I seriously have an urge to smoke a Cuban after watching Macklemore & Ryan Lewis “Can’t Hold Us” music video. It was like good sex. The visuals and energy left me breathless and inspired. And furthermore confirms what I was already feeling after listening to their first joint “Thrift Shop” – Macklemore is slapping the shit out of rappers with his insane creative formula.
And sorry to say, what many of these major label rappers have promised and didn’t do, Macklemore is doing. He’s bringing that raw, innocent, energetic, hungry vibe back to the game. He’s also enlisted impeccable hook singers like Ray Dalton (“Can’t Hold Us) and Wanz (“Thrift Shop”). Dude can rhyme. Dude can swag on mufukas. No guns, no objectifying women, no Moet, no weed to sell his rhyme slayings – not that there’s anything wrong with weed and alcohol but, I think you get my point: it’s not thrown in your face to make up for wack lyrics.
Say buh-bye to bling culture, say hello to thrift and mom-and-pop shop Zulu-culture – kind of the way things were in ’90s Hip-Hop. Say Hello to this “cold-ass honky.”
The music video dropped April 17, two days after D-Day a.k.a. pay your taxes sons of bitches day. The seven-minute epic mini-movie takes epic proportions in its location choices – all beautifully mapped out from New Zealand to the duo’s native Seattle. Cleverly, Macklemore, Lewis and Dalton pass off an almost-American flag, which is stamped with “The Heist” instead of the 50 stars. The production design is B-A-N-A-N-A-S (*Gwen Stefani voice) you’ll see camels, dogsleds, a pirate ship, and a freaking mobile office set in the country – all shot with a flying camera! The Benjamins are in, baby.
The “Can’t Hold Us” video was created entirely by the duo and their friends – directed by Lewis, Jason Koenig and Jon Jon Augustavo. These guys have thee best videos in the rap game, hands down. Lewis points out that his collaborators “simply don’t work within the conventional hierarchy of the film industry (director, producer, etc.) Sure, people have concrete pre-defined roles based on their expertise, but our team has the remarkable ability to wear multiple hats. Can’t Hold Us was a video that showcased this well.”
“Can’t Hold Us” bounded into the Top 10 of the Hot 100 chart last week, clocking in at No. 7. Meanwhile, the former No. 1 smash “Thrift Shop” resides at No. 2 and has spent 27 weeks on the chart.
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