This Unruly Mess I've Made

This Unruly Mess I've Made
Studio album by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
Released	February 26, 2016
Recorded	2013–15
Genre	Hip hop
Length	57:39
Label	Macklemore LLC
Producer	Ryan Lewis Oboohoo Budo
Macklemore chronology
The Heist (2012) This Unruly Mess I've Made (2016)
Singles from This Unruly Mess I've Made
"Downtown" Released: August 27, 2015 "Dance Off" Released: February 25, 2016

This Unruly Mess I've Made is the second studio album by American hip hop duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. It was released on February 26, 2016, by Macklemore LLC.^[1] The album was supported by the single, "Downtown" featuring Eric Nally, Melle Mel, Kool Moe Dee, and Grandmaster Caz,^[2] along with "White Privilege II" featuring Jamila Woods, which was released as the album's promotional single.^[3]

Background and release

Following the large success of the duo's debut album The Heist (2012), Macklemore revealed the album cover artwork to the follow-up album, titled This Unruly Mess I've Made, on January 15, 2016, with an Instagram post,^[4] The album was self-released on February 26, 2016.^[4] He also revealed an album trailer on his official website,^[4] which features him discussing how the album was created and the inspiration for making new music.

Singles

Their lead single for the second album, titled "Downtown" was released on August 27, 2015. The song was produced by Ryan Lewis, who co-wrote it with Macklemore, while Macklemore collaborated with artists such as Eric Nally, Melle Mel, Kool Moe Dee and Grandmaster Caz on this track. It's music video was also released on August 27, 2015. ^[5]

"Dance Off" was released as the album's second single on February 25, 2016, in Australia.^[6] The song features guest vocals from actor Idris Elba and American recording artist Anderson Paak.

Promotional singles

"Growing Up (Sloane's Song)" was released on August 5, 2015.^[7] White Privilege II" was released on January 22, 2016, after it was leaked online. The song features guest vocals from a singer and a recording artist Jamila Woods.^[8] "Spoons" was released on February 14, 2016.^[9] "Buckshot" & "Kevin" were released on February 23, 2016. ^[10][11] The music video for "Kevin" was released on February 24, 2016. ^[12] The music video for "Brad Pitt's Cousin" was released on April 12, 2016. ^[13]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	59/100[14]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[15]
Rolling Stone	[16]
Zumic	[17]

This Unruly Mess I've Made has received generally mixed reviews from music critics. On Metacritic, the score currently has a score of 59 out of 100 based on 17 reviews.^[14] Writing for Rolling Stone, Mark Seliger said of the album, "On Unruly Mess, Macklemore's confrontational side returns..."^[18]

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number 4 on the Billboard 200, with 61,000 equivalent album units; it sold 51,000 copies in its first week in the United States.^[19] The album debuted at number one on the US R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. The album dropped to number 31 in its second week on the Billboard 200.

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Light Tunnel" (featuring Mike Slap)	Ben Haggerty Ryan Lewis Michael "Mike Slap" Slavtcheff Josh Rawlings Andrew Joslyn Elan Wright Joshua Karp	Ryan Lewis	6:37
2.	"Downtown" (featuring Eric Nally, Melle Mel, Kool Moe Dee, and Grandmaster Caz)	B. Haggerty Lewis Eric Nally Karp Rawlings Jacob Dutton Evan Flory-Barnes Tim Haggerty Darian Asplund	Lewis	4:52
3.	"Brad Pitt's Cousin" (featuring XPerience)	B. Haggerty Lewis Tyler "XPerience" Andrews Rawlings	Lewis	3:11
4.	"Buckshot" (featuring KRS-One and DJ Premier)	B. Haggerty Lewis Lawrence Parker Christopher Martin Rawlings Cab Calloway Buster Harding Jack Palmer	Lewis	3:33
5.	"Growing Up" (featuring Ed Sheeran)	B. Haggerty Lewis Ed Sheeran Karp Owuor Arunga Rawlings	Lewis	5:05
6.	"Kevin" (featuring Leon Bridges)	B. Haggerty Lewis Todd Bridges Karp Rawlings Joslyn Andrews	Lewis	4:40
7.	"St. Ides"	B. Haggerty Lewis Karp Rawlings	Lewis	3:39
8.	"Need to Know" (featuring Chance the Rapper)	B. Haggerty Lewis Chancelor Bennett Calvin Price Carl McCormick	Lewis	3:52
9.	"Dance Off" (featuring Idris Elba and Anderson.Paak)	B. Haggerty Lewis Idris Elba Brandon Anderson Karp Josh Dobson Sam Wishkoski Andrews	Lewis Karp^[a]	3:49
10.	"Let's Eat" (featuring XPerience)	B. Haggerty Lewis Andrews Rawlings	Lewis	2:55
11.	"Bolo Tie" (featuring YG)	B. Haggerty Lewis Keenon Jackson Stu Phillips Bob Stone	Lewis	3:37
12.	"The Train" (featuring Carla Morrison)	B. Haggerty Lewis Carla Morrison Rawlings Karp Andrews	Lewis Karp^[b]	3:07
13.	"White Privilege II" (featuring Jamila Woods)	B. Haggerty Lewis Jamila Woods Hollis Wong-Wear Ahamefule Oluo Karp Flory-Barnes Rawlings Asplund D'Vonne Lewis Andrews Larry Griffin Jr. G. Reynolds	Lewis Oboohoo^[b] Karp^[b]	8:42

Deluxe edition (bonus tracks)
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
14.	"The Shades"		3:44
15.	"Spoons" (featuring Ryan Bedard)		3:48

Notes

• ^{^[a]} signifies an additional producer.
• ^{^[b]} signifies a co-producer.

