Ryan Lewis

Last updated

Ryan Lewis
Ryan Lewis 2.jpg
Lewis performing with Macklemore in April 2013
Background information
Birth nameRyan Scott Lewis
Also known asDuke Goobler
Born (1988-03-25) March 25, 1988 (age 36)
Spokane, Washington, U.S.
Origin Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Record producer
  • DJ
  • videographer
  • photographer
  • graphic designer
  • music video director
  • rapper
  • songwriter
Instrument(s)
  • Keyboards
  • guitar
  • programming
  • turntables
  • vocals
Labels
Member of Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
Website macklemore.com

Ryan Scott Lewis (born March 25, 1988) is an American record producer, DJ, videographer, photographer, graphic designer, music video director, rapper, and songwriter. Along with producing his own album, Instrumentals, Lewis produced the