Macklemore is the Wii

[Matthew Jabour]

Well, there was quite a backlash over the Grammys, wasn't there? Macklemore snagged a brace of braces of Emmys (look it up), to the anger and irritation of many. Go on his videos now, you'll find thousands of hateful comments directed at his person and his music. For a while I asked myself, why is everyone so mad at him? Then it hit me: This is exactly the same reaction people had to the Wii.

When Macklemore was first said to be in the runnings for these Grammys (Grammies?) people didn't really think much about it. 'Oh, that Macklemore,' they seem to say. 'Sure, his music's okay, but he'll never be able to compete with everyone else. Hell, he appeals to a completely different audience!' Thus, people focused more on the other, blacker consoles, discussing who had the best lyrics, the coolest beat, the highest specs, etc.

But now, since he's won all the awards, people are outraged. 'How could this happen? Kendrick was far superior! He had the rhythm, the lyrical stylings - Macklemore can't even run at 720p!' And, as usual, people soon turn to conspiracy theories, saying he only won because he's white (when, in the past, white consoles always have lost the race) and fearing that hip-hop is now lost to the filthy casual mobs. Some people have gone as far as saying that Macklemore isn't even talented at all, blatantly disregarding the high quality of Can't Hold Us, Thrift Shop, and Super Mario Galaxy.

So, what can we take away from this unusual repetition of history? Three main things:

1. Macklemore may have swept the Grammys this time, but hip-hop still belongs to the hardcore audience.
2. He didn't win because he was white, but because of his mainstream appeal.
3. This whole argument is entirely pointless in the long run. Can't we just sit down, listen to some music, and play whatever game we please?

But, it's open to interpretation. I'd love to hear all of your opinions on this.

 

[Matthew Jabour]

I, erm... what?

No. No, I don't think so.

Well, then, what's your rebuttal? Because I'd love to hear another point of view.

 

[Weaver]

Reading this I realize I know basically nothing about popular music. I've never heard of Macklemore or Kendrick. In fact, I don't think I've ever even seen a Grammy show in my life.

 

[SteveTR]

I agree that Macklemore's triumph does have some similarities to the triumph of Wii, but apart from the basic idea, pretty much everything else is a bit of a far stretch. I think you're overanalyzing this.

 

[Mezahmay]

Reading this I realize I know basically nothing about popular music. I've never heard of Macklemore or Kendrick. In fact, I don't think I've ever even seen a Grammy show in my life.

I wouldn't feel too bad about that. It's an award show, like most other respectable award shows that just happens to specialize in music awards. As for the popular music thing, also don't feel bad about that. I personally find a lot of it is just taking the same beats but reskinning them with different lyrics.

Perhaps the reason people were so against Macklemore was more that his songs that are popularly known are like popcorn, guilty-pleasure songs that circulated around the internet for a while that had those silly music videos. Perhaps people aren't happy with giving that any kind of legitimacy yet, perhaps it's just the internet being silly again because that award show they didn't watch anyway gave an award to someone they don't like, perhaps the academy of voters or whatever for the Grammys was wrong and there were far more deserving hip-hop songs.

I do believe there was also some controversy over it being a pop song or hip-hop due to its mass appeal, so that probably annoyed some of the vocal hip-hop fans. I for one can't judge as I am waist-deep in EDM and don't really care for the Grammys one way or the other.

 

[KissingSunlight]

I'm actually listening to The Heist when I came across this thread. While, I'm not going to go down into that Nintendo analogy rabbit hole. However, I think the success and critical recognition of Macklemore & Ryan Lewis is very positive evolution for Hip Hop. Their songs are actually about substance. Instead of the tired urban clichés of gangstas, bling, bitches/hos, ego-centric bragging, etc. Seriously, more people will like rap if artists like Flobots, Atmosphere, and Deltron 3030 gets more airplay and critical recognition.

 

[norashepard]

I'm more pissed about his co-opting of the struggles of LGB (let's not even pretend he cares about the T) people when he's clearly not actually about fighting for it. Same Love is about a straight person for fucks sake! And Mary Lambert, an actual queer person, who sings the lady parts of the song was hardly even shown or mentioned during any of the talk relating to the song. ??? There have been tons of better LGB anthems out there done by actual gay people, and Cracklemore gets all the applause? Nah, son.

And is anyone surprised? The Grammy people are notoriously racist. Kanye has won 21 Grammys but not ONE of them was against a white artist. Also, his album this year was at the top of almost everyone's lists, and somehow only got 2 nominations? Right.

I mean, I like Macklemore's music, but I do think that the only reason he won was because he was white, and the only reason people like Same Love is because he's actually straight.

 

[DMills]

I have no rebuttal because I do see the similarities. My post, however, is just to say thank you. This was hilarious to read, brightened my day for sure.

 

[MysticSlayer]

Reading this I realize I know basically nothing about popular music. I've never heard of Macklemore or Kendrick. In fact, I don't think I've ever even seen a Grammy show in my life.

I don't get it. How is it that you're on The Escapist and don't know what the Wii is? Or is this a music forum and you don't know who Macklemore is? I'm so confused by the shitty analogy!

