One word: Macklemore. Ok. Maybe four words: Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. Let's just focus on the first one.

 
a) Macklemore
The first thing you should know about him is that his real name is Ben Haggerty. He is 29 years old and is from Seattle. In one of his songs, "Can't Hold Us", he says "chasing dreams since I was fourteen." That is part is actually true. When he was only fourteen years old he started to create his own lyrics. His friends came up with the name "Mocklimore" and it was later on switched to Macklemore. When he first started to try out rapping, he was influenced by A Tribe Called Quest and the Wu Tang Crew who he mentioned in "Can't Hold Us". He was able to get a degree at the Evergreen State College. It was there when he used his skills to teach music workshops. When he made his first EP album in 2000 called "Open Your Eyes", he went by Professor Macklemore. When he made his second album in 2005, "The Language in My World", he dropped the "professor" part of his stage name. He sadly had problems with addiction and didn't write any music for four more years. When we was recovered he found Ryan Lewis, his new music partner in crime. The came out with two albums, "The VS. Redux" EP album and "Unplanned Mixtape" in 2009. They then took a break and came out with a new album, "The Heist", and it came out in October 2012. Although Macklemore wrote the song "Same Love" and is open to gays and lesbians to have equal rights, it says he is not gay himself.



b) Ryan Lewis

Ryan Lewis is 25 years old and from Spokane, Washington. He is an American music producer, musician, music video director, photographer, graphic designer, and DJ currently based in Seattle. Macklemore and Ryan Lewis met each other in 2006 when Ryan became his professional photographer. They became really good friends and in the late 2008 they already had made a few songs together and decided to make a full album. He made the albums "The VS." EP, "The VS. Redux", "Unplanned Mixtape", and "The Heist" with Macklemore starting in late 2008. He shot a video for his mash-up of 2Pac's "Crooked Nigga Too" and Franz Ferdinand's "Take Me Out".



c) Top Ten Macklemore and Ryan Lewis Songs
#10 - Life is Cinema (VS. EP) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6jcr6k8J6A
#9 - Ten Thousand Hours (The Heist) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_m9g155Hlw
#8 - Jimmy Iovine (The Heist) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RwW6ERgpvo
#7 - White Walls (The Heist) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwWvIZ8sILw
#6 - Otherside (VS. EP) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgo-UeFaZtM
#5 - Can’t Hold Us (The Heist) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaBEpqPTGDA
#4 - Irish Celebration (VS. EP) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0X1xEGR6Ogg
#3 - And We Danced (Unplanned Mixtape) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-5BGp3p9pY
#2 - Same Love (The Heist) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1TBgcctcco
#1 - Thrift Shop (The Heist) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9mmhh_wvkA


d) Next 10 Concert Dates
#1 San Jose, CA - 05/09/13
#2 Easton, PA - 05/11/13
#3 Milwaukee, Wl - 05/12/13
#4 Gulf Shores, AL - 05/17/13
#5 Baltimore, MD - 05/18/13
#6 Freehold, NJ - 05/19/13
#7 Quincy, WA - 05/24/13
#8 Londonerry, IE - 05/26/13
#9 London, UK - 05/27/13
#10 Philadelphia, PA - 06/01/13

For more information and tour dates, go to this website: http://macklemore.com/shows