Bendo LLCMacklemore releases Gemini, his first solo studio album in 12 years, on Friday. The Grammy-winning rapper is the married father of a two-year-old daughter, Sloane, and he says being a parent has really changed the way that he makes music these days.
“My time in the studio is more precious ‘cause I’m away from her,” he tells ABC Radio. “So when I’m in the studio I’m really trying to work – not to rush anything – but I know that my goal is inevitably to get back to her.”
The rapper says Sloane also has made him rethink his priorities. He no longer considers his music career as the be-all and end-all of everything, for example.
“This is all so small. This industry, the art…is so impermanent,” he explains. According to Macklemore, being a parent made him realize that “it really comes down to family and what we’re leaving the next generation, and that now I have a direct representation of what that next generation is.”
Gemini has already produced the hit single “Glorious,” a collaboration with Skylar Grey. Macklemore just released a new single and video, “Good Old Days,” a collaboration with Kesha. The album also features Lil Yachty and Offset of the rap trio Migos. One person who’s not on the album — Macklemore’s longtime musical partner Ryan Lewis. He says that changed the dynamic a bit.
“I think there was more pressure put on me, because Ryan and I would do everything together so we would kind of delegate between each other, and Ryan’s so great at so many different things,” he tells ABC Radio. “So this was more…like, ‘OK, well if I wanna get this done, this is 100 percent on me.'”
Copyright © 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
