We had a whole lot of superstars on this stage here tonight. But this is… Papoose's house? We're all still reeling that the 20th anniversary of Hip-Hop's Super Bowl featured the Nacirema Dream as a headliner. Damn you Kendrick Lamar and your generous ways. Yeah it's hip-hop to bum rush the show but c'mon Pap you know you didn't deserve that look. And you gave even less fucks by performing a new song. C'mon fam. You've paid a lot of dues through the years but this was the big dawg time in the program. Don't disrespect the game in your pursuit for fame. Oh well, Brooklyn took it. 
Speaking of BK, Fab had a master plan of bringing Lil Kim and Foxy Brown back together again. But when it was time to make history, Fox Boogie was nowhere to be found. Where was you at? Wack.
Earlier this month, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis track “Wing$” was licensed in a commercial for the NBA All-Star break. The placement received some backlash for allegedly contradicting its underlying theme. Macklemore responded to the “sell-out” accusations last night on his website. Some people will never be satisfied.
Over the past couple days, I’ve read numerous tweets and a couple articles about the use of our song “Wings” as the intro for the 2013 NBA All Star Game. While most people were congratulatory over the television appearance, it seemed like there were a fair amount of people that were quick to throw out the good, old-fashioned “sellout” statement. The bigger our profile gets, the more I’m getting use to the phrase and the “purists” who toss it around so liberally. But I figured I should probably break it down from my perspective to let you know where I stand.
The song “Wings” is about the pursuit of identity through the means of consumerism. The attempt is to dissect our infatuation and attachment to logos, labels, brands and the fleeting happiness that is intrinsically linked to the almighty power of the purchase. The subject I use in the song is shoes, but its aim is to paint a broader picture of being a consumer and tracing the lineage back to my first memory of retail infused desire.
I love the NBA. Always have, ever since I was a little kid. When we got offered the TNT All Star game intro it was a no-brainer. I showed up that day to a middle school gym in LA and as I was reading the script I was informed that they re-arranged the structure of the song. I didn’t know prior to that day that my lyrics were going to be edited. But to be 100% honest with you, I didn’t really care once I learned that they were. The only thing that I was a little “ehhhh” about was the last bar. But I put it on the ethics scale, and the last bar alteration wasn’t outweighing the potential reach that I saw in doing the video.
In any licensing deal they are going to edit your music. A 4 minute song does not fit into a 30 second movie trailer. Lyrics have to get cut in order for the trailer/ad to make sense with what the company is promoting. And a song about consumerism doesn’t fit into an NBA All Star Game intro without some tailoring. There is a story telling aspect of Wings that chronicles loving basketball, being a kid and wanting to be like Jordan. That’s the side that the NBA wanted to use. Makes sense. Probably doesn’t make sense for them to use the part that’s breaking down our obsession with the shoes that 90% of the players in the NBA wear, right?
The All Star game intro was seen by millions of people on Sunday who had no idea who we were. My thinking was, if they liked the song they will go and listen to the full version. Those who hear the original song in its entirety will get the core of what gives the song depth. Some might even buy it and become real fans. And guess what version they get? Not the TNT chopped up edit, but the full one.
In my stripped down definition, selling out is compromising your artistic integrity for money/fame. In my heart I can tell you that my personal artistic integrity remained completely intact over the weekend. TNT used our song. They’re still my words. They picked the parts that fit their ad campaign, and visually matched it to us performing, threw in a highlight reel of crazy dunks and had a bunch of kids singing the hook in a gym. Word. I’m all for that. If you take away the consumerism cautionary core of Wings, a story still remains. And that story is one that I’m still proud of, and it’s dope to me that it’s relatable enough for TNT to want to use it.
I would understand the “Macklemore sold out” complaints more if we matched Wings to a shoe commercial. That would be blatant irony, it would completely contradict the song and would appear as a sell out move. But an NBA commercial? The NBA has very little to do with what Wings was really about. The songs subject is about shoes, but the guts of the record are about consumer culture. Is the NBA tied up in this culture and related in some way? Of course. All companies selling a product are. But this is the result of American culture. Does the NBA happen to fall under the capitalist umbrella? Absolutely. But it’s no different than the brands you’re currently wearing, the company that manufactured the couch that you’re sitting on or the computer/phone you’re staring into while reading this.
If there was any trace of irony by Wings being one of the official songs of the 2013 All Star Game, that’s great. That means that we won. The song about consumerism was embraced on a national level, and played to the entire country of sports fans that tuned in. More people download the song, got the truth (the actual/full song) and we converted strangers that didn’t know who we were into fans. If that’s selling out to you, word. But to me that’s nothing but an all around win.
