The fame and the money and all that stuff that comes along with it is all great, but that's not the sole purpose of why I make music.
MacklemoreYou need to get outside of your comfort zone to write songs that are interesting, songs that are compelling, songs that are different from what other people are writing.
MacklemoreI grew up in the spoken-word community. Before everybody had a home studio, or before we could get booked for shows, open mics were the only way to be heard by other people. It really gave me a chance to develop as a performer. Reading a piece of poetry with no beat in front of 20 people is way more challenging than rocking for 10,000 people.
Macklemore