Macklemore Quotes & Sayings

There's this tendency to be like, 'Where's the negative stuff? How valid is the criticism?' But honestly, what people think of me is none of my business. If I live on the Internet looking for public approval, I'm going to be miserable. — Macklemore

For me, being transparent about every aspect of my life is what makes my music relatable and how I'm able to be an individual amongst the mass amounts of other artists. — Macklemore

America the brave
Still fears what we don't know — Macklemore

My hope is that my personal testimony can help in some way to not only
advance the dialogue and approve Referendum 74, but also to help shape a
culture of belonging in which ALL people are equal. — Macklemore

Music is therapy. Music moves people. It connects people in ways that no other medium can. It pulls heart strings. It acts as medicine. — Macklemore

Michael Jordan was a cultural icon that everybody on the playground wanted to be. The Bulls dynasty was a huge part of my childhood and it was the peak of my basketball interest as a kid. — Macklemore

Drug culture is extremely prevalent and probably most people know somebody whose life has been affected by drugs, if it's not their own or in their own family, they have friends. It's a never-ending process. — Macklemore

Whatever God you believe in, we come from the same one — Macklemore

The greats weren't great because at birth they could paint
The greats were great because they paint a lot — Macklemore

I want to make music that I like; not something that I have to make because I think it's going to sell. — Macklemore

I write to the beat and let life play the guitar strings — Macklemore

No law's gonna change us
We have to change us
Whatever god you believe in
We come from the same one
Strip away the fear, underneath, it's all the same love
About time that we raised up! — Macklemore

I put myself in the place of the listener when editing my writing. The last thing that I want to do is be preached at and told who to be or what to think when listening to an artist. However, I do want to be inspired. There's a fine line. — Macklemore

The trust that I once built has been betrayed. But I'd rather live tellin' the truth and be judged for my mistakes, than falsely held up, given props, loved and praised. — Macklemore

My relationship with God is as strong as the time and energy I put into connecting with God. — Macklemore

I think that there will always be artists out there who think they need to sign a major label deal in order to be successful. And that machine is what is going to work for them - there's tons of examples of pop stars who need that machine. — Macklemore

I want to be someone who is respected and not just in terms of my music. I want to be respected in terms of the way that I treat people ... Music is my creative outlet in terms of expressing what is important to me; what has importance, what has a value. And I wanna be respected for that. — Macklemore

I learned from my teachers but became through my music — Macklemore

what up? I got a big cock — Macklemore

The reason why I meditate and pray in general is just to remind myself that it is not about me. — Macklemore

It's weird because music is this thing that you love doing, and it comes completely from a place of creativity, and then that transfers into having to manage a business and make decisions and figure out what is the best route to go in terms of getting your product to as many people as possible. — Macklemore

One man's trash that's another man's come up. — Macklemore

Of course I want dubs and a candy painted 'lac
Watch the videos and get the girls in the back
But if that's what I believe in, and the reason that
I rap Uncle Sam is my pimp when he puts me on the track — Macklemore

You forgot who you are right as the world learned your name. — Macklemore

It's easier, as a white person, to be silent about racial injustice. It's easier. On paper. But it's not easier on the whole, because injustice affects all of us, whether we know it or not, whether we acknowledge it or not. — Macklemore

I'm someone that examines culture and tries to break down why things are the way that they are whether its hip-hop music, sex, race, or consumerism. I try to examine it and scrutinize it to the point where I can write a song. — Macklemore

'Vote Love' means vote equality. It means vote change. It means vote what's right for humanity. — Macklemore

Human rights for everybody, there is no difference.
Live on! And be yourself! — Macklemore

I buy whatever I see, but I tend to not spend money just to spend it. — Macklemore

If I can be an example of getting sober, then I can be an example for starting over — Macklemore

I'd always thought that if I could get sober and stay sober, I would be able to have a career making music. My drug and alcohol addiction was the one thing holding me back. I had finally gotten the tools to stay sober, and it was just a matter of writing the songs. — Macklemore

When you mess up publicly, it can be difficult to get vulnerable again or to put yourself out there. — Macklemore

