Macklemore

 ( Macklemore.com Official Website ) 

At the time he started to sing, Haggerty listened to "a lot of East Coast underground hip hop", listing Hieroglyphics, Freestyle Fellowship, Aceyalone, Living Legends, Wu-Tang Clan, Mobb Deep, Nas, and Talib Kweli as his major influences. Haggerty attended Garfield High School and Nathan Hale High School. At Hale, he developed the stage name "Professor Macklemore" for an art project involving a made-up superhero, and at Garfield, he started a hip-hop group named Elevated Elements with other students. The group released an album, Progress, in 2000.

Haggerty enrolled at the College of Santa Fe for a year, later saying in an interview that "it was a very pivotal time in a lot of ways. Santa Fe was the place where I got good at rapping". After not getting into the music program, he moved back to Seattle. Haggerty later enrolled at Evergreen State College in Olympia and completed his bachelor's degree in 2009. While at Evergreen, he was interested in reaching a younger generation through his music. He became part of a program focusing on education and cultural identity called "Gateways for Incarcerated Youth", where he facilitated music workshops.

In 2006, Haggerty first met his future collaborator Ryan Lewis. Lewis, who would go on to release two albums with Haggerty as Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, spent a few years working on Macklemore's promotion as a photographer. The two musicians would soon become good friends but would not formalize their collaborative efforts until 2009. In the meantime, Macklemore kept busy as a solo artist, appearing on The Physics's song "Good" in 2009, as well as performing at the Seattle major arts and music festival Bumbershoot in 2006, 2009, and 2011.

Macklemore's second mixtape, The Unplanned Mixtape, was released on September 7, 2009. It would later reach No. 7 on the iTunes Hip Hop chart. The mixtape was accompanied by the singles "The Town" and "And We Danced", the latter of which featured singer Ziggy Stardust. "The Town" was later remixed by Sabzi of the Blue Scholars.

Their album The Heist was released in October 2012 and debuted on the U.S. Billboard 200 at number 2 of the week dated October 27, 2012, selling over 78,000 copies. "Same Love" was released on July 18, 2012, and after "White Walls". In January 2013, Music Choice featured Macklemore in the brand new series "Primed", which focuses on emerging artists. In May 2013, Haggerty was featured on Clinton Sparks's single "Gold Rush", along with 2 Chainz and D.A. The Heist World Tour began in August 2012 to promote The Heist.

In May 2014, Macklemore was accused of antisemitism after wearing a costume resembling a common Jewish caricature during a private concert in Seattle. The rapper released an apology and stated his intention was to disguise himself, not to impersonate any ‘type’ of person.

In January 2015, Macklemore announced via Twitter that his third studio album would be released sometime in the second half of that year. Despite this, the album was not released until February 26, 2016. On August 5, 2015, Macklemore released a song for free download titled "Growing Up (Sloane's Song)", which features Ed Sheeran. On August 27, 2015, he released a new song called "Downtown" which features Foxy Shazam vocalist Eric Nally, Kool Moe Dee, Melle Mel, and Grandmaster Caz, which he performed at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards on August 30. On his first tour in two years, An Evening with Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, Macklemore announced that his new album was finished and ready for release.

On January 15, 2016, Macklemore released a teaser video on his YouTube channel revealing the name of his third studio album, This Unruly Mess I've Made, and announcing that it was scheduled to be released on February 26, 2016. On January 22, 2016, the duo released "White Privilege II", the second single on This Unruly Mess I've Made. On February 26, 2016, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis released the album This Unruly Mess I've Made. Also in 2016, Macklemore released two solo singles, "Drug Dealer" and "Wednesday Morning". "Drug Dealer" features Macklemore rapping about his previous addictions and is featured in a documentary that includes clips of Macklemore discussing drug abuse with President Barack Obama. "Wednesday Morning" was released after the 2016 U.S. Election and features Macklemore rapping about the political future of the country. The tracks were produced by Budo. On June 15, 2017, Macklemore announced via his official Instagram that the duo were on hiatus.

On October 29, 2021, Macklemore released a new single titled "Next Year", featuring American singer Windser. Macklemore also worked with Ryan Lewis on the single, marking their first collaboration in three years.

On July 22, 2022, Macklemore released a new single, "Chant", with Australian musician Tones and I. On August 19, 2022, Macklemore released the single, "Maniac", featuring American musician Windser. The third single, "Faithful", featuring NLE Choppa, was released on October 28, 2022. The fourth single, "Heroes", featuring DJ Premier, was released on January 20, 2023. Macklemore's third solo studio album, Ben, was released on March 3, 2023. In May 2024, he released "Hind's Hall", a protest song in support of the 2024 pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses, with all proceeds donated towards UNRWA.

In 2017, Macklemore's grandmother, Helen Schott, celebrated her Centenarian birthday, with the two traveling around Modesto, California for the music video of his song "Glorious."

On May 14, 2016, Macklemore appeared in U.S. President Barack Obama's weekly address to talk about the dangers of addiction to opioids and prescription Analgesic. Macklemore talked about his own experiences with abuse of painkillers, stating "When you're going through it, it's hard to imagine anything being worse than addiction. But the shame and stigma associated with the disease keeps too many people from seeking the help they actually need. Addiction isn't a personal choice or a personal failure."

On September 29, 2018, Macklemore headlined Recovery Fest in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Recovery Fest was formed to have a drug- and alcohol-free concert and support charities that worked in combating opioid addiction.

In the summer of 2020, during and in part due to the social isolation that took place during the COVID-19 lockdowns, Macklemore relapsed and suffered a near-fatal overdose. He was hospitalized and given treatment; he eventually recovered from the episode. This experience, as well as the ongoing challenge of overcoming addiction while also raising children, served as an inspiration for much of the lyrical content that makes up his third solo studio album, Ben.