaked at 1.41 million on-demand streams the week of May 5, 2012.
Macklemore And Ryan Lewis Featuring Wanz
“Thrift Shop”
From The Heist
Macklemore LLC/Alternative Distribution Alliance
Adding to the achievement, “Thrift Shop” is also celebrating its second week on top of Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and third week at the top of the Rap Songs chart. Such a set of stats hasn’t been achieved for a debut Hip Hop single since Wiz Khalifa first released “Black And Yellow” in 2011. This is an important comparison because Maklemore and Ryan Lewis released their self made effort through their own Macklemore, LLC. Therefore, we feel it is an undeniably a testament to the pure quality that exists in their debut album, The Heist.
We say this because after we listened to The Heist in it’s entirety we were both, emotionally moved, and realized that the braggadocios bargain hunters anthem “”Thrift Shop”, only scratches the surface of the depth of it’s impassioned 15 tracks. The album serves as a perfectly articulated audio snap shot of Macklemore’s general humanity, and the sophistication of Ryan Lewis’ thorough production ability. It is the result of a 13 year journey through the world of Hip Hop to date, and 2 acclaimed independent EPs that the duo personified themselves with.
One of the best examples of how The Heist allowed them to expand on topics and styles that they became known for, is the album cut “Starting Over”. It is the continuation of the brutally honest EP cut about Macklemore’s personal struggle with substance abuse called “Otherside”. “Starting Over” serves like a sequel that discusses the real life shame he felt about relapsing. That pure honestly carries over through the album in other ways as well. This is Poignant heard through tracks like “Wings” It exemplifies a theme of art VS commerce and education that plays cleverly and thoroughly from beginning to end. In the song Macklemore uses his childhood experience with the Nike brand as an example of the role commercialism can play in all of our lives. It is one of many tracks that cover controversial issues in an informed manner that is sure to make the listener stop and think.
Macklemore And Ryan Lewis
“Otherside (Remix)”
Macklemore LLC/Alternative Distribution Alliance
Macklemore And Ryan Lewis Featuring Ben Bridwell Of Band Of Horses
“Starting Over”
From The Heist
Macklemore LLC/Alternative Distribution Alliance
Macklemore And Ryan Lewis Featuring Ab Soul
“Wings”
From The Heist
Macklemore LLC/Alternative Distribution Alliance
Another example of that internal human struggle can be heard on the track “Ten Thousand Hours”. It is based on Macklemore’s personal belief in how concepts discussed in Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers apply to his journey toward success. In fact, because of our grass roots hard working efforts, chasing our own success, this has grown to be one of our personal favorites as well.
Macklemore And Ryan Lewis Featuring Lindsay Starr of Fences
“Ten Thousand Hours”
From The Heist
Macklemore LLC/Alternative Distribution Alliance
In the song he uses lyrics like, “the greats weren’t great because at they could paint, the greats were great because they paint alot” to point out one of Gladwell’s primary concepts. Gladwell believes that experts from any field have to passionately apply ten thousand hours of hard work in order to achieve the extraordinary success or notoriety that leading experts of any field often become associated with. Therefore, with the right dedication and environment, that which seem unachievable actually could be. It is truly inspiring!
Another inspiring and emotionally piercing track, is the same sex rights anthem “Same Love”. This to us, in many ways is the song that embodies a relatively perfect balance of personal emotion, Pop music song structure, and structure of song and music video concepts that can both, melt hard hearts, and relate the Gay rights plight to the average unengaged straight audience. We feel it is the purity of “Same Love “‘s all around quality and good will that virally boosted The Heist’s success in a way that are much more meaningful than the radio oriented catchiness and fun we all have grown to love in “Thrift Shop”.
Macklemore And Ryan Lewis Featuring Mary Lambert
“Same Love
From The Heist
Macklemore LLC/Alternative Distribution Alliance
All together The Heist is the perfect example of how hard work, dedication, and talent can pay off against big odds. It is Hip Hop maturity that the genre’s founders would be proud of. Ten thousand hours well spent.