Broken, hopeless, headed nowhere
Only motivation for what the dealer's supplying
That rush, that drug, that dope
Those pills, that crumb, that roach
Thinkin' I would never do that, not that drug
and growing up nobody ever does
Until your stuck, lookin' in the mirror like I can't believe what I've become
Swore I was goin' to be someone
And growing up everyone always does
We sell our dreams and our potential
To escape through that buzz — Macklemore

We become so numb to what we're saying. — Macklemore

Thrift shopping is all about going into the thrift shop and having no expectation of what you might find. — Macklemore

If I'm using drugs and alcohol, it means that I've given up on my fullest potential. — Macklemore

The question is, What type of human do I want to be? How do I want to use my platform? Do I want to be safe, under the umbrella of my white privilege? Or do I want to push back and resist? — Macklemore

The one thing I will never do is buy a shirt because of its name, especially when it's $600 for that shirt. To me, that's ridiculous. It's just a shirt; it's not worth the money. — Macklemore

I can write for weeks or months sometimes and edit it down to a song. I feel like it's a piece of music that will hopefully stand the test of time and hopefully capture a moment in history if I'm doing it correctly and honestly. — Macklemore

I'm not more or less conscious than any other rapper out there. — Macklemore

Consciousness rap - a term that I don't think exactly exists but gets thrown around a lot - is not exactly popular. — Macklemore

I definitely use 'smiling while rapping' as a tool in the booth. I want to have fun while recording. — Macklemore

The greatest trick that the devil ever pulled
Was convincing women that they looked
Better in their makeup — Macklemore

I think people are enticed by indie rap and every time you have a group going against the grain, they're gonna be like, 'Wow, you did it yourself in 2012, that's impressive - how did you do it? What're you doing that's different? And how can I be a part of it?' — Macklemore

Do you want to live life, or do you want to escape life? — Macklemore

I've never been a religious person. I've been a spiritual person since I was about 15, 16, when I was first introduced to Psilocybin [mushrooms]. That really opened me up to thinking about the universe in a different way, and coming to significant realizations about my connection to something greater than me. — Macklemore

We have to tell people who need help that it's OK to ask for it. — Macklemore

Hip-hop was started as a very egocentric, testosterone, machismo-driven art form. The way that people are trying to take away that masculinity that is a such an intrinsical part of hip-hop music. — Macklemore

It's just way more fun making art, growing, grinding for a fan base, and traveling the world with a friend. — Macklemore

Strip away the fear, underneath it's all the same love — Macklemore

I don't feel like I'm grown up. I feel like I'm a kid. — Macklemore

When I write, I don't have any expectation of what kind of song it will become or who it might reach. — Macklemore

I don't control life, but I can control how i react to it — Macklemore

Sampling is kind of prehistoric, given the technology and the textures you can create. — Macklemore

I don't write a great song every day. I don't write a great song every couple weeks. It comes in such random times. — Macklemore

The moment is now and we cant get it back from the grave. — Macklemore

It's really not about me. At the end of the day, God willing, I'll have another 40 or 50 years on this planet, and what I'm saying to myself is, 'What do I want to leave here?' — Macklemore

I think that civil rights issues take a lot of time to develop. — Macklemore

I got sober, and I got happy again. — Macklemore

I was always the type of person, and still am the type of person, that I cannot be creative and use substances. So from a very early age I knew that if I wanted to make music, successfully, in any capacity, I was going to have to get sober. — Macklemore

I think what's wrong with the fashion world, particularly men's fashion, is the lack of creativity behind it. — Macklemore

I find that when I put my spiritual life first, the rest of my life is easy. When I put my career first, that's when I have problems. — Macklemore

We live on the cusp of death
Thinking it won't be us — Macklemore

The amazing thing about being a dad is to be able to look at your child and realize that the universe is so much bigger than you. — Macklemore

I'm as honest as I can be. — Macklemore

The man that got me into collecting sneakers in the first place was the man they call Michael Jordan. He was the one who kind of exposed me to the sneaker world - he was my favorite basketball player, and he had the best shoes. — Macklemore

The right wing conservatives think it's a decision that you can be cured with some treatment and religion.//Manmade rewiring of a predisposition//Oh no here we go, America the brave still fears what we don't know//But we paraphrase a book written 3500 years ago, I don't know ... — Macklemore

