Wing$ by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

Album: The Heist (2012)

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This song finds Macklemore rapping about the influence held by multinational corporations like Nike, and the evils of advertising. He explained its meaning on his website: "The song 'Wing$' is about the pursuit of identity through the means of consumerism," said the Seattle rapper. "The attempt is to dissect our infatuation and attachment to logos, labels, brands and the fleeting happiness that is intrinsically linked to the almighty power of the purchase. The subject I use in the song is shoes, but its aim is to paint a broader picture of being a consumer and tracing the lineage back to my first memory of retail infused desire."
A heavily-edited new version song was used for commercials involving the 2013 NBA All-Star Game. The tune was used in TNT television channel's promotion for it and at the event itself. Some fans criticized Macklemore for allowing all negative references to Nike to be edited out, or taken out of context. Macklemore responded in a lengthy message to the criticism leveled against him of selling out by stating that lyrics have to get cut in order for the trailer/ad to make sense with what the company is promoting. The Seattle rapper added that if you take away the consumerism cautionary core of the song, a story still remains that he's still proud of, and he's happy that it's relatable enough for TNT to want to use it.
This started off as a two-person a cappella that Macklemore had written and performed. Seattle filmmaker Zia Mohajerjasbi, who has worked with many members of his city's hip-hop community, enlisted singer-songwriter Hollis, to convert it into a proper song so that he could then shoot the video for it. Hollis recalled to Billboard magazine: "There was no beat for the song, there was no song, but we all endeavored to make it, so over 8 months we did a Kickstarter and Ryan spent hundreds of hours on the song. It needed a chorus, and so I wrote the chorus for it and found some kids to sing it, and we recorded them singing it after school. It was such a holistic process, and it was an amazing way for us to bond as friends and as collaborators - it was very much all hands on deck."

Comments: 2

MelvilleWhat are the instruments in the song?
Will from MelborneWings by macamor
they don’t make you cool or a better person you make you a better person and the shoe on your feet get you from a to b the nice top keeps you warm the good bike is faster than walking but a bad bike is faster than walking and bad shoes get you from a to b and a bad top keeps you warm so why do we care. They are hacking our brains the are controlling us with advertising the own use we just don’t know it.
The song wings open your eyes to the horrible whirlpool we find our selves in were we have to have the best and nothing but the best this scared me the way this song opened my eyes was like seeing humanity and my life in the third person. The little part of the song where we are taken back down into the first person is really touching. It tells my story and everybody story it is like looking back five years, I spent my childhood looking for the best shoes even if they hurt my foot I didn’t care I just wanted the best looking shoe but it seemed every time I got the best shoe a better one came out for few dollars more than two years ago I tried on a pair of good shoe witch are actually good shoes for your feet. Then I was told about this song two years later and the song made sense to me no one else got it. This song is enlightening I feel more aware of my life and when I buy something, I think about why I buy it.
Overall this song is a great tune for listening to when you are going for a quick run or just resting because when the deeper meaning hits it is like having your eyes opened and overall it is a great song all around.

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