Although the video was released late last year, Same Love — a song by the rapper, Macklemore (a.k.a. Ben Haggerty) and the producer, Ryan Lewis — is still in heavy rotation on the music-video channels… and rightly so. Nominated for an MTV VMA for “Best Song with a Social Message,” Same Love is a rap about (gay) equality, the legalization of same-sex marriage, as well as Haggerty’s commentary on the rap- and hip-hop-community’s outlook toward homosexuality. Haggerty also pulls from his own life: He briefly mentions his (gay) uncle in the poem. The singer, Mary Lambert comes in on the chorus and her vocal is nothing short of a soothing lullaby, full of honest declaration. Haggerty only makes a brief cameo in the video: He's holding a fireworks sparkler toward the end of the video.
Yes, “Best Song with a Social Message,” for which it should (will) win, but the video for Same Love is hands down the best video of the year… period. (Darn those Blurred Lines.) It traces the life of a gay male, capturing in part the awkwardness of adolescence, especially at the iconic high-school dance, when, for some, self-discovery starts to contradict the commonplace; when you’re liked and loved and surrounded by friends, yet it only takes a second to shift into feeling disconnected and isolated. But there’s hope…
Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’ Same Love serves as a great way to balance out the catchy, silly hit that was Thrift Shop, with something substantive, confirming Haggerty is certainly more than a leopard mink and “… $20 in my pocket.” The MTV VMA show is Sunday, August 25. BSo
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