Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’s “Downtown”: not a Petula Clark cover.
After essentially soft-launching a new album cycle with the release of the low-key personal tune “Growing Up (Sloane’s Song),” Macklemore and Ryan Lewis have officially swaggered back onto the scene with the release of the video for the new single “Downtown.” The exuberant clip melds retro style, motorcycle chariots, “Uptown Funk,” old school hip-hop, and Ken Griffey, Jr. (!) to create a pretty jubilant street party. And while the lyrics address downtown Seattle, the video is actually set in Spokane (where Ryan Lewis grew up). And damn, they make downtown Spokane look gorgeous.
With its quasi-humorous lyrics about cruising mopeds downtown, the track (and its video) screams, “THIS IS THE SONG THAT’S SORTA QUIRKY KINDA LIKE ‘THRIFT SHOP.'” Not that there’s anything wrong with that. The song’s structure is actually a bit atypical for a pop single, sporting breakdowns by hip-hop forefathers Kool Moe Dee, Grandmaster Caz, and Melle Mel that interrupt the verses before leading to the big chorus sung fiercely by Foxy Shazam’s Eric Nally.
Macklemore and Ryan Lewis presumably will debut “Downtown” live when they perform at MTV’s VMA this Sunday (broadcast starts at 6).
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