Image via Complex Original
With the No. 1 song in the country for the past few weeks, chances are you've heard (or heard about) Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. The duo from Seattle seemingly popped out of nowhere to climb the Billboard charts, go triple-platinum, and fly past 100 million views on YouTube with their hit song, "Thrift Shop."
But there's more to Macklemore's newfound success than catchy hooks and secondhand clothes. Having released his first EP in 2000, Macklemore's rise to the top has been more than a decade in the making. In the time since his initial offering, the rapper's run the full gamut of experiences and emotions a rapper on the come-up can possibly experience—from drug-induced lows to romance bliss—and then some, and there's probably more than a few things you have yet to hear of.
These are 25 Things You Didn't Know About Macklemore.
Written by Julian Patterson (@JulianPatterson)
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Ellen Degeneres once played "Jimmy Iovine" for legendary record exec Jimmy Iovine, co-chairman of Interscope Records. Iovine loved the record so much, he even said he wants to be in the video for the song.
He met his fiancée on MySpace.
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He used to work at the Seattle Zoo (and took money from the register to put towards recording equipment).
Same Love, a song that has now become an anthem for those in the LGBT community, was inspired by Macklemore's two gay uncles and godfather.
Macklemore released his first independent album in 2005, The Language of My World. His next major release didn't come for another five years as he struggled with addiction.
L.A. Reid flew out to a show in Missoula, Montana in an attempt to sign Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. The two politely declined.
[Related: L.A. Reid in The Best A&Rs in Rap History]
Macklemore and Ryan Lewis hired Alternative Distribution Alliance, an arm of Warner Music Group, to distribute "Thrift Shop" on the radio.
Macklemore went to rehab for substance abuse in 2008. He stayed clean until December 2011, when he slipped up with cough syrup.
Macklemore and Ryan Lewis reinvested the money they made from the Miller Genuine Draft commercial into putting out The Heist.
Macklemore sold drugs to buy his first piece of music equipment when he was 14. It was a two-track recorder.
Macklemore wrote the lyrics for "Thrift Shop" years ago, but the song didn't come together as the track we know it as today until Ryan Lewis created the beat.
Macklemore had a long battle with substance abuse, but ultimately quit, as he wasn't able to make music while using.
Macklemore came up with his stage name in high school. It wasn't orignally meant for him, though: It was for his graphic design class homework.
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When he was 14, Macklemore drank alcohol for the first time by himself while listening to 2Pac's "All Eyez On Me" and wearing a wife-beater.*
[*His words!]
He toured cemetaries and art museums on the hunt for inspiration while writing tracks for The Heist.
He doesn't like to be called a conscious rapper.
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