The Australian singer had the 2011 album The Heist on full blast during her 17-hour drive from Victoria to Byron Bay in her early busking career; he was the soundtrack to her warm-up sessions for basketball games.And so it was a pivotal moment for Tones when she finally met the rapper at her gig at a Seattle club in early 2020.That meet-and-greet would kick off not only a friendship but now a musical partnership with the pair releasing their joint single CHANT a few weeks ago.“Tones was playing at this venue in Seattle and I went down there; it was a cold Wednesday, raining, leaves on the ground, it was dim, it was desolate outside,” the rapper recalls.“But inside that venue, there was some magic. I met her; she’s a fantastic person and I just fell in love with her personality – she took off her shoes on stage, she got really comfortable, I just thought she was hilarious and we connected.“And I left the show inspired.”When the pandemic locked the world down, Macklemore retreated to his studio. It had been a few years since he had released the Gemini record; it did well but was never going to match the huge success of The Heist.As he raps in the opening stanza of CHANT: “They told me that I vanished, They told me that I had it, They told me that I’m gone, I told them, ‘Don’t panic’.”The song’s message about rising up when the industry counts you out clearly resonated with Tones when Macklemore sent it in the hope she would add her vocal to the chorus.It also referenced much more than his professional struggles. In the first verse he refers to “Almost OD’d that night in the hospital/Wasn’t gonna die, more life in the arsenal.”Ahead of CHANT’s release, he uploaded a TikTok video revealing he had relapsed during lockdown in mid 2020 but has been sober for two years.Macklemore said he feels more able to speak publicly about his struggles with addiction now than when he suffered a relapse a decade ago in the wake of the The Heist’s success.“I went to rehab for the first time in 2008 and it wasn’t as normalised, there was more guilt and shame and not many people were coming out and talking about their experience in going to treatment,” he says.“Particularly in the hip hop landscape; no one had gone to treatment to my knowledge. And I had this moment of ‘Am I going to tell my truth or am I going to hide with this secret that this is who I am and this is the disease that I have?’“I made the choice to share it honestly in the song Otherside (released in 2009) and this was when I had no fans, maybe 1000 fans around the world. And that was the song that really made an impact.”Another song had a significant impact on his Australian fans five years ago. Same Love, featuring the voice of Mary Lambert, was hugely popular when first released in 2012 but became an anthem for the Australian marriage equality campaign in 2017.There was an almighty ruckus from opponents to the plebiscite to give everyone the right to marry, regardless of sex or gender, when it was announced Macklemore would perform the song – alongside his other smash hits – at the 2017 NRL Grand Final.The performance was a triumph. It remains one of Macklemore’s career highlights.“In the face of adversity, in the face of hatred, any time you can embrace that with love and with art, you know there is power in that moment,” he says.“And I felt that performing in Australia, I felt that on that stage and that pedestal of getting to share this record and what that meant, I felt a shift, where that hate and those people that were trying to keep things the way that they were, there was a moment of a breakthrough.”He is looking forward to recreating those connections, to forging new moments, when he heads to Australia in November to headline the return of Fridayz Live, formerly known as RNB Fridays Live.Macklemore’s appearance on the bill, which also includes TLC, Akon and Craig David, signals a desire for the event to broaden its musical offerings beyond throwback R & B. And he is totally up for it.Now the big question is whether hiss Australian soul sister Tones and I might pop up for a cameo at the gigs to perform CHANT.He said negotiations are happening.“I would love that, it has been discussed. I’m not sure if we have a definitive answer or not, but that would be my dream,” he says.Fridayz Live kicks off at Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne on November 4 and heads to HBF Park, Perth on November 5, Adelaide Entertainment Centre on November 6, Brisbane Showgrounds on November 11 and GIANTS Stadium, Sydney on November 12. Tickets go on sale on August 12.kathtips
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