Macklemore & Ryan Lewis showed up in the early ‘10s, engulfing the mainstream with personal musings—childhood experiences, critical self-examination—that became the conduit for their conscious pop-rap. “This air bubble right here/It's gonna make me fly,” raps Macklemore on “Wing$”, flipping youthful basketball dreams into a critique of sneaker culture's toxic consumerism. He again jeers at material obsessions on “Thrift Shop”, bouncing along over the boisterous horns and quirky vocal effects of Ryan Lewis' eccentric production. On “Same Love” his message is even bigger, as he talks through the ways homophobia cuts society.