Seattle-born Macklemore doesn't fit the profile of your typical rapper, but it is his music that has been amongst the most played and most talked about in 2013, thirteen years after he originally began performing and five years after he began working with producer Ryan Lewis. Though many of their most notable works, including 'Thrift Shop' and 'Cant Hold Us', were initially released in 2012, they have been sleeper hits, peaking highly on a number of charts across the world throughout 2013. Perhaps the pair's strongest work (albeit not in a commercial sense) has been 'Same Love', which is more of a ballad than a typical rap song but is notable for its lyrics, which strongly denounce homophobia, something that is sadly all too prevalent in the verses of many of Macklemore's compatriots in the rap genre. Having toured material from their album 'The Heist' for much of the year, the duo are now taking a break before they begin to write new songs, but when they do, expect them to make an impact comparable to their releases from the past twelve to eighteen months or so. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlVBg7_08n0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QK8mJJJvaes
Honourable Mention Martin Garrix
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCYcHz2k5x0 With 'Animals', Dutchman Martin Garrix created one of the year's most notable dance hits. At just seventeen, he isn't old enough to legally enter the nightclubs that have been playing it repeatedly, but the track, which went to #1 in the UK, has earned him a significant amount of attention at a very early point in his career.
