Written by Keshav Pandya
Macklemore, the Grammy-Award winning rap artist, has finally sent us all new treat to listen. And this time it’s a song dedicated to his daughter, a newborn, called, “Growing Up (Sloane’s Song),” with collaborator Ryan Lewis, and vocalist Ed Sheeran.
Ben Haggerty, Macklemore’s real name, gives us a look inside his own life as a father of a two- month-old daughter. He discusses and raps about the many stages of life, the ups and downs, and also confessing his own fears in childhood and as a father.
“Put in so many hours, and I just want the outcome to be something that I can look back and I can be proud of / Don’t wanna be a dad that’s living in Facetime, but I got a world to sing to and you at the same time,” he says in the song.
The rapper has taken a more soulful tone in this song and given a medium for his fans to relate to his own struggles.
Macklemore admits about his mistakes after his 2012 The Heist album success, as he became addicted to smoking and pills.
In a recent interview with Complex Magazine he stated: “I was burnt out,” Haggerty said. “I was super-stressed. We weren’t sleeping – doing a show every day, zigzagging all over the country. In terms of the media, I was getting put into a box that I never saw for myself. The pressure and the fame – everything. All the clichés, man – like not being able to walk around, having no privacy, and from this TV appearance to this TV appearance, and the criticism, and the lack of connection and the lack of [12-step] meetings – all of that put into one pie was just… I just wanted to escape.”
Macklemore and Lewis had also collaborated with singer, Fences, for “Arrows,” and it has been three years since The Heist. The team promises a new album soon, and are three-quarters done with their second LP.
Lewis says that he is drawing inspirations from Pink Floyd, Led Zepplin, Queen, and The Beatles, with a bigger budget now.
“Growing Up (Sloane’s Song)” is now available for free download or steaming on Macklemore’s website.
