Macklemore Says The Success Of “Thrift Shop” Is “Crazy”

In a short time period, former XXL Freshman, Macklemore, has gone from an unknown rapper to a Billboard mainstay, and you probably aint even know it. Tracks “Thrift Shop” and “Can’t Hold Us” off his album The Heist (2012) have become international hits even to Mack’s surprise. The Seattle superstar recently chopped it up with Hot 97’s Peter Rosenberg and talked about his sudden success and how his career has changed since being a struggling rapper in the 2000’s. “When “Thrift Shop” started to pick up that was like, okay this is moving,” he recalled about the organic movement of the track. “For The Heist we thought that we didn’t have any singles at all. So that fact “Thrift Shop” like started to get play. It did okay.” Okay as in reaching No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart and going 6x platinum.

Mack went on to say even though he thought the song had a formula for success he had no idea it would pop off like it did. “The beat slaps, the hook was catchy I was rapping on it,” he said. “It was a subject matter that I thought certain people would get. But in terms of becoming this pop culture hell no, not even close.” The Seattle MC said the whirlwind success is sometimes still hard to fathom. “Looking back at the beginning of the year when it all happened. The fact that you can say we had the biggest record in the world for like three months is crazy,” he added.

Check out the entire interview where Mack talks Sir Mix-A-Lot passing him the Seattle rap torch, past drug issues and his respect for Kendrick Lamar, below. Macklemore also spits a freestyle over Wu-Tang “Triumph.”