On this day, June 19, in hip-hop history…

macklemorefreestyle
loading...

1983: Macklemore celebrates his 30th birthday. The 2012 XXL Freshman first came on the scene with his 2009 project The Unplanned Mixtape, which spawned the indie hit “And We Danced.” From there, he teamed with producer Ryan Lewis, and the duo built buzz with The VS. EP and The VS. Redux in 2009 and 2010.

Their breakout moment came with last year’s The Heist, an independently released album that debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 with over 78,000 copies sold. The singles “Can’t Hold Us” and “Thrift Shop” each peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, with the latter staying there for six weeks and selling over six million copies in the United States alone.

The album has been selling at a steady pace and is marching toward Platinum certification. The future looks bright for this Seattle duo.

Happy 30th, Macklemore!—Chris Mench

More From XXL