Debates rose over Seattle duo's rap credentials.
Not everyone considers Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
a rap or hip hop act. Despite the awards they've racked up in various
rap and hip hop categories, the Seattle-bred duo's road to seven Grammy
nominations almost hit a snag.
According to a report
from the Associated Press, Grammy committee members debated over adding
them to rap categories. The majority of voters moved to shut them out
of rap slots during a meeting late last year, a source revealed. At a
second meeting held a week later, committee members discussed the
group's inclusion into the rap arena, ultimately deciding that they
qualified.
"Because of the controversy with them as a rap group it
became something the entire Grammy committee discussed," the insider
said.
Mack and Lewis have sold millions over the last year.
Their "Thrift Shop" single pushed over seven million units and earned
Grammy nods in the Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song categories.
That said, the song also topped Billboard's pop charts.
Manager Zach Quillen doesn't see a need for debate. "If
you strip away being influenced by the popularity or by who their fans
are or by the amount of radio traction their songs got ... and just
dissect musically what it is, there's no question it's a hip hop album;
they're hip hop songs," Quillen said. "When you start to look at other
things [that] is when people's judgment got cloudy. It's what they look
like, the demographic, the fan base, it's the popularity, it's the
radio."
"Perception can be very powerful," he added. "And the
thing Ben and Ryan are messing with is perception and people's desire to
put things in boxes."
Macklemore, who started rapping at the age of 14, has named Lil Wayne as one of his influences. At the Grammy nomination concert last month, he was honored just to be recognized, telling BET.com, "There's no greater award than the Grammy … to be here tonight, to be nominated for anything, is pretty mind blowing."
