(CNN) — Macklemore and Ryan Lewis have taken “Thrift Shop” all the way to the bank.
The duo have made history on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, as their first two singles, the aforementioned “Shop” and the more recent “Can’t Hold Us” with Ray Dalton, have both shot to No. 1.
That makes Macklemore and Lewis the first duo in Billboard’s history to see their first two singles climb to the top of the chart.
While their single “Same Love” hasn’t gone quite as far (at least, not yet), it is making just as much of an impact. The artist rhymes about questioning his sexuality as a kid, and discusses the inequality and stereotyping the gay community faces.
In an interview with Out magazine, Macklemore said that he wanted to tackle the issue of gay rights through a hip-hop track but wasn’t sure how to do it.
“I knew I wanted to write a song about gay rights, about marriage equality, and about homophobia in hip-hop, but I didn’t know how,” the rapper said. “I tried, at first, writing from the perspective of a gay, bullied kid. That’s what sparked the song in the first place: reading the story of a 13-year-old who committed suicide.”
In the end, he continued, “Same Love” is a song about equality.
“[W]e play it regardless of what we think the response is going to be. There’s been such ground made in terms of acceptance in the hip-hop community,” Macklemore said. “What Barack Obama did, and what Frank Ocean did, and what, hopefully, ‘Same Love’ did is start a conversation.”
