Macklemore: Why Moms Should Know About Him

Posted on March 6, 2013 by Jennifer Wolfe

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis performing at Sasquatch 2011 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Macklemore. Have you heard of him?

If you’ve got a teenager in the house, chances are you have. Or if you’ve listened to the radio, surfed the internet, or watched Saturday Night Live.

And if you’re a mom, you should know about Macklemore and why teenagers love him.

Just in case you stilll have no idea who I’m talking about, here is Macklemore’s recent appearance on SNL:

http://www.hulu.com/watch/462771

You really should watch it.

Macklemore is a 29-year-old rapper from Seattle, Washington, who just happens to have a hit song, “Thrift Shop”, topping the Billboard charts-and has sold over 3.9 million copies of it to date. He and his musical partner, Ryan Lewis, have achieved unlikely success in today’s music scene, starting with their rise to fame as artists not signed to a major label. But that’s not the reason moms should know about him.

And it’s not that your teenagers are suddenly turning to rap music instead of Taylor Swift (but I love her, too).

American country musician Taylor Swift performing live. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

You should know about Macklemore because he’s different.

Yes, he’s a rapper. I’ll admit that I’m not a big rap fan, mainly because I object to much of the lyrical content and suggestive ideas many rappers base their music around. But Macklemore, he’s not like them.

I first heard him through the walls of my 16-year-old daughter’s bedroom. Surprised to hear thumping bass and rhythm over melodic pop songs, I questioned her. She tried to tell me he’s different, but I just walked away, puzzled.

Finally, after weeks of persuasion, we listened to his newest album start to finish on a long car trip. I have to admit-I was impressed.

Macklemore has been called a ‘conscious rapper’-a label he doesn’t entirely love: “”Am I more or less conscious than everybody else? I’m a full spectrum of a human being. There’s songs that are deep and personal and might bring up some social issues, but that’s not the full side of me. I think it’s just a box, that’s just corny. It’s very outdated. It’s very underground and backpacker-ish and that’s not the music I make,” he stated.

But when I hear songs like “Thrift Shop”, and especially “Same Love”, I see how it fits; Macklemore writes about real life, real problems, and real people. He breaks the negative stereotypes of rap, and had the courage to break through trends and challenge his listeners to do the same. He writes about issues that I see teens struggle with every day, like wearing the ‘right’ clothes in “Thrift Shop”, and dealing with sexuality and discrimination, as in his hit “Same Love”:

We press play/Don’t press pause/Progress, march on!/With a veil over our eyes

We turn our back on the cause/’Till the day/That my uncles can be united by law

Kids are walkin’ around the hallway/Plagued by pain in their heart

A world so hateful/Some would rather die/Than be who they are

This is why moms need to know about Macklemore. At least read his lyrics. Hear the issues he writes about, and ask your kids what they think. When I asked teens why they liked Macklemore, they responded with things like “he’s just so good” and “a lot of his music is spoken word, which I like. It’s not all hardcore rap-he has a lot of variety.”

Teens liking spoken word? Wow-that means they’re actually listening to what the artist is saying…and in my opinion, that’s a very good thing. Well, except for the foul language, but if they can look past that and focus on his messages, Macklemore is ok in my house. Teenagers love him because he writes what they’re living-bullies and styles and fitting in and love…and moms, if you want to understand your teenagers a little bit better, you might just take a listen to “Wings”:

Jennifer Wolfe

Jennifer Wolfe, a writer-teacher-mom, is dedicated to finding the extraordinary in the ordinary moments of life by thinking deeply, loving fiercely, and teaching audaciously. Jennifer is a Google Certified Educator, Hyperdoc fanatic, and a voracious reader. Read her stories on her blog, mamawolfe, and grab free copies of her teaching and parenting resources.

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Finding His Voice

Posted on March 4, 2013 by Jennifer Wolfe

Alpine Meadows morning by Cameron Wolfe

In life, finding a voice is speaking and living the truth. Each of you is an original. Each of you has a distinctive voice.

When you find it, your story will be told. You will be heard.

–John Grisham

My kids spend a lot of early mornings on the ski hill. They often must roll out of bed, stumble to the car in the pre-dawn night, and ride for several hours to make it to early training on time. My thirteen-year-old son used to grumble about it, but this season, he goes willingly.

Ski racing is not an easy sport – there’s a huge amount of equipment to keep track of, travel at hours when most people are sleeping, dealing with weather conditions that soak you to the skin or make you feel like you’ll never be warm again, and, most difficult for me, frequent days when we’re separated as a family.

Last weekend the four of us were on two different mountains, one parent with each kid. As I was waiting for my daughter’s ski race to start, a text came through. Pulling my phone out of my pocket, hoping for an update from my son, this image popped up. I knew exactly what he was doing and feeling, and I smiled. A sense of calm settled over me, and I knew he was safe and happy doing what he loves.

When I see the world through his eyes, it frequently stops me in my tracks. So often teenagers struggle to communicate, but not this one – he is finding his voice and creating his own story.

I hear it loud and clear.

How does your child create his or her own story and find their voice?

