Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

Ben William Haggerty known by his stage name Macklemore and formerly Professor Macklemore, is an American rapper. Since 2000, he has independently released one mixtape, three EPs, and two albums. He has significantly collaborated with producer Ryan Lewis as Macklemore & Ryan Lewis.

Macklemore and Lewis' single "Thrift Shop" reached at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 2013.The single was premiered on commercial radio by radio personality Jay Postal on September 2, 2012, and was soon dubbed the first song since 1994 to top the Hot 100 chart without the support of a major record label by Billboard, although Macklemore, in a slightly unusual recording contract, pays a nominal percentage of sales to use Warner Bros. Records' radio promotion department to push his singles. Their second single, "Can't Hold Us" also peaked at number one of the Hot 200 Chart, making Macklemore and Lewis the first duo in the chart's history to have their first two singles both reach the peak position. Macklemore and Lewis released their debut studio album The Heist on October 9, 2012, which charted at number 2 on the US Billboard 200. The pair was nominated for seven Grammy awards at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards, winning four awards, including Best New Artist, Best Rap Album (The Heist), Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance ("Thrift Shop"). Thrift Shop has gained approximately 760 million YouTube views as of August 30, 2015.

In January 2015, Macklemore announced via Twitter that his third studio album will be released sometime in the second half of the year. On August 5th, 2015, Macklemore released a song for free download titled "Growing Up (Sloane's Song)," which features Ed Sheeran. On August 27, 2015, he released a new song called "Downtown" which features Foxy Shazam vocalist Eric Nally, Kool Moe Dee, Melle Mel, and Grandmaster Caz, which he performed at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards on August 30.

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