 

[Saetha]

I can't claim to know much about music. The only thing I know about Macklemore is that he's white and a rapper and Tumblr hates him because he dares to be both of those things at once, and that's cultural appropriation. I think. Anytime someone on Tumblr spews out the phrase "Cultural appropriation" I tune out, because nothing good is going to come of that.

As for comparing him to the Wii... well, yeah, didn't a lot of gamers feel burned when Nintendo decided to pander to casuals with the Wii? That's probably where a lot of this "Nintendoomed" stuff is coming from. People have loooong memories, I guess, especially with negative experiences.

Saying Macklemore won because he's white sounds kinda dumb, though. Don't black rappers typically win? I mean, Beyonce, Kanye West, uh... that's the extent of my knowledge of pop music. But haven't there been white rappers before? Like... Eminem, isn't he white? And... Vanilla Ice, or... snow, or something?

Yeah, I still know nothing about mainstream music. But I kinda wish we'd all just like what we like and leave others alone, too.

 

[UPISTRVIMYD]

I'm more pissed about his co-opting of the struggles of LGB (let's not even pretend he cares about the T) people when he's clearly not actually about fighting for it. Same Love is about a straight person for fucks sake! And Mary Lambert, an actual queer person, who sings the lady parts of the song was hardly even shown or mentioned during any of the talk relating to the song. ??? There have been tons of better LGB anthems out there done by actual gay people, and Cracklemore gets all the applause? Nah, son.

Sooo a straight guy currently in the public eye speaks out in support of gay people, and that's a BAD thing?

 

[teebeeohh]

the grammies are an awards show, the wii upset things by selling well, not being good(i know there is no direct connection between awards and quality but still). your analogy is horrible.
if anything, the wii is lmfao, comes from a long line of famous music-related people, sucks and is popular with the casuals.

and don't write "look it up" behind something in your post, it makes you look like a dick. either take the time to explain if you feel it is essential or just assume we can spend 3 secs googeling something we can copy/paste from your post.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

Glad I am absolutely oblivious to these award shows and the generally rapidly fading into obscurity groups/artists that tend to win yearly with a few mainstays here and there.
See Grammys were a joke after Jethro Tull won best Hard Rock album OVER Metallica. Even they had no idea they were hard rock...

 

[norashepard]

I'm more pissed about his co-opting of the struggles of LGB (let's not even pretend he cares about the T) people when he's clearly not actually about fighting for it. Same Love is about a straight person for fucks sake! And Mary Lambert, an actual queer person, who sings the lady parts of the song was hardly even shown or mentioned during any of the talk relating to the song. ??? There have been tons of better LGB anthems out there done by actual gay people, and Cracklemore gets all the applause? Nah, son.

Sooo a straight guy currently in the public eye speaks out in support of gay people, and that's a BAD thing?

It's not a complete negative, no, but it's kind of like a white person writing about being African. He's speaking over the voices of the queer community, and taking attention from the people who are actually saying important things about the lives of those people. There is no way he could ever actually know what it's like to be gay/bisexual/ace/etc, and his song is literally about his straight feelings in relation to those of the queer population, so the fact that people are hailing him as some hero to the cause is ridiculous. Particularly because in the past Macklemore has made many a homophobic comment.

Actual gay artists are snubbed and ignored ALL the time because of this kind of thing, and people actually complain when queer people talk about queer topics. But suddenly when this straight guy does it, it's amazing?

So to recap: Yes it's good that people are excited about gay rights because of his song, but NO, Macklemore doesn't deserve to be held up as the voice of the queer population like he is, because HE IS NOT QUEER.

 

[Sir Thomas Sean Connery]

Well, he's the first rapper I've ever enjoyed aside from Rucka Rucka Ali, so does that make me one of those filthy casual Wii kiddies?

I'm going to agree with some of the other people and say you're over-analyzing the shit out of this and drawing lots of conclusions that aren't there.

 

[RaikuFA]

Reading this I realize I know basically nothing about popular music. I've never heard of Macklemore or Kendrick. In fact, I don't think I've ever even seen a Grammy show in my life.

Pretty much this. I'e only heard of Macklemore through my brother. Most music these days sucks anyways.

 

[lacktheknack]

The difference here is that Macklemore went and actually apologized to Kendrick Lamar for winning, which was hilarious.

I'm pleased as punch that he won, even if he ended up performing the awful mess of a song that is "Same Love". He's damned fun to listen to (minus "Same Love").

 

[EternallyBored]

So if Macklemore is like the Wii, does that mean his popularity centers around a half dozen good songs, and years later it turns out that 90% of his fans just listen to those couple good songs over and over again while all his new albums pretty much bomb in sales.

I'm joking, but seriously this comparison is stretched thin. Macklemore is only like the Wii, insofar as people didn't expect him to be as popular as he turned out to be. So Macklemore is only like the Wii the same way as anything that gains unexpected popularity while being derided by others is also like the Wii.

So using your logic, Twilight and Justin Beiber are just like the Wii too. They really aren't, but they share the same similarities with the Wii that Macklemore does, so in the end it's pretty much an entirely pointless comparison because you can use pretty much any mainstream popular item and compare it to the Wii like you have.