Macklemore & Ryan Lewis ArchivesAmbrosia For Heads

Macklemore Ponders Hip-Hop’s Bad Influences On A Song With DJ Premier

It has been over a decade since Macklemore & Ryan Lewis' mainstream breakthrough, The Heist. Promoted with impressive Backroom freestyles and more, the album dealt with industry triumphs, sexual equality, and more. The against-the-grain LP featuring ScHoolboy Q and Ab-Soul would eventually (and somewhat controversially) win "Best Rap Album" at the 2014... Read more

January 22, 2023 Video

The Top MCs Of The 80s & 90s Were Graded By Kool Moe Dee

Kool Moe Dee cemented a reputation during the 1980s as one of Hip-Hop's elite MCs who said what he felt without concern. After putting in work with The Treacherous Three group, Moe Doe pivoted to the scene as a feared battle rapper. He took on Busy Bee at the Harlem... Read more

January 11, 2022 Throwback

DJ Premier’s Singer Torii Wolf Readies Her Album. Preemo Is Producing 9 Joints (Audio)

For the last year and a half, DJ Premier has devoted much of his attention to Torii Wolf. The Gang Starr producer has cemented a reputation for helping great MCs on their debut albums. Whether JAY-Z, Nas, Biggie, Prodigy, J-Live, Jeru The Damaja, or Non-Phixion, Preemo supplied the heat. Torii... Read more

August 12, 2017 Audio, Fresh

Dante Ross Wanted To Make O.D.B. & Method Man “The Next Run-D.M.C.”

In the canon of Hip-Hop music, Dante Ross may be what we now know as "the plug." From De La Soul to Missy Elliott, MF DOOM to Digital Underground, Lil Dicky to Brand Nubian, Dante has discovered some of Hip-Hop's most respected artists. Beyond simply the exploration, Ross has thrived... Read more

September 23, 2016 Fresh

The Story Of Hip-Hop’s Earliest Days Is Told By Its Pioneers (Video)

Fifteen years after the onset of Hip-Hop culture (August of 1973 is credited by many historians), Eric B. & Rakim's Paid In Full album took the elements of skillful rapping and DJ'ing and applied them to a materialistic, ambition-driven lifestyle that featured fashion, jewelry, and luxury cars. Even in that... Read more

September 8, 2016 Video

Jamila Woods on Messages From “Heavn” & The Creative Spirit of Chicago’s Artists

Some of the greatest artists in modern music started with careful build-ups. From Nas to Kendrick Lamar, these artists were tapped to play feature roles on others' songs. In time, they broke through with art that showed their individual gifts, visionary qualities, and ability to balance them at a full-length... Read more

July 12, 2016 Exclusive, Food for Thought

The White Privilege Conversation is Ongoing. Macklemore & Collaborators Weigh In.

This past week has been a very cerebral, thought-provoking time in Hip-Hop. Since releasing "White Privilege II," Macklemore & Ryan Lewis have been discussing at great length the implications of White supremacy, the racial politics within Hip-Hop, and how those listening to the song can help educate and engage others... Read more

January 30, 2016 News

Macklemore & Sway Have an Incredibly Deep & Important Conversation About White Supremacy (Video)

Since releasing "White Privilege II" on January 22, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis have re-ignited a generations-old discussion about race that has become a maelstrom surrounding the notion of the White versus Black experience in the United States as it exists today. Against the current backdrop of affairs, the conversation is... Read more

January 26, 2016 Lifestyle

Macklemore Releases a New Song About White Privilege And It’s a Powder Keg (Audio)

Recent events have made it exceptionally clear that we are living in a modern-day Civil Rights Era. Despite all the progress American society has made in many ways - a Black President, LGBTQ rights, allowing women to serve in the military, and so forth - there is still an untenable... Read more

January 22, 2016 Audio

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ The Heist vs. Kendrick Lamar’s good kid, m.A.A.d city. Which Is Better?

One year ago, Ambrosia For Heads launched a debate among its readers seeking to answer one of Hip-Hop’s most hotly-contested questions: who is the greatest MC of all time? “Finding The GOAT MC” lasted between September 2014 and May 2015, engaging millions of readers and ultimately producing its winner, as... Read more

January 4, 2016 Finding the GOAT

D.M.C. Says Hip-Hop on the Radio is Waging Genocide on Young People (Audio)

Run-D.M.C. made Rap's first platinum album. Thanks to "My Adidas," the Queens, New York trio became some of the culture's first brand ambassadors. Teaming with Aerosmith for "Walk This Way," the Profile Records act helped mash Hip-Hop with Rock & Roll on a mainstream level. However, when Darryl "D.M.C." McDaniels... Read more

September 20, 2015 Audio

Melle Mel & Big Daddy Kane Vouch For Macklemore & Say Other Rappers Should “Hang Their Heads”

Throughout the last 10 days, a lot of attention has fallen upon Macklemore & Ryan Lewis' "Downtown." Already a video single from the Seattle, Washington, Grammy Award-winning, platinum act, the pair performed the song to open the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards two Sundays ago (August 30). Perhaps most pertinently,... Read more

