Macklemore’s hit song “Thrift Shop” hit about 100 million views last week, and I have to say, I felt strangely proud.
Not because Macklemore remains an unsigned artist in an industry in which you rely on your record label to bring you fame, or because a white guy from Seattle made it big, but because he made a rap song with the guts not to take itself seriously, and man, did that take long enough.
If there was ever a music genre that sometimes needed a dose of self-deprecating humor, it would be rap.
“Thrift Shop” was a small miracle moment where somebody got the joke that even though rappers boast jewels, cars and the finest women that money can buy, their fan base could only possibly dream about it.
Is it likely that any given person between the ages of 14 and 25 is cruisin’ in a Mercedes and sippin’ Patron? Nah man, but we shop in thrift stores.
So hats off to Macklemore for making a catchy song about being broke.
To be honest, I haven’t had so much fun with a song since everyone still knew the words to “The Real Slim Shady.”
Gangsta rap finally died a hard death in the late 2000s, and thank God.
It’s taken a few more years than it should have to get all the grown men that make this music to stop trying to prove themselves as bona fide O.G.s and finally start taking more risks with their genre. Rappers are now finally finding it marketable to take on edgier, smarter topics than to just keep having manhood-measuring contests about how much money they spend on absurd luxury items.
Rap music is now hitting a big bang of artists who aren’t afraid to venture into new territory. I think rappers now are realizing there is a whole other ball game to be played with their music because so many ideas have been left unsaid up to this point.
Sometimes the changes in styles or ideas may seem subtle, but they will end up getting noticed by people in the business. Donald Glover, who goes by Childish Gambino for his music, once said in his stand-up act, “There’s black nerds everywhere now, which is awesome because I’m a black nerd, and that s--- was illegal until like 2003.”
Donald credited Kanye West with nerd cred, and personally, I am going to toss in B.o.B as representing the nerdy-is-cool image.
Kanye West might have single-handedly made thick-frame glasses hardcore because I can’t honestly remember a rapper who decided to wear those before him.
Forget 50 Cent’s “I-would-survive-in-prison” muscles — sharp-dressed nerds are making a comeback.
Risk-taking rappers have certainly proved themselves in mainstream music, and I think that says something about how the artists are getting bolder with doing what they want first and letting the audience follow the lead.
That ranges from Macklemore rapping on gay marriage to Kid Cudi creating an electronica space-age album to everyone still trying to figure out Tyler, The Creator.
So hopefully history will vindicate this branching-out effort in some way, although I’m not getting my hopes up too much because nostalgia tends to get weirdly selective on the historical details.
I couldn’t tell you who was changing the world in 2003, but nowadays, if anyone was to yell out, “To the windooooow,” then they would get a “to the wall” from me without a second thought.
Until that day, though, I am just looking forward to what’s around the corner for rap music.
Boundaries are now up for reinterpretation, and ladies and gents, it’s going to get weird, funny, self-aware and crazy up in here, and I am so excited.
I think we have never seen a better time for rap music than right now, and here’s to hoping it only gets better.
Lauren Flannery is a business administration sophomore at UF. Her column runs on Tuesdays. You can contact her via opinions@alligator.org.
