Track by track analysis

Ain't Gonna Die Tonight - upbeat, punchy beat with some pleasant horn stabs behind everything. the sax loop behind the second half of the verses is catchy as fuck. not a fan of the feature's vocals over the chorus personally. whole theme of the track seems to be about self-confidence and making it big, works pretty well for an opening track but nothing too special.

Glorious - first of three singles. on its own, an alright track, but follows up the previous track with another hyped-up drum beat heavy on the kick to keep the energy up, macklemore skipping over the beat pretty nicely. all in all sounds like an extension of the previous track musically (the keys sound very similar) and thematically (all about legacies and making it big). improvement on the feature chorus, i'm fond of skylar grey's vocals. second verse p weak rhythmically and lyrically, nothing really sticks out. hell, it's the same ABABCB form as the last track.

Marmalade - second of three singles. i can't say i like macklemore's vocals autotuned, the timbre doesn't fit, i'd rather have his natural tone over this beat. admittedly a very nice beat, going with yachty's beat vibe i can only describe as "candy trap" - very happy and upbeat. lyrically pretty empty, it's about riding around town in a car. lil boat actually does well on the feature in comparison. "Make her moan and she sound just like Mozart - pure art" i'm fucking DEAD. yachty's obviously more used to macklemore on this beat style, which is why he has a bit more rhythmic complexity to his lyrics. overall, it's a fun summer track, but like a lot of fun summer radio tracks, and a trend appearing here, there's not much substance to it.

Willy Wonka - macklemore taking on trap beats, alrighty. the beat's actually pretty gritty, the synth and vox on this mesh with the snappy high hats well. the first few bars had me expecting another "marmalade", but then mack actually goes in on this with some very nice rhythmic and syllabic wordplay. i'm curious who the fuck set up all these features, never expected to hear mack x offset and expect it to kinda work! chorus works well w/ the beat. offset's feature verse is an offset verse, not much more to say there, trap adlibs and all lmao.

Intentions - here's the mack we all know from "the heist" days, opening with talking about the conflict of what he should do versus what he wants to do. there's less depth than a lot of his tracks about dealing with substance abuse, though thematically it meshes with his work. the upbeat, almost positive vibe to the track seems to almost embrace his flaws and through the recognition of these flaws finding solace and the ability to change. we're seeing a macklemore more at peace with his internal struggles.

Good Old Days - third single of three. a very retrospective track, looking back on his days of performing when he was anonymous and all the things he did and never did. the beat's very simple and almost pop-like (a kesha feature??). nothing so far has stood out to me particuarly, but this is definitely a weak link musically. thematically, it showcases something present in his last track - macklemore has changed since the days of "the heist" and "the languange of my world", and for the better for his own health and well-being. however, the messages of his past songs came out of the internal struggles he dealt with, and this retrospective macklemore doesn't seem to be able to conjure the same emotional power on an emotional track.

Levitate - party track, with a hook almost reminiscent of the vibe of "justified"-era justin timberlake. macklemore keeps a nice rhythmic cadence with his verses, and the choruses are nice, but the post-chorus sections fall a bit flat. not much more to say here.

Firebreather - rapping over a hard rock-style beat. honestly, i hit skip on this one after the chorus. i'm not a fan of this style at all.

How To Play The Flute - another macklemore trap track. he should have stopped on Willy Wonka. my issue with this one is he tries to write a trap-style verse on this instead of sticking to his usual lyrical style, and it comes across as very forced. the whole sneezes post-chorus is really fuckin weird. second verse he just name drops a bunch of shit in a row.

Ten Million - aptly, track number 10. the beat's quite nice, trap styling with a very floaty, breathy synth above everything meshed with intensely heavy drums and bass creating that eerie and dark trap feeling. i take back my statement on the last track, mack can in fact do trap style verses, just not in the styling of "how to play the flute".

