To the "Otherside" and Back

          In the song "Otherside", written by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, performed by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat. Fences, he (Macklemore, the rapper) talks about the promotion of drug addiction throughout the rap industry and his personal story of relapsing. It's hard for me not to analyze every single line of this song because it's so well written and meaningful, but alas, I can't. Full lyrics here.
          Macklemore himself relapsed in 2008. At this point he had come out with two albums -- The Language of Our World, and The Unplanned Mixtape. In the song, Macklemore talks about how rap artists he listened to and looked up to, such as Lil Wayne, would always talk about drugs. Macklemore knew he wanted to be a rap artist since he was pretty young, and he listened to other rappers. He wants kids to know that you shouldn't listen to "the system". By the system, he means the rappers in the media and the portrayed image of those rappers. He listened to rap music all the time, and he can show firsthand, the effects of those lyrics. You don't think you're ever going to go too far, but you will.
          "Little did he know it was just as addictive as base/... Months later the use went up/ and every blunt was accompanied by the pink stuff/ But Goddamn he loved that feelin/... liquid to fix and it comes with a cost/ Wake up, cold sweat, scratchin, itchin/ trying to escape the skin that barely fit him/ Gone, get another bottle just get a couple swallows headed/ towards the bottom/ couldn't get off it/ Didn't even think he had a problem/ Though he couldn't sleep without getting nauseous/ Room spinnin/ Thinking he might of sipped just a little too much of that cough syrup/ His eyelids closed shut/ Sat back in the chair/ clutchin that cup/ Girlfriend came a couple of hours later said his name shook him but he never got up/ never got up, never got up/ we live on the cusp of death thinking that it won't be us." He got addicted, and loved it, so he didn't try to stop. Then, he overdosed and died. Macklemore isn't messing around. His lyrics are straightforward, and I'm sure they're pretty accurate for most teens/young adults. He got addicted to cough syrup, but what gave him that push?
          "He rolled up, asked what he was sippin on/ said lean-- you wanna hit it dawn?/ That's the same stuff Weezy's sippin huh?/ And tons of other rappers that be spittin hard" and "The easter pink, heard it in a rhyme before/ finally got to see what all the hype was on/ And then he took a sip sittin in the Lincoln/ thinkin he was pimpin as he listened to the system". Macklemore wants the listener to know that that kid (whether or not he's talking about himself in third person) was doing all of that simply because he'd heard rappers rap about it. He's also emphasizing that it's just hype and that he doesn't support it. The line I really liked was, "And then he took a sip sittin in the Lincoln/thinkin he was pimpin as he listened to the system". He doesn't mean "listening to the system" as in taking orders/listening to authority, he means listening to the system meaning the peer pressure that is the media. Yeah, it's illegal, but popular artists promote it all the time; it's still listening to them. "And he just wanted to act like them/ He just wanted to rap like him," those kids just want to be just like those rappers, so they do all this stuff thinking that by doing it they'll be just as successful and praised.
          The whole rap industry is constantly pushing for these kids to follow their lead. "Despite how Lil Wayne lives/it's like conducive to being creative/ And I know cause he's my favorite/ And I know cause I was off that same mix/ Rationalize the stuff that I tried after I listened to dedication (A mixtape by Lil Wayne and DJ Drama)/ I sip that stuff pass out or play playstation". He's been through it all. When he says "he's an alien", he's talking about how he did just what he did and realized he had no idea how Lil Wayne did it, because it was too much for him. It's too much for kids, but it's hard for them to resist seeing as the people they listen to and look up to are always telling them to do it. That's the type of music that sells in the rap industry. "Surprise, you know the drill/ Trapped in a box to climb record sales/ Follow the formula/ violence, drugs, and sex sells/ So we try to sound like someone else/ This is not Californication/ There's no way to glorify this pavement/ Syrup, percocet, and an eighth day will leave you broke, depressed and emotionally vacant".
          The "chorus" of the song is "Oh girl, this boat is sinking/ there's no sea left for me/ and how the sky gets heavy/ when you are underneath it/ oh I want to sail away from here/ and God, he came down x8, and sailed (down x8) nothing". At the beginning, "oh girl, this boat is sinking/ there's no sea left for me" makes me think his journey with this girl, or with this lifestyle has stopped midway, their sailing travel, because the boat is sinking and there's no place for him farther along that path. He had made a decision previously to go down this road, or sail across that sea, but midway, he feels his world is crumbling down and he realizes there's no place for him there, probably when he's talking about when he relapsed. There's no "sea" left for him to sail over. When he says, "and how the sky gets heavy when you are underneath it/oh i want to sail away from here", I think he means he's realized how dismal that place is, and the people he's with are, and he just wants to sail away. "and God, he came down x8 and sailed nothing" -- by saying this, I think he's trying to represent how God looked down upon him and saw his conflict -- keep sailing in this broken boat that is soon to sink, try and sail away, and God did neither. He didn't help him along a certain path, because God was disappointed in him.
          Macklemore, has been to the "Otherside" and back. He nearly died from overdose. As a rapper, he knows firsthand the pressures of rap music, and as a listener and a young kid, he succumbed to it all: "Us as rappers underestimate the power in the effects that we have on these kids". He's trying to share his story and get people of all types to stop this epidemic in the rap industry. He wants kids to stay above it, because you don't have to do it to be successful-- just look at Macklemore! "Thinkin I would never do that/ not that drug/ Growin up nobody ever does/ Until you're stuck lookin in the mirror like I can't believe what I've become/ Swore I was gonna be someone/ Growin up everyone always does/ We sell our dreams and potential to escape through that buzz/ Just keep me up, keep me up/ Hollywood here we come". Overall, it's a fantastic song, I suggest you listen to it.