REVIEW: MACKLEMORE - BEN

3.5/5

Ben Is Back. 

Seattle's best MC is back like we hope the Supersonics soon will be too in the Emerald City of the Storm. Breanna Stewart may have left town for the Liberty of New York and a well-earned pay-day, but Macklemore hasn't. Even without 'The Heist' of Ryan Lewis, the Stewie to his Sue Bird, Macklemore is back for the first time since his solo 'Gemini' foray in 2017. His new, government name, self-titled album is the third such record after he debuted all-alone in 2005 with 'The Language Of My World'. But 'Ben', like Michael Jackson's rat of a best friend, is actually the 'This Unruly Mess I Made' rapper's fifth album in total. And all told, if 'Thrift Shop', 'Can't Hold Us' and challenging Idris Elba to a 'Dance Off' made him a star 'Downtown'. Then this and the twin face of 'Gemini' confirmed he's more than just still in the game like EA. Ben is one of the greats. 

Eminem isn't the only great white rap superstar. But this isn't a race. Marching forward after a break of a dozen years, Mack has plenty of superstar friends in tow like that camel through the streets of 'Frasier's' old city of tossed salads (erm...) and scrambled eggs. The psychiatrist from Boston is back too like Professor Macklemore, so 'Cheers' to all that. But 'Ben' features friends like Charlieonafriday ('I Know'), Collet ('No Bad Days'), Sarah Barthel ('Day You Die'), Jackson Lee Morgan (on the 'Lost/Sun Comes Up' double) and Livingston ('Sorry'). Not to mention Tones and I, Windser, NLE Choppa and the legendary DJ Premier on the respective singles 'Chant' (a chart-topper), 'Maniac' (on your couch), 'Faithful' (dearly devoted) and the latest and greatest 'Heroes' that could be a hip-hop classic, Bowie. More than just for one night. And let's not forget 'God's Will' on the standout with Vic Daggs II and the classic closing 'Tail Lights' in the rearview with 'Morray', before this album goes out. 

Sure, this might be the opposite of a. J. Cole feature presentation. But whilst Cole World is up there with the King James legendary likes of the game, Macklemore still belongs in the upper echelon like a DeMar DeRozan. But mastering his sound, Ben's range is anything but mid. And it seems like when he's all alone and introspective he gets that much deeper. Like my favourite track off the set, '1984'. Not just because it came a year before I was born, but this nostalgic piece will take you back and away with its new style and pop sensibility. Singing along like, "Standin' in line (Standin' in line)/As we wait outside (Waitin' outside)/The rush, the high/The dance floor's open waitin' for us to collide/We are king, we are queen (We are king, we are queen)/We are living a dream (Living a dream)/This is not what it seems, this is ours for the taking/You are the lady for me." This has to be the next single for the clubs and you and yours. 

Deeper, yes, yet darker too. It goes without saying that 'Ben' is Ben's most personal and powerful project yet. Under the influence of the alcohol addiction he relapsed into during the locked down pandemic of COVID-19 in the worst year of all our lives, 2020, this album is Macklemore's recovery and red carpet return. Stepping out in moccasins someone else has been walkin' in. But you really get to step in his shoes as he tears through tracks like 'Tears' like the brutal beauty of a Wu-Tang sad song. Helping those who say 'I Need' as they can't get no sleep. The 'Grime' time also shows the rapper still in his prime, rapping, "Still bumpin' Buckshot, trench coat, all in matte black/Hat with the curls bangin' right out the back/Facts, I dive in, open eyelids, f### a silence/Big pharma, rest in p###, and get the Heisman/Look in my iris, see the trips where I been/Anti pill bottle, pro psilocybin/Still buyin' bootleg Gucci from China/Donate most but still throw it on consignment/Red carpet, Jeff Goldblum's behind us/And they ain't got a clue that these ain't real diamonds." Yeah, he's still got it like a Boogie Down Production. He knows the game like riding mopeds 'Downtown'. 

The "Macklemore haircut" may be gone (it's not like I can actually ask the barber for this anyway), but 'Brad Pitt's Ugly Cousin' is still a cut above the rest with the buzz of a revealing new album that leaves it all bare and there on the table. On 'God's Will' he gives it up to a higher power. Preaching, "You weren't supposed to die here/You were supposed to fly here/Look what you built off your imagination/Could've never imagined the places you would've been taken because your ideas", with wise sincerity. Although offering the late, great best there ever was, Tupac Shakur advice is a little...you know. Just like wondering how people would react to his own death after it's announced "on TMZ" (with tongue in cheek). But it's clear the love and respect is here for a man who knows how to make muses move his own music (like the Ma$e like '24 Hrs. To Live'), albeit whilst standing on his own two in a classic cipher. The return of the Macklemore is here and on his upcoming tour you'll hear the name Ben chanted in crowds all around the world. TIM DAVID HARVEY. 

Playlist Picks:  '1984', 'Maniac (Feat. DJ Premier)', 'God's Will (Feat. Vic Daggs II)'.