American Songwriter March Cover Story: Macklemore Finding His Purpose

Every day, Macklemore (the Seattle-born rapper and businessman Ben Haggerty) wakes up knowing he will grapple with the realities of addiction. But he wouldn’t trade that for anything in the world, he says. Addiction is a disease. It’s the only one, Macklemore notes, that you can pretend you don’t have. Even those who work hard on curtailing their addictive personalities—giving up alcohol or some other mind-altering vice, let’s say—can weaken, forget how just one beer or one cigarette (or worse) can tip the scales toward demise. This is what Macklemore grapples with daily, like millions of others around the globe. It’s his cross. But it’s also his salvation. For Macklemore, his compulsive tendencies made him who he is, for better or worse, and, in that way, they create the lens that allows him to see and discover who he is acutely. To view himself clearly—not by over-indulging in any drug (not anymore, at least), but by providing an unflinching truth and way to know himself. This and much more comprise the subject matter of Macklemore’s new album, Ben, which is out March 3.