Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - This Unruly Mess I've Made

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
This Unruly Mess I've Made
2016
Spotify

Macklemore is a pretty good MC. Ryan Lewis is a pretty good Producer. Together they have created some real classics like "Thrift Shop" and on this album This Unruly Mess I've Made there is some real potential. Where it all breaks down however is in his Social Justice message. Instead of letting his music speak for itself like say Kendrick Lamar Macklemore needs to tell you what his music is saying. He needs to beat a message to death so you know exactly how progressive he is. "White Privilege II" one of the singles from the record is basically an all out attack on any White person out there to accept the guilt they should feel for situations they may or may not have any involvement with. Therein is the real problem with this record. It is half social media activism, half goofy comedy.  "Downtown" meant to be the biggest hit and featuring Foxy Shazam singer Eric Nally, who is the best part of the record, is mostly about getting a scooter and cruising but Macklemore cannot help himself and still tries to slip in some politics. It is almost like Macklemore can't pull himself away from Twitter or Facebook long enough to see the real world outside minus the problems of the day. It is so hard to take him seriously when on one track he is talking about $800 being "a hell of a deal" for a scooter and How White people need to recognize their privilege on another.

KRS-One brings a much needed respite from Macklemore on "Buckshot" and outshines the rapper easily. It goes to show that Macklemore's message of sobriety, social justice, facebook activism and white guilt perhaps is not as widely accepted as his circle may think. When you reach Leon Bridges' chorus on "Kevin" it is so mismatched with Macklemore's style that both artists suffer from the pair up. It is hard to take away from Macklemore taking a risk and making this record so political as He could have made a record full of commercial hits, but his message seems so muddled and confused just populated with the hot button topics of the day. He seems to constantly want to apologize for his success before someone can call him a racist for making black music. The best feature on a record that has quite a few good ones is Chance the Rapper on "Need To Know" and it is also another really well produced track from Ryan Lewis. On This Unruly Mess I've Made Macklemore is pulling himself in so many directions that the focus is just never there, you can't get a beat on exactly what is going on. Well produced and often well intentioned This Unruly Mess I've Made suffers when Macklemore starts overthinking, and on this record he thinks way to much.

5.0 out of 10