Macklemore Collaborates with Melle Mel, Grandmaster Caz & Kool Moe Dee (Video)

The lives of Macklemore & Ryan Lewis have changed immensely since the 2012 release of their album, The Heist. The duo went from being indie Hip-Hop darlings to full-blown global superstars. The album and its singles dominated music for more than a year, culminating in sales of more than 1.4 million copies and picking up a controversial Grammy Award for Best Rap Album, along the way. Macklemore’s personal life also has seen some big changes, with the birth of his daughter and a recent relapse, where he began taking pills and smoking marijuana, after an extended period of being sober. He has since regained his sobriety, and he and Lewis are creating new music.

Their latest song, “Downtown,” is an over-the-top number that sounds like a twisted mix of elements from Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five’s “The Message” and Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” and features guest vocals from Hip-Hop pioneers Melle Mel, Kool Moe Dee and Grandmaster Caz. There are also hints of “Uptown Funk” and “Take Me to the Mardi Gras.” And, as wild as that may sound, the video makes the sonic melange seem conservative. Filled with mopeds, dirt bikes, moose heads, Broadway musical choreography, and the theatrical antics that have been customary in Macklemore & Lewis’ visuals, it is a wild ride. Mel, Moe Dee and Caz all make appearances, as does Macklemore’s Seattle Mariners hero, Ken Griffey Jr.

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