Macklemores new songs a bitter pill to swallow.
Macklemore's new song's a bitter pill to swallow.

Seattle rapper Macklemore's new single, "Drug Dealer," tackles the widespread problem of addiction to pharmaceuticals over-prescribed by doctors. The song—Macklemore's first new material since This Unruly Mess I've Made came out in February—features Ariana DeBoo singing the hook ("My drug dealer was a doctor, doctor/He said he would heal me, but he only gave me problems, problems/I think he tryin' to kill me for a dollar, dollar") and laments the loss of Prince and DJ AM due to overdoses.

"Drug Dealer" contains familiar Macklemore elements: the MC's earnest, conversational flow about his harrowing experiences as well as his friends'; bombastic gospel-ish backing vocals; piano parts in which pathos spills over into bathos; and a crystal-clear lyrical message—"Best friends with the thing that's killin' me/Enemies with my best friend/There's no healing me." "Drug Dealer" recalls Macklemore and Ryan Lewis's much funkier "Kevin," another cautionary tale about getting hooked on drugs.

The final verdict on "Drug Dealer"? Um, it's kind of addictive.

The video's directed by Jason Koenig

Tags: Music
Dave Segal

Dave Segal

Dave Segal is a journalist and DJ living in Seattle. He has been writing about music since 1983. His stuff has appeared in Gale Research’s literary criticism series of reference books, Creem (when it was in decline), Alternative Press (when it was ascendant), XLR8R, Jazz Times, and a slew of alternative weekly newspapers scattered across America. He also DJs weird, obscure records under the name Veins. He probably won’t honor your requests.
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