September 9, 2015 News

Big Daddy Kane Defends Macklemore, Praises Inclusion Of Rap Pioneers

In 1994, Big Daddy Kane—a major label, gold-certified artist, appeared on the Treacherous Three's first album in a decade, Old School Flava. "We Wit' It" featured Kane, alongside Chuck D, Grandmaster Caz, Grandmaster Melle Mel, Heavy D, Tito, and the Treacherous Three lineup of Kool Moe Dee, Special K, and... Read more

September 1, 2015 News

Macklemore & Ed Sheeran Present Lessons To His Daughter & All Of Us (Audio)

After dominating 2012-2014, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis are back. The Seattle, Washington MC and producer tandem are masters at finding Pop sensibility through making Hip-Hop songs about issues that seemingly relate to us all. Mack' and his wife recently welcomed their daughter Sloane Ava Simone Haggerty into the world (in May,... Read more

August 5, 2015 Audio

Raz Simone Runs Up That Hill With Some Of The Realest Bars You’ll Hear This Week (Video)

Raz Simone keeps rising. That idea inspires his latest video, "Macklemore & Chief Keef." Shot in a rocky desert in the magic hour, it's Raz's raps that are sharper than the landscapes, as he talks about the plight of the Internet artist looking for buzz and accolades in 2015. The... Read more

February 15, 2015 Video

Kanye West Warns The Grammy’s That If True Artistry Isn’t Honored, He & Others Will Withdraw (Video)

Last night (February 8), the 57th annual Grammy Awards were held at Los Angeles, California's Staples Center. Kanye West was among performers, as well as nominees. The Def Jam Records superstar joined Rihanna and Paul McCartney on stage to perform "FourFiveSeconds," following a touching delivery of his "Only One" earlier... Read more

February 9, 2015 News

Macklemore Gets Deep About Race, White Appropriation, Grammy Awards & His Biggest Mistake (Video)

In addition to all of the great things that happened in music, especially Hip-Hop, for 2014, there have been some uncomfortable moments. As art parallels life, and life parallels art, America witnessed murders, arrests, protests, actions (and non-actions) and other public issues raise the question of racial equality. In Hip-Hop... Read more

December 31, 2014 Fresh, Video

Drake Thinks Macklemore’s Post-Grammy Text To Kendrick Lamar Was “Wack As F*ck”

Throughout the last five years, Drake has artfully dodged controversy. Even when seemingly playing back and forth with Rap contenders and foes, the polished Toronto actor-turned-MC knows when to hold 'em, and rarely folds 'em. However, in the young 2014, he picked an odd time to step out of character.... Read more

February 12, 2014 Fresh

Kendrick Lamar Reacts To The Grammy Snubs & Macklemore’s Wins

Kendrick Lamar is not one to speak much on controversy. Following his 2013 "Control" verse, K-Dot evaded press and social media to fuel the fire, and let his Rap verse speak for itself. Following Macklemore & Ryan Lewis' four Grammy Award wins on Sunday night, many Heads speculated what Kendrick... Read more

January 31, 2014 Fresh

Macklemore & Kendrick Lamar: How Hip-Hop (Not The Grammy’s) Turned Sunday Into a Fail (Food For Thought)

The day after the Grammy Awards, the conversation about Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ win for Best Rap Album over Kendrick Lamar’s good kid, m.A.A.d. city (G.K.M.C) grew from a buzz to a roar. Social media platforms and the web, generally, were on fire. The frenzy was fueled in part by... Read more

January 29, 2014 Featured-homepage, Food for Thought, Fresh

Macklemore Believes Race & Other Factors Contributed To His 4 Grammy Award Wins

From Macklemore's texts of solidarity to friend/peer Kendrick Lamar before last night's (January 26) 56th Grammy Awards to his words following winning in four categories competing against the Compton, California MC, it's hard not to love the way the Seattle, Washington veteran (who happened to win Best New Artist) handled... Read more

January 27, 2014 Fresh

Macklemore Tells Kendrick Lamar He Got Robbed By Not Winning Best Rap Album. See the Texts (Photos)

Did the 56th Grammy Awards leave the Head in you feeling some kind of way? Especially if you're a Kendrick Lamar fan, watching Macklemore & Ryan Lewis' four awards sweep early in the night, talk of the town performance, and Daft Punk's Random Access Memories taking the Album Of The... Read more

January 27, 2014 Fresh

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Win The 2014 Grammy Award For Rap Song & Album

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis have cause for some early celebration at Los Angeles, California's Staples Center. The Seattle, Washington pair's 2012 album The Heist won Rap Album Of The Year and their breakthrough hit "Thrift Shop" won Rap Song Of The Year. The wins were controversial when coupled with two... Read more

January 26, 2014 Fresh

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – White Walls ft. ScHoolboy Q & Hollis (Video)

Seattle Hip-Hop has been about cars since Sir Mix-A-Lot's "My Hooptie." Interestingly enough, on the car (read: Cadillac) anthem from Macklemore & Ryan Lewis' The Heist, the duo went really Guns & Roses on the video treatment and enlisted a number of Rap peers, including the "Swass" O.G. This is... Read more

September 9, 2013 Fresh, Video