-Macklemore
Tags: macklemore
Dude said the most for no reason.
im sure we all know what K.I.S.S means….
People love overly critiquing this dude. I just love seeing him win. He stretches the bounds of hiphop, without compromising the art form – unlike the majority of popular MCs out.
This is just another example of envy and personal bias turning into unfair criticism…and he handled it perfectly.
Dude might not be for everyone, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t deserving of his success. In all actuality, he’s way more deserving than many
Macklemore stay winning. So far he’s 143364353675487456746 wins and no chance of losing!
He’s reaching in his logic but he has a point about reaching a bigger audience
Well said Beware. People just enjoy throwing others under the bus. Most of the ones complaining about him selling out would have done so themselves in a millisecond given the opportunity.
The irony is they were using shots of the players SNEAKERS in the intro. For the 90%+ of people who won’t even bother to look up that song, it was just used to sell a few hundred thousand pairs of sneakers. I understand where he’s coming from, but if he doesn’t realize he compromised his integrity even slightly (even if it was a means to an end), he’s in denial. And remember, ends never justify the means.
Hmmmmm, lets guess this was posted by B.Dot-tm? Yup
@ B. Dot I thought you said Star (of Star & Bucwild) was your inspiration, you missed the part of his interview, with the combat jack show, which he states Hip-Hop is missing the lack of objectivity.
B. Dot I have no beef with you. Just understand the reason the AP is a reputable news source is due to their lack of objectivity. If you desire to be respected as a Hip-Hop Journalist hone that skills, bro.
When your winning people hate the people calling him a sellout are not his fans anyway and how does an artist in 2013 sellout when people steal music.
seems pretty straightforward guys
i dare any other artist out today to write out some shit like this …..lupe and shyne are the only ones out there making larger/broader statements to the masses that clearly address in an indepth manner
whether people CHANGE lyrics and the paperwork states you have to (business ink) it shouldnt matter.
sell out my ass, when an ad agency pumps your shit out like pollution from a coal plant you can only focus on your art and the integrity as an artist.
#winning
this dude stays winning, and more people keep hating
Personally I don’t understand the hype with this guy,I just think its funny how quickly he sold out for a commercial.THEY EDITED LYRICS OF HIS SONG TO CONVEY A DIFFERENT MESSAGE FOR VIEWERS WATCHING….and he was okay with it.
Please don’t DELETE my comment because you disagree with my OPINION rapradar lol
Wacklemore.
i really dont see the appeal in this guy’s music. its just not for me i suppose. or maybe i need to hear some of the early stuff and not the mainstream stuff. cuz that pop some tags shit is the worst to me…i repeat, to me
What is with your hipster pussies always taking an opinion other than your own as “hating?” In that case, doesn’t that automatically make you a nut hugging groupie? You like extremes don’t you?
whats the best song from this guy? i never listen to this guy because he looks like a hipster douche but ima try give his music a try and see if its any good.
@dave i would recommend “Jimmy Iovine” or “Neon Cathedrals”. I think “Can’t Hold Us” is a great record as well
The word you’re looking for is “contradicting”, not “contracting”. Just trynna help
@bdot
cant hold us…..has the bite like a shark on shark week
but when did he enter hopsins contest?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbAUuUSVBo0&list=UUCkeC8c2N1GICI4AA4WZ38g&index=1
i dont fuck wit dude at all but so wat…. jus cuz he got his song on a worldwide nba commercial dont mean nothin…. niggaz out here tryna get this money…. let the nba change a couple of words…. i kno he got a fat check from it and his loyal fans should not care cuz they know the original one…. he stil on his hip hop shit so it dont matter…. niggaz jus lik to nip pick for nothing… they said slaughterhouse went commercial, they say wale did, they say wiz did(even tho he did), almost everybody… u niggaz aint payin his rent or givin him money…. so jus chill and let him do him…. i wonder did big poppa go commercial now since his song on taco bell in another language?…. he aint even have to write dat whole letter either…. it was worthless
B. dot loses everytime he posts something about this dude. its shameful about dickriding you do tbh
He’s reaching quite a bit to be honest. He knows full well that NBA culture is one of the biggest purveyors of sneaker culture. The two are virtually inseparable.
Trying to claim that this is the lesser of two evils is simply a bad justification. He’s already seen continuing success…there is simply no justification to devaluing the song by placing it in a context that is virtually the exact opposite of what it addresses.
To be clear, I’m happy that they got the opportunity to do an NBA all star ad but I’m deeply disheartened that they chose to do it with the song Wings. Any other song, no issues.
WORD. Can’t argue with that.