Macklemore really, really wants you to like him. We’ve known it since The Heist unfavorably won the 2014 Best Rap Album Grammy over Kendrick Lamar’s iconic good kid, m.A.A.d city, when Macklemore took to Instagram to show that he, like the rest of us, was upset that the award was his and not Lamar’s. With This Unruly Mess I’ve Made, the Seattle rapper’s second studio album with collaborator Ryan Lewis, Macklemore’s unwavering desire for the approval of the masses is as egregiously transparent as ever. Running for 57 minutes chock-full of heavily accomplished features and Ben Haggerty lecturing, This Unruly Mess I’ve Made unsuccessfully attempts to rewarm the hearts of the critical masses to Macklemore.
Storytelling has always been Macklemore’s most noteworthy skill, but as soon as the album’s first track, “Light Tunnels,” begins, the question arises whether or not anyone has any desire to hear the tales Macklemore wishes to tell. You’ll already be hard-pressed to find a friend group that gladly accepts your playing of Macklemore music upon being blessed with the aux, and the first-person point of view, anxiety-riddled recollection of that infamous Grammy night on “Light Tunnels” isn’t the sort of eye-opening narrative that anyone would want to casually listen to or use as a motivator. Instead, once again, it’s Macklemore reminding us that he, just like us, is unsure whether or not he belongs in the ever-evolving and perennially unkind rap game.
On the other hand, Macklemore does still have the ability to be powerful when speaking on topics with which he has painfully close ties. On “Kevin,” Macklemore pays tribute to his real-life friend’s lost battle to addiction, a tumultuous path with which the rapper himself is all too familiar. Unfortunately, Macklemore fails to fully deliver on the power of “Kevin” by attempting to hold a light to the evils of the American pharmaceutical industry: “I don’t blame Kev or his mom freebasing while pregnant with him/ I blame the pharmacy companies and the country that spends trillions fighting the war they supplying themselves.” Instead of carefully toeing the thin line between being preachy and reverential, Macklemore always seems to take a Shaq-sized step toward the former.
Additionally, the album’s guest list sticks out less as a collection of collaborators and more as a group of people whose after-party Macklemore would wish to be invited and welcomed to with open arms. In terms of hip-hop titans, Grandmaster Caz, Melle Mel and Kool Moe Dee (“Downtown”) as well as KRS-One and DJ Premier (Buckshot) each bless This Unruly Mess I’ve Made with unwarranted rap game legend credit. For someone who has so openly prided himself on making a name independently, Macklemore seems to be employing the same tricks any major label would apply to attempt to bring respect to the work of one of their must-succeed artists. Chance The Rapper, Anderson .Paak, YG and even Idris Elba all make appearances as well, with Chance delivering a flawless feature on “Need to Know”: “I swear rapping make it easy to lie/ But secrets don’t make it easy to write.” It’s a verse that’s wasted on an album far below its caliber, one that only emphasizes how far apart the two artists are creatively.
I bet Macklemore wishes he could do it all over again, and actually, there’s been no clearer indication of the truth of that statement than the album that is This Unruly Mess I’ve Made. Macklemore has placed himself in a weird sort of rap purgatory: despised by many for making mainstream singles while simultaneously finding success with the same formula. He’s uncomfortable with his current footing in rap and wants to be a voice of the people rather than the musical backing of a bar mitzvah montage. Unfortunately for Macklemore, his album’s title is all too accurate a description of its content.
