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In 2012, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis bridged the gap between underground indie hip-hop fans and the daytime TV audience of The Ellen DeGeneres Show. While the group already had a strong underground base of hip-hop fans, their song "Same Love" reached the masses on the heels of the 2012 political season and ignited a new following for Seattle's breakout story of the year. It's a stark reminder that the power of one song can overcome genre.

Haggerty (a.k.a. Macklemore) and Lewis were propelled to the national spotlight when they appeared on Ellen to perform this song about homophobia and marriage equality. There are 14 other tracks on this album (including the sales chart topper "Thrift Shop" and guest appearances by some names you might know), but none has a message as powerful as "Same Love." There might not be a song from the past year that is so blatantly political despite the fact that it was a historic election year.

By the time you read this review "Same Love" could be the number one song of the year in our Top 89 poll. So stop wasting time reading what I think about this album and join the other 9.8 million people who have watched the video for "Same Love."

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