Macklemore & Ryan Lewis made an appearance on The Colbert Report last night to play "Same Love" and also dish on various questions about their independent release of The Heist, the music biz, fame, and how hip-hop is evolving from its misogynistic and homophobic past. Colbert asks the poignant…
From a patio overlooking the foothills of the Cascade Mountains near Leavenworth, WA, Seattle musician, Josh Rawlings, prepares himself for a month-long writing session with famed Seattle music producer, Ryan Lewis. Rawlings, who has toured with the golden-voiced Allen Stone and is one-fourth of th…
Throngs of people filled Memorial Stadium during Bumbershoot to watch Seattle's favorite son headline night two of his hometown festival. The excitement in the audience was palpable, buzzing with anticipation, bursting into a deafening roar at any small hint that the show might be starting—a flash…
Seattle band The Teaching has the distinction of being the only group featured on an instrumental track from Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’ album, The Heist, a 5-minute song called “BomBom”, full with dramatic rises and falls that has the listener feeling like he’s in a musical storm at sea.
Grynch has been rapping in the Seattle hip-hop scene for over a decade. He has played with just about everyone around town, from Macklemore to Blue Scholars, and even with Cleveland's Bone Thugs 'n Harmony. He's also working on a new album that he hopes to release in spring. KEXP caught up with the…
Remember spending nights staying up watching MTV, waiting for your favorite video to come on? Over three decades after the network's launch and the official dawn of the format for mainstream audiences, music videos have continued to be a major way for fans to interact with music. The Northwest has …
Josh Rawlings plays keyboards with some of Seattle's most influential musicians and performers, from Macklemore & Ryan Lewis to Allen Stone to his own band, Industrial Revelation. A graduate of Cornish, and recently a new father, Josh balances his time between family, being on tour, recording a…
Congratulations to Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, whose "Thrift Shop," rose to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 list this week and is No. 1 on the Billboard Digital Songs Chart, beating out the likes of Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, Rihanna and others. The Lumineers continue to hold on with a No. 3 and…
Sudan Archives shares why she fuses violin with electronic beats on her latest album. Minnesota rapper Dessa describes spending two years working with neuroscientists to train her brain to get over her ex. We’ll explore why only 2% of music producers are women and how some indie artists are working…
Sunscreen for the Eastern Washington sun? Check. Sleeping bag for the few moments you'll be able to sleep? Check? Earplugs for when your 'drums need a break? Check. Booty shorts for dancin'? Check. High energy bars for, uh... energy? Check. Roadtrip music for the journey out to The Gorge? Double an…
The first-ever Upstream Music Fest + Summit is just around the corner, on Thursday, May 11th through Saturday, May 13th, in locations all over Pioneer Square. Earlier this year, the first wave of artists were announced (see here), as well as this year's keynote speakers: Quincy Jones, Macklemore, a…
Trumpeter Owuor Arunga is one of the handful of Seattle natives joining Macklemore & Ryan Lewis when they play Key Arena on Dec 10-12. Owuor, along with Ray Dalton, Mary Lambert, Michael Wansley, Andrew Joslyn are just some of the cast of characters, who, for the last year, have been on a world…
Now that we're in our New Home, the Bumbershoot Music & Arts Festival is in our own backyard of Seattle Center! And now that they've announced their 2016 line-up, we're even more excited: local boys Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Death Cab for Cutie, and (former Seattleite) Father John Misty are …
For KEXP’s Music Heals programming, Macklemore shares his journey on the subject and how a robbery at his studio ultimately helped someone else’s path to recovery.
Announcements for the upcoming Upstream Music Fest + Summit keep, well, streaming in! Last week, we revealed the first wave of breakout sessions. Now the full speaker lineup is here, along with new details on keynotes from Macklemore and some additions to previously announced sessions, like Pearl J…
There have been some great team-ups in the history of popular music and rap. Recently, two of Seattle's own, Grynch & Budo, debuted a new pairing that can’t help but remind listeners of other powerful duos like Brother Ali and Jake One, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis and The Black Keys, but in their…
Like Macklemore and Ryan Lewis' headlining performance on Friday night, The Lumineers' Monday evening set felt like the culmination of a whirlwind year that started with a little help from Seattle. In January 2012, John Richards began playing "Ho Hey" back-to-back on the Morning Show, the song bega…
Among the many great new releases out this week is our own annual benefit collection, Live at KEXP Volume Nine. Featuring 18 stellar tracks culled from the over 500 amazing live sessions we recorded in the past year, Volume Nine contains some serious heavy hitters like Macklemore & Ryan Lewis a…