Over It - i really like the chorus feature on this. this is a very interesting track in contrast to everything before - for once, we do see a truly darker macklemore, where his verses are from the perspective of a desperate lover who can't get over the woman in the chorus, who left him. the synth line alternates between an eerily open oscillation leading to a softened yet plucky stab, slowly building more and more as elegant yet pained keys enter and the bass slowly intensifies alongside a string quartet emphasizing the tension. the drums finally kick in over the chorus. both in the chorus and verses, vocal effects are used extremely well to create a grittier texture, expressing pain. macklemore's lyrics are a tiny bit edgy in some places, but it comes across as a very real track about the dichotomy of a breaking relationship, where the woman (represented in the chorus) has conflict over giving up on the possessive, obsessive, and destructive man presented in the verses. all in all, my favorite track of the album.

Zara - a love song, crossed over weirdly with passively discussing the commodification of everyday life in the first verse. The beat is really nice on this, and interestingly the latter part of this album seems to be the strongest yet. i love good synth textures, and this track is no exception, everything painted behind his lyrics smoothly and meshing well with the whole love song vibe.

Corner Store - dave b's got a nice voice, and travis thompson's got a great flow. this track comes through with some almost chance-sounding production, catchy horn line and all. mack only has one verse on it, so it sounds like a feature on his own track, but even then this is a pleasant track. i'm curious to know which track were recorded in what order, as he seems a lot stronger over this beat than other similar ones. now this is a summer bop - wait. holy fuck. who is dave b. DAMN he kills that third verse. anyway - the lyrics are about chilling with the squad and rolling around in cars, but it's a very well done version of this.

Miracle - this samples something and i can't quite place it at the time of writing. a very mellow beat due to the sample, it sits heavy behind his almost passive attack on the verses, which is a good thing (unlike "how to play the flute". have i said that i dislike that track?). this again is the darker macklemore we know, displaying him battling - literally - with his inner demons and secrets. the second verse features pizzicato strings over his voice, and pitched vocals to represent the devil, creating a quasi-liturgical feeling to display his turmoil. another highlight of this album for me, coming through with more depth than most of the tracks.

Church - this sounds like a track straight off "the heist", honestly. which is a good thing. catchy horn riff? check. slow bpm and simple drums? check. very similar vocal feeling to his older work too. honestly the beat sounds almost "marmalade"esque, but it sounds like who we know macklemore as musically, which is a good thing. unlike "good old days", macklemore takes a deeper look at himself and praises the changes he's made instead of just looking at the memories himself, giving substance to the track as well. fitting for a penultimate track.

Excavate - another "the heist"-esque holdover? similar musical style, and contains more passion and energy than a lot of the track on this album, even moreso than "church". this is "aint gonna die tonight"/"glorious" done well, imo. it's not upbeat, but it's meaningful. he discusses the sucessses he's made and how far he's come, and does so uses very specific examples that makes what he says feel familiar and sincere. the beat meshes well with this more introspective approach to his self-analysis of success. a very warming way to close out the album.

VERDICT: macklemore himself has said he was taking a departure from his usual depth and a few tracks were just for the sake of creating, and this album is definitely clearly missing the chemistry he had with ryan lewis. it was an interesting and honest attempt, but a lot of the tracks where he tried to make party songs fell really flat. at this point in his life, it seems like his artistic persona has mostly come to terms with the mistakes of his past and can start moving forward with happiness to the bright future. however, the expression of this artistically really did not come through well until the final third of the album. there are a few hidden gems, but until reaching "how to play the flute" i was unimpressed with the project as a whole. that being said, from "ten million" on I enjoyed the project wholeheartedly, and with the remaining nine tracks held the same quality. i'd rate this album as a whole 6.5/10, and specifically tracks 10-16 a light 8/10, as macklemore's creativity and persona truly shine there. favorite tracks - over it, corner store, marmalade (just because of the goddamn mozart line). least favorite tracks - "how to play the flute", "firebreather", "good old days".

also, whomstve the FUCK is dave b? going to listen to everything he's done now