Walk With Me: Happiness in the Moment

Jennifer Wolfe

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Not Saying A Word Today

Posted on February 27, 2013 by Jennifer Wolfe

Today I’m flying low and I’m
not saying a word
I’m letting all the voodoos of ambition sleep.

The world goes on as it must,
the bees in the garden rumbling a little,
the fish leaping, the gnats getting eaten.
And so forth.

But I’m taking the day off.
Quiet as a feather.
I hardly move though really I’m traveling
a terrific distance.

Stillness. One of the doors
into the temple.

~ Mary Oliver

Jennifer Wolfe

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Book Review: A Good American by Alex George

Posted on February 26, 2013 by Jennifer Wolfe

Reading Alex George’s novel A Great American was like climbing back into the pages of a family tree, uncovering historical secrets as I navigated through the story. George begins his narrative in the early 1900s with main characters Jette Furst and Frederick Meisenheimer, two young misfits living in Germany. As George says at the end of the first chapter, “It was Frederick’s capacity to dream that dazzled Jette the most. When she was with him, anything was possible,” establishing one of the themes of the novel: the capacity to dream the American dream was possible.

The novel continues in an operatic rhythm, as the reader discovers the dreams of not only Frederick and Jette, but subsequent children and grandchildren. Alex George’s characterizations are so realistic and endearing that I often found myself wondering if these were real characters from his family tree, so fleshed out and vibrant were they. Characters fall in and out of the course of the novel, their stories deftly woven together under the question of what a good American really is.

One of my favorite themes in the novel surrounds the power of food to nourish and transform a community. Beginning with the lack of food on the ship as Frederick and Jette come to America, food not only represents the ability to nourish and care for a family and community, but also the desire to hold onto our cultures while assimilating into a new country. As the novel progresses, the images of food change with the family’s deepening roots in the community, moving from traditional German fare to eventually a Mexican menu.

Music also plays a central role in the definition of what a good American means in the novel. From opera, to jazz, soul music, and even rock and roll, the author weaves the development of American music throughout the generations. Like food, music serves as another thread for the Meisenheimer family as they struggle to retain links to their old heritage while moving forward into the rapidly changing American landscape.

I enjoyed every page of A Good American. George’s writing was real, humorous, yet his research and knowledge of the evolution of our country through its immigrants was woven throughout. Questioning our understanding of what it means to be a good American, in the umbrella of race relations, religious views, gender expectations, food, music and the family structure allows Alex George to give the reader a deep look at the multifaceted history of our country.

If you’d like to read more about A Good American, join our BlogHer Book Club discussion by clicking here.

“This is a paid review for BlogHer Book Club but the opinions expressed are my own.”

Jennifer Wolfe

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Swinging at Life’s Curveballs

Posted on February 25, 2013 by Jennifer Wolfe

Curveball (Photo credit: John-Morgan)

In baseball, a pitcher throws a fastball when they want to get ahead in the count. Thrown hard, a fastball is straight and powerful, relying on location location to throw off the batter; low inside, high outside, and it changes with every pitch. Fastballs come hard and quick, but when the batter makes connection – look out.

Curveballs, on the other hand, rely on technique. Pitchers use curveballs when they want to frustrate the batter .Slower than a fastball, a curveball combines with gravity to
start high then drop down, making connection challenging, but all the sweeter when it happens.

To me, life can seem like a baseball game. I’m up at the plate, bases loaded, two outs. Pressure’s on. I’m not sure what’s coming at me, I just know I don’t want to strike out. If I can’t connect, I at least want to go down swinging.

Like a baseball player, I have clear focus and a lofty set of goals for my life. Some could even be considered the equivalent of moving up into the major leagues someday. I suppose that’s the beauty of being my age-I’ve lived enough and made plenty of mistakes to have a clearer sense of what I need to do to get where I want to be-and then the curveball comes.

I’m still at the plate. I scan the field, hear my teammates shouts of encouragement. I know my family is out there somewhere, cheering from afar. I want to connect. First pitch: fastball. Strike one-but at least I swung. My pen quivers in my hand as I prepare for the next pitch. The field transforms to my garden, as I gaze out the window for inspiration. How do I tell my story? Who is out there ready to read it?

Next pitch: fastball again. This time, I connect-but it’s a foul tip. As I step back from the batter’s box I see my published essay, and smile at the comments from my readers. The count is against me: no balls, two strikes. I know what’s coming next…

Anticipation: A baseball player making a pitch prepares for the action by moving his arm back. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The curveball comes slowly at me, topspin creating an exaggerated sense of speed. I know it’s gonna drop, but I can’t track it. Moving side to side, or up and down, I can’t tell where it’s going to break. Should I swing and risk the strike out? My goals flash before my eyes; I see the list carefully crafted at the beginning of each year, urging me to take a chance. I see the three sets of eyes, two blue, the other brown, gazing at me with love and neediness, searching for someone to look up to.

Life is unpredictable. I know I need to stay awake to the possibilities, assume the positive, and keep centered. I know that this curveball could hit the homerun. It doesn’t have to be the one that will knock me down, strike me out, and lose the game.

I know it might not be the one that drops so far down that I cannot reach it. Telling myself to let go of my expectations, to get out of my head and let my body do what it was born to, I swing…

Jennifer Wolfe

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