Connor Snashall (The Beacon)
By Connor Snashall, Guest Commentary
Inspiration is the first word that comes to mind when I think of Macklemore. Born and raised in Seattle, Washington, he has made an impact that is much larger than just the Emerald City.
Like a lot of guys going through high school and college, he experimented with drugs and alcohol and came to find he couldn't use either in moderation and his experience with OxyContin was what finally had him hit rock bottom. His song Otherside sums up his experiences and is what he says got him to finally move forward from drug and alcohol use and become completely sober, which he has been for several years now. One of the songs of off his newest album, The Heist, that was just released last Tuesday, October 9th, is called Starting Over and is a reaffirmation of what he talked about in Otherside as he says, "If I can be an example of being sober, I can be an example of starting over."
He's a diamond in the rough among other artists of our time, all we hear these days is about how drunk Katy Perry got Last Friday Night or the Best Sex Drake ever had. It's refreshing to hear someone like Macklemore who has such a wide array of music that doesn't follow all the meaningless and materialistic social norms of the society we live in. From a track as enjoyable and upbeat as And We Danced or Thrift Shop that you can go crazy dancing to, to a song that is part of a greater movement for marriage equality that Same Love is, to honoring a diseased Mariners announcer, Dave Niehaus in My Oh My, down to being as open, personal, and honest as he is in Otherside and Starting Over, Macklemore is the start of something new.
He has done all this without a record label for the sake of always being true to himself and so he would never have to sing about something he doesn't believe in, and because he aspires to be the world's biggest hipster...but that's beside the point. His fans are what have made him as big as he is, and after meeting him last year at UP's Rock the Bluff, he knows it. He was really thankful to my roommate, Josh Beagle and I for being so supportive and reminded us of it after the show too. His fans have catapulted him from someone who used to only have twenty or so people show up to his shows all the way to a sold-out worldwide tour and over a hundred thousand twitter followers. So go buy a copy of The Heist (it's still #1 on iTunes), catch him on tour this Thursday downtown at the Crystal Ballroom if you can get your hands on a ticket, and help support one of the only true artists left.
Connor Snashall is a sophomore business major. He can be reached at snashall15@up.edu
