Music Review: Macklemore & Wanz "Thrift Shop"

Macklemore & Wanz

Thrift Shop

Album: The Heist

Year:  2012

         Macklemore is proud of his cheap finds at the local Goodwill in the boorish “Thrift Shop.”

           A little kid asks Macklemore if they can go the Goodwill store and a slackjawed “what” is said in response seven times. A keen saxophone with a record scratching opens the single, setting a shrewd tone. Over the saxophone, “bada” is repeated nine times.

          In the chorus, Wanz plans to go shopping and look for new trends at the Goodwill. It’s great when he realizes he’s found something he hasn’t seen before. (‘I'm gonna pop some tags/Only got twenty dollars in my pocket/I'm hunting, looking for a come-up/This is fucking awesome.”)

           Macklemore heads to the bar, making sure to show off his clothes. The clothes are really old and he catches a whiff of the musty scent. He notes to himself to clean his clothes first before putting them on. However, it barely cost him anything. He considers his cheapness a postive quality. He’ll gladly wear fashion trends from forty years ago. He lists his favorite finds and says he can pull off any outdated trend. (“Nah, walk up to the club like, "What up, I got a big c****!"/I'm so pumped about some shit from the thrift shop/Ice on the fringe, it's so damn frosty/That people like, "Damn! That's a cold ass honkey."/Rollin' in, hella deep, headin' to the mezzanine,/Dressed in all pink, 'cept my gator shoes, those are green/Draped in a leopard mink, girls standin' next to me/Probably shoulda washed this, smells like R. Kelly's sheets (Piss)/But shit, it was ninety-nine cents! (Bag it)/Coppin' it, washin' it, 'bout to go and get some compliments/Passin' up on those moccasins someone else's been walkin' in/But me and grungy fuckin it man/I am stuntin' and flossin' and/Savin' my money and I'm hella happy that's a bargain, bitch/I'ma take your grandpa's style, I'ma take your grandpa's style,/No for real - ask your grandpa - can I have his hand-me-downs? (Thank you)/Velour jumpsuit and some house slippers/Dookie brown leather jacket that I found diggin'/They had a broken keyboard, I bought a broken keyboard/I bought a skeet blanket, then I bought a kneeboard/Hello, hello, my ace man, my Mello/John Wayne ain't got nothing on my fringe game, hell no/I could take some Pro Wings, make them cool, sell those/The sneaker heads would be like "Aw, he got the Velcros.”)

      The chorus is sung twice.

    Macklemore calls out the people who focus on designer labels. He doesn’t see the point of spending a ton on clothes. They are only playing into the company’s marketing of cool and do not have a personality at all. He also says he’ll wear anything. He doesn’t care if it’s in style or not. (“What you know about rockin' a wolf on your noggin?/What you knowin' about wearin' a fur fox skin?/I'm digging, I'm digging, I'm searching right through that luggage/One man's trash, that's another man's come-up/Thank your granddad for donating that plaid button-up shirt/'Cause right now I'm up in here stuntin'/I'm at the Goodwill, you can find me in the (Uptons)/I'm not, I'm not sick of searchin' in that section (Uptons)/Your grammy, your aunty, your momma, your mammy/I'll take those flannel zebra jammies, second-hand, I rock that m***********/
The built-in onesie with the socks on that m***********/I hit the party and they stop in that m***********/They be like, "Oh, that Gucci - that's hella tight."/I'm like, "Yo - that's fifty dollars for a T-shirt."/Limited edition, let's do some simple addition/Fifty dollars for a T-shirt - that's just some ignorant bitch (shit)/I call that getting swindled and pimped (shit)/I call that getting tricked by a business/
That shirt's hella dough/And having the same one as six other people in this club is a hella don't/
Peep game, come take a look through my telescope/Trying to get girls from a brand? Man you hella won't/Man you hella won't.”)

      The chorus is sung again.

     In the bridge (which is sung twice), Wanz appreciates how he looks in a coat from forty years ago which he got for really cheap. (“I wear your granddad's clothes/I look incredible/I'm in this big ass coat/From that thrift shop down the road/(“I wear your granddad's clothes/I look incredible/I'm in this big ass coat/From that thrift shop down the road.”)

         The chorus is sung again.

        At the end, the little kid wonders if Macklemore is wearing a hand-me-down. (“Is that your grandma's coat?”)

   Macklemore’s rude, self-righteous rap congratulates himself for not being materalistic and watching his money. He can’t stand designer clothes and won’t spend any money on new ones. There are several wrongs things with his attitude. For one, going to the department to get some new clothes every once in a while isn’t an awful thing to do, as the song seems to imply. He also doesn’t disclose his own income range. With this omission, it’s as though he's making fun of people who can’t afford clothes (by mentioning the Goodwill) and clearly only looking after his own money. He comes across as a miser.

       At this point, hearing a bunch of rappers proclaim their allegiance to Louis Vuitton, Yves Saint Laurent or any of the high fashion ilk, would be welcome. At least there isn't guilt or shaming involved.

     Only Wanz, with his slick, low delivery, gets it right. His quiet joy at seeing a cool shirt and getting it is endearing.

The loony “Thrift Shop” takes the extreme point of view against materialism, scolding everyone for daring to shop at even a department store and not providing any insight or well-thought out reasons.