I just want to give the people 100% of myself as an artist. — Macklemore

Bullying is a national epidemic. — Macklemore

My partner has to have good sized bones. — Macklemore

I think music should be experienced by people all ages. — Macklemore

Thrift shopping is really just an extension of me being that same kid and going into a place that's completely unconventional that has really endless possibilities in terms of outfits that you can put together and really just expressing yourself. — Macklemore

Us as rappers underestimate the power and effects that we have on these kids — Macklemore

The skyline is etched in my veins. You can never put that out, no matter how hard it rains. — Macklemore

Live tonight, cuz you can't take it with ya. — Macklemore

It's been so long since I've really truly felt what it's like to live life without substances to help. Massive struggle that's natural to one's health, but with addiction in my blood I play the cards I was dealt. — Macklemore

And know that every struggle in life is there to teach you a lesson
It's times like this that make you — Macklemore

You have major labels that are willing to take unconventional approaches because the old model is crumbling in front of us. — Macklemore

I like to be as diverse as possible. I think the humorous side and the serious side are both elements of my personality. It's what makes me who I am and if I was to neglect either one of those sides and just focus on one of them, it wouldn't be the full spectrum of my personality. — Macklemore

I wanted to get clean. I knew that my highest potential, the place that I was most spiritual, the place that I was the most rich in terms of my life, and my livelihood, and my art and my creativity, was when I was sober. — Macklemore

You can only watch injustice go on for so long until you're compelled to say something. To speak out against it. — Macklemore

God loves all his children, somehow we've forgotten, but we paraphrase a book written thirty-five hundred years ago. — Macklemore

'The more expensive the better' is kind of the American way, and if you spent $600 for a sweatshirt, then that makes it better. — Macklemore

A life lived for art, is never a life wasted. — Macklemore

You need to get outside of your comfort zone to write songs that are interesting, songs that are compelling, songs that are different from what other people are writing. — Macklemore

Calling each other faggots behind the keys of a message board ... — Macklemore

And weed's not a drug - that's denial — Macklemore

Don't forget where you come from
Don't die holding on to your words
Cause you know you got a whole world to change
But understand who you got to change first — Macklemore

We are what we wear, we wear what we are — Macklemore

I played baseball up until my freshman year of high school. That was my main sport. I played third base. — Macklemore

Reading a piece of poetry with no beat in front of 20 people is way more challenging than rocking for 10,000 people. — Macklemore

Under that light rain, beaming in the night game, can't stop now, keep moving, no brake pads. Came here to prove a point, live my life on the field, make history in between the base paths. And compete against the fear that is in me, that's my only barrier and I swear I'm going to break that. From the mud, the cleats that we dragged through the feet, this is that moment and you cannot take it back ... This is what you make of it, yeah we play to win, live it like we're under the lights of the stadium. Fight, until the day that God decides to wave us in, right, until he waves us in ... — Macklemore

Gay rights are human rights, there is no separation. — Macklemore

As a white male in America, I have privilege. As a white male who happens to be an artist with a fan base, I have a platform to spread awareness about that privilege. However, songs about race and privilege are very difficult to A) write and B) dissect as a listener. They're heavy. — Macklemore

Its easy to view politicians as corrupt and voting essentially an act of picking the lesser of two evils. I understand that perspective and feel it's valid. — Macklemore

I'm a very conceptual writer. — Macklemore

I don't want to look back and be like, 'You had it all, and you weren't even present for it. You weren't able to enjoy it.' I want to be here, be now and be grateful. — Macklemore

Hold your head up, there's a light in the sky
I know your fed up but you must try to survive
Each moment's precious, don't let life pass you by
Keep focused, keep your eyes on the prize. — Macklemore

I think that, as a white person stepping into doing any sort of anti-systematic-racism type of work, asking yourself, 'What is your intention?' needs to happen on a consistent basis. Check yourself. Check yourself. Check yourself, like, constantly. — Macklemore

The fame and the money and all that stuff that comes along with it is all great, but that's not the sole purpose of why I make music. — Macklemore