One of the most fun, wonderful, and yes, odd things about hip-hop in the modern age is that independent artists have largely been freed from the commercial constraints and concerns of most working musicians, allowing them to try some truly weird gimmicks. Case in point: Macklemore, whose last release Gemini was a well-crafted, but largely overlooked overture toward the mainstream party rap sensibility, is now plugging a “magic rap album.” That is to say: An album about magic.
Apparently, the Seattle wordsmith has been seriously practicing magic, according to a statement he gave to HipHopDX. “I’ve been doing magic for about 2.5 years now,” he says, and now he wants to crossbreed his new hobby with his old one, making a rap album about the craft of stage illusionism. “One afternoon in my magic shed, I was doing some rabbit work when the idea hit me — ‘What if I combined my natural ability of wizardry and used music to genre blend!?’ I ran it by the local magician community in Seattle and one out of two of them agreed — it was a great idea.”
Furthermore, Macklemore wants fans to help title this new project, posting contest details to his Instagram along with some trippy artwork of himself dressed as a wizard, complete with a Nike headband. The winner gets a free dog, which Mack will select and name in exchange. It’s weird. It’s different. We’re in. Stay tuned.