Charts

Chart (2016)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[20]	6
Australian Urban Albums (ARIA)[21]	2
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[22]	4
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[23]	9
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[24]	17
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[25]	4
Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI)[26]	93
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[27]	15
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[28]	33
French Albums (SNEP)[29]	31
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[30]	4
Irish Albums (IRMA)[31]	6
Italian Albums (FIMI)[32]	16
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[33]	5
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[34]	17
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[35]	36
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[36]	3
UK Albums (OCC)[37]	16
UK R&B Albums (OCC)[38]	1
US Billboard 200[39]	4
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[40]	1
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[41]	1

References

Footnotes

1. Rys, Dan (January 15, 2016). "Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Announce Sophomore Album This Unruly Mess I've Made Release Date". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved January 17, 2016.
2. "1-100 List - Hottest 100 2015 - triple j". Retrieved 2 February 2016.
3. Hernandez, Victoria (February 26, 2016). "Macklemore and Ryan Lewis lead singles". Hip hop dx. Retrieved February 27, 2016.
4. Spanos, Britanny (January 15, 2016). "Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Announce new album". Rolling Stone. Retrieved February 27, 2016.
5. MACKLEMORE & RYAN LEWIS - DOWNTOWN (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO). 27 August 2015. Retrieved 20 April 2016 – via YouTube.
6. "Lukas Graham make it a hat-trick with '7 Years'". ARIA. September 21, 2015.
7. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - Growing Up (Sloane's Song) feat. Ed Sheeran. 5 August 2015. Retrieved 20 April 2016 – via YouTube.
8. MACKLEMORE & RYAN LEWIS FEAT. JAMILA WOODS - WHITE PRIVILEGE II. 21 January 2016. Retrieved 20 April 2016 – via YouTube.
9. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - Spoons (feat. Ryan Bedard). 14 February 2016. Retrieved 20 April 2016 – via YouTube.
10. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - Buckshot (Feat. KRS-One, DJ Premier). 23 February 2016. Retrieved 20 April 2016 – via YouTube.
11. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - Kevin (Feat. Leon Bridges). 23 February 2016. Retrieved 20 April 2016 – via YouTube.
12. MACKLEMORE & RYAN LEWIS - KEVIN (FEAT. LEON BRIDGES) - OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO. 24 February 2016. Retrieved 20 April 2016 – via YouTube.
13. brad pitt's cousin feat xp (iphone music video). 12 April 2016. Retrieved 20 April 2016 – via YouTube.
14. "Critic Reviews for This Unruly Mess I've Made - Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
15. David Jeffries. "This Unruly Mess I've Made". AllMusic. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
16. Jon Dolan (25 February 2016). "Macklemore and Ryan Lewis This Unruly Mess I've Made Album Review". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
17. Justine Souchack. ""This Unruly Mess I've Made" - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis [Official Full Album Stream + Zumic Review] - Zumic - Free Music, Lyrics, Reviews". Zumic. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
18. Seliger, Mark (March 14, 2016). "Why Macklemore Risked It All for 'White Privilege II'". Rolling Stone.
19. "The 1975 Gains First No. 1 Album on Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved March 6, 2016.
20. "Australiancharts.com – Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – This Unruly Mess I've Made". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
21. "ARIA Australian Top 40 Urban Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association. March 7, 2016. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
22. "Austriancharts.at – Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – This Unruly Mess I've Made" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved March 9, 2016.
23. "Ultratop.be – Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – This Unruly Mess I've Made" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved March 19, 2016.
24. "Ultratop.be – Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – This Unruly Mess I've Made" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved March 4, 2016.
25. "Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – Chart history" Billboard Canadian Albums Chart for Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. Retrieved March 8, 2016.
26. "Czech Albums – Top 100". ČNS IFPI. Note: On the chart page, select 201609 on the field besides the word "Zobrazit", and then click over the word to retrieve the correct chart data. Retrieved March 9, 2016.
27. "Dutchcharts.nl – Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – This Unruly Mess I've Made" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
28. "Macklemore & Ryan Lewis: This Unruly Mess I've Made" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved March 13, 2016.
29. "Lescharts.com – Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – This Unruly Mess I've Made". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
30. "Offiziellecharts.de – Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – This Unruly Mess I've Made" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
31. "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 9, 2016". Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
32. "Italiancharts.com – Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – This Unruly Mess I've Made". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 9, 2016.
33. "Charts.org.nz – Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – This Unruly Mess I've Made". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 4, 2016.
34. "VG-lista - Topp 40 Album uke 9, 2016". Lista.vg.no. Retrieved 2016-03-15.
35. "Swedishcharts.com – Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – This Unruly Mess I've Made". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
36. "Swisscharts.com – Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – This Unruly Mess I've Made". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 9, 2016.
37. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
38. "Official R&B Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
39. "Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – Chart history" Billboard 200 for Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. Retrieved March 8, 2016.
40. "Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – Chart history" Billboard Independent Albums for Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. Retrieved March 8, 2016.
41. "Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – Chart history" Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums for Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. Retrieved March 8, 2016.

Sources

Menyes, Carolyn (January 15, 2016). "Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Unpack 'This Unruly Mess I've Made' Tracklist". Music Times. Retrieved February 2, 2016.