Macklemore – Ben [Album Stream]

Seattle rapper Macklemore returns with the release of his first project in five and a half years, the self-titled “Ben”.

“I remember it was after the Grammys, and my wife and I, my fiance at the time, we went to India. And I look back on that time period, and there was so much fear. And the reason why there was fear is because, again, I was living to escape. I was back. I had been on drugs. I remember a couple days before the Grammys, I started trying to taper off, because I knew that I was going to be dope sick by the time that the Grammys hit. I was relapsing. Yeah. I was relapsing on and off that entire… I was in active addiction that year, and… I remember taking the last pill. We were in Mexico. And trying to time it out so I wouldn’t be dope sick. And I was so fucking scared, and it wasn’t like what was going to… It was all of the things at once, but the center of it is I had lost my faith. I was living in fear. The opposite of faith is fear. The opposite of hate is love. I was in that place of just, I don’t know how to do this. I can’t exist without drugs right now. And I want to be understood, and people don’t understand me. The minute that I got clean again after India, or in India, all of a sudden, it was like, “Ah! There is it. There’s my spirit. I lost that dude. I know exactly who I am. I know exactly what got me here. I remember the magic that makes me who I am.” I had forgotten it… it was almost instantaneously, and then the process opened back up.” -Macklermore

The 15-track effort features contributions from NLE Choppa, DJ Premier, Tones And I, Collett, Windser and more.

Press play below.