“!Now Ya Know” is a weekly series from Mixologi profiling artists you may not have heard of.  Every week we will be selecting a new artist for you to keep on your radar.”

There is an emerging hip-hop icon on the rise out of Seattle, and his name is Macklemore.  Hip-Hop might not be the best way to describe his genre because in this day and age, artists are blending together all different types of sounds, and Macklemore clearly embodies this reality.  But I use the term “Icon,” because one thing you will quickly learn about him is, he is paving his own fucking path, which I greatly appreciate.

Although I’m sure he wouldn’t like me trying to classify his style, I’ll go ahead and call him the Great White Hipster Rapper.  Hipsters tend to think of themselves as ironic right? Well the irony in Macklemore’s rhymes is….well… he doesn’t always actually rhyme. The hip-hop fundamentalist would undoubtedly frown upon on this characteristic, because it seemingly undermines the “sport” of rapping.  But the upside of his non-existent rhyme schemes is that it forces him into topical, meaningful and powerful messaging, by relinquishing his allowance of “throwaway lyrics.” Basically, if you aren’t rhyming, you sure in the hell better be saying something meaningful.

Mack makes sure to do that on every track, no more prevalent than the first song I heard of his which is “Wings,” which is about Air Jordans and the consumerism + violence that surrounds the brand.  What’s dope is that it’s not just an awesome song, but the video serves as a short film as well (see below).  Another track I highly admire is entitled “ Same Love”, and its a brave and unfiltered defense of gay marriage and overall civil acceptance.

This dude Macklemore is pretty sick, I can’t lie.  The word is out on him, as he was featured in XXL’s Freshman of the Year Class.  He is doing a ton of shows, pumping out quality music, and overall seems like the type of guy you would like to grab a beer with.  With out knowing him personally, Mixologi supports Macklemore, and we think you should too!  Check out his video below, and let us know what you think!