Macklemore admits his Grammy changed his life forever

Grammy-winning rapper Macklemore has plenty to talk about these days especially with his new ‘CHANT’ single winning fans over all around the world. The hip-hop star links with Apple Music 1’s ‘The Chart Show with Brooke Reese’ to dish on his game-changing album 10 years later.

Macklemore’s life changed after dropping The Heist

Along with talking about his 2012 LP, Mack also talked about working alongside Tones and I for their new ‘CHANT’ banger and his approach to writing the hit tune.

To make life a little easier, check out full quotes from his ‘The Chart Show with Brooke Reese’ appearance on Apple Music 1.

Macklemore on his Grammy-winning album 'The Heist’

It changed my life in every way. Up until that project, I was an underground rapper. There was a long uphill trajectory of struggle, of playing shows, just trying to make enough money to pay for the gas that it took to get there. If I sold $60 worth of merch, it was a success. That was my experience before ‘The Heist.’ And we really grinded and we built our fan base. And I remember the first week that it came out and getting those sales back and realizing that we had a lot bigger fan base than I think that we had any idea existed. From there, a little song called “Thrift Shop” started to go viral and the rest is history. It was an album that changed everything.

Macklemore on writing his single “CHANT"

I wrote it in different periods, I wrote the first verse last. I had a different first verse for a couple years actually. And I was like, "This isn't quite it." And to me, there's a rebirth energy in it. There's a fighting spirit to it. I wanted to make something, I was writing about this yesterday, I wanted to make something that motivates. Because for me, the page and the pen and the process of being creative is in itself an exercise in overcoming fear. It's an exercise of pushing through. It's an exercise of getting outside of your comfort zone, of striving for greatness. Every time that I step into the studio, that's what it is. And there's hurdles that come along with that. And to me, this was like, "Okay. I'm getting back after taking a lot of time off, after the pandemic, after shows getting canceled, all of these things that have happened." And like, "What do I want to say? How do I want to kick this off?" And that's how it really starts. This is the beginning of a new chapter. And we're right here. We're right here, and we're not going anywhere.

Macklemore on collaborating with Tones and I

Tones is amazing. She had a show here in Seattle. And I went down to check it out. And she had been very vocal in terms of what my music had meant to her. So I wanted to go down and meet her and see what she was all about. And immediately just fell in love with her. She's just a gem of a human, such a good spirit. Obviously, an amazing musician, writer and performer. But just as a human, I was just blown away. So that was really cool. That was a great moment to meet her and to connect. And then we stayed in touch. And then we had been working on this record for quite some time, “CHANT,” and we had the sketch of it. But we were trying to think of who could execute this hook, and Tones was the first person that popped up. I sent it to her, she loved it. And she came to Seattle shortly after that. We got in the studio and the rest is history.