Macklemore Opens Up In “Complex” Magazine

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis shot to fame in 2012 with their breakthrough album, The Heist. But Macklemore (real name Ben Haggerty) had a hard time adjusting to the rapid success.

He opened up about his struggles and his new music in the latest edition of Complex magazine.

After the success of The Heist—the debut at No. 2 on Billboard’s album chart, the two number-one hits in “Thrift Shop” and “Can’t Hold Us,” the four Grammy wins, and the award as the most streamed artist on Spotify in 2013—Ben relapsed into taking pills and smoking marijuana.

I was super-stressed. We weren’t sleeping—doing a show every day, zigzagging all over the country. In terms of the media I was getting put into a box that I never saw for myself. The pressure and the fame—everything. All the clichés, man—like not being able to walk around, having no privacy, and from this TV appearance to this TV appearance, and the criticism, and the lack of connection, and the lack of meetings—all of that put into one pie was just…I just wanted to escape. [Complex]

Now that he's clean, Macklemore says that he's focused, fulfilled and he's gone back to what makes him happy:

The sobriety was the wake-up call that I needed,” he continues. “And, as it always works, the minute that I start actively seeking recovery—not just sobriety, but recovery—music is there. It always has been. Songs write themselves. My work ethic turns off-to-on in a second and I get happy again. I get grateful again. [Complex]

Want to hear more from Slater? Take B100 everywhere you go with the free RadioPup app, and listen live @ B100quadcities.com!