'We had no idea that it was gonna do this well,' Mack tells 'RapFix Live' of The Heist LP with Ryan Lewis. By Rob Markman, with reporting by Sway Calloway
Macklemore Photo: MTV News
If you don't know Macklemore, it's about time you get familiar. The Seattle MC made huge headlines Wednesday (October 17) when he and DJ Ryan Lewis landed at #2 on the Billboard albums chart with their independent album, The Heist, which moved about 78,000 units.
Mack, who has been a touring machine and landed a spot on the 2012 XXL Freshman cover, still exists as relative rap underdog, so how was he able to make such a dent in this week's sales battle coming behind only last week's chart kings Mumford & Sons?
"Just real organically through touring, music videos and through connecting with the fanbase, I slowly got to this point of being able to sell so many records this first week," he said when he Skyped into "RapFix Live" from a Montana coffee shop Wednesday. "We had no idea that it was gonna do this well, but I think the people are behind it, and it's an exciting thing for an independent artist to push this many units."
Macklemore has been rhyming for about 13 years and made a name for himself in rap's underground with his 2005 album The Language of My World and 2009's The Unplanned Mixtape. His latest features appearances by Schoolboy Q and Ab-Soul and definitely has raised Mack's profile. The fact that he and Ryan Lewis were able to accomplish this feat independently speaks volumes about their work ethic and fanbase.
"In terms of real music that connects on a soul level with the masses, with the people, I think that this is the way to go. I think that major labels aren't necessary anymore," he said.
Related Videos Related Artists
No comments:
Post a Comment