“This Unruly Mess I’ve Made”: child of the corn
This Unruly Mess I’ve Made album art
The Seattle duo of Macklemore & Ryan Lewis have been practicing the art of silence since their 2012 debut, The Heist. However, Mack is comparable to Stanley Yelnats in Louis Sachar’s Holes book: in the wrong place, doing the wrong thing, at the wrong time.
Macklemore posted a screenshot of a text conversation between he and Compton rapper Kendrick Lamar after Macklemore won a majority of the rap categories at the 2014 Grammys. The “Thrift Shop” MC apologized to Lamar, claiming that he and his modern day classic album good kid, m.A.A.d. City, “got robbed”. Following that moment, Macklemore has only appeared in headlines after reportedly relapsing and going to a costume party wearing an apparently anti-Semitic costume. This left many wondering what subject matter he would tackle on this album.
He would go on to talk about the musical celebration itself, and disparage it as an annual reality show episode in the intro “Light Tunnels”. The production has a glamorous, epic sound, reminiscent of what happens in the Grammies. Mike Slap provides one of the better hooks on this LP. The first single, “Downtown”, begins to blaze the trail of corny lines (“there’s layers to this **** player/tiramisu, tiramisu”), but is still one of the better tracks here. Props to the duo for getting OGs Kool Moe Dee, Grandmaster Caz, and Melle Mel on this joint. I’m sure none of them thought they would be on a song about mopeds, but there’s a first time for everything.
The third track, “Brad Pitt’s Cousin”, takes us into the biggest cornfield since Hopsin asked if “the man who invented college really went to college”. I apologize to those listeners really worried about being less famous than Macklemore’s cat. Their futures will be ruined, simply because Cairo the Cat will have more notoriety than they ever will. How will they ever be able to pay the bills, feed their families, or operate on a day-to-day basis knowing this statement is true?
This is a cornball song. Macklemore also claims that “every white dude in America got the Macklemore haircut.” His shout out to his homie Dee (which I will let you look up. It’s essentially a line to cater to the minds of middle schoolers in 2015). XP also feeds his hook with corn. There’s so much corniness here it provides enough ethanol to power a Chevy truck. This review, like America, is drowning in corn.
There’s so much corniness here it provides enough ethanol to power a Chevy truck.
The production carries the bulk of this album, but the instrumental for the KRS-One and DJ Premier featured “Buckshot” is incredibly obnoxious. Remember Jim Carrey’s “most annoying sound in the world” from Dumb & Dumber? It has found itself a rival with the beat to this song. I am slightly angry at this song and this is why:
HOW ARE YOU GOING TO HAVE ONE OF THE GREATEST HIP-HOP PRODUCERS OF ALL TIME ON YOUR ALBUM AND NOT PRODUCE A WHOLE SONG!?!?!?
I understand that turntable scratches are Premo’s thing, but that’s all he does on this track. This could have been so much better if he had done the whole thing, instead of Ryan Lewis’ mockery of a 1990s New York beat. KRS-One does have a nice feature here though.
The quality of the album picks up in the middle here, with “Growing Up” becoming a heartfelt letter to Macklemore’s daughter. The sonics have a similar vibe to their gay marriage support anthem “Same Love” from The Heist. However, the instrumental has a more exciting element to it that is enjoyable. Ed Sheeran still can’t sing to save his life. “Kevin” is probably the best song on this tracklist, mostly because Leon Bridges sings a lyrically and sonically pleasing hook. Although the beat is a little too groovy for the subject matter, Macklemore sounds sincere on this tribute to his friend who died of drug overdose.
“St. Ides” gives us a feeling that things will continue to rise. This is a perfect song to just kick back and sit on your front porch and view the world. Macklemore’s calming, whisper-talk delivery fits perfectly over this chill production. “Need to Know” ushers in the MVP of this whole experience, Chance the Rapper. This verse helps solidify that the self proclaimed “Lil Chano from 79th” is one of the more entertaining and thought provoking rappers in recent memory. Sadly, however, the good music comes to a close.
“Dance Off” is by far the worst song I’ve heard since Lil Wayne’s “Wowzers”. It is pompous poppy, trend-fitting crap. It travels through the cornfield that Macklemore so loves to crop into his lyrics. The track has a cheesy, processed dance break following this Monster-Mash-esque spoken word hook from actor Idris Elba. This is similar to the “Buckshot” song in that Anderson .Paak’s talents are just wasted on this track. Absolutely frustrating to sit through.
The album resolves itself in a calming matter, from the goofy, cringy “Let’s Eat” detailing the sin of procrastination through dieting. “Bolo Tie” is all over the place from a subject matter standpoint (the YG feature seems so random and misplaced here). “The Train” is where the album should have ended, as it offers a great resolution to an otherwise lost album.
However, Macklemore decided to offer his opinion and insert himself into the Black Lives Matter movement on “White Privilege II”, a single released before the album. Why he released this nine-minute adventure as a single is still confusing. The instrumental is intriguing, beginning with an annoying saxophone solo, weaving its way through pianos and quiet moments, and concluding with a barrage of quotes and choirs singing. However, Macklemore, while perhaps sincere, doesn’t offer a solution to the problem of racism. His goal is to “open a dialogue” with this song. Granted, it does do that, and I’ll give him props. What’s sad is that he may be genuine, but it really doesn’t feel like it.
That pretty much sums up Macklemore, from The Heist until now. He is almost too careful about the moves he makes, and he lets it be known on “White Privilege II”. He’s too in control of himself. I thought that a break from music would do the Seattle MC some good, but essentially, he put out the same album and made it worse. It’s not awful. The midsection of this album is solid, but it is not strong enough to carry the overload of dead weight.
FAVORITE TRACKS: “Light Tunnels”, “Downtown”, “Kevin”, “St. Ides”, “Downtown”
LEAST FAVORITE TRACKS: “Brad Pitt’s Cousin”, “Buckshot”, “Dance Off”, “Let’s Eat”
WORTH YOUR $$? Stream it and buy what you like. Less cohesive than The Heist, but some songs are still worth the purchase
RATING: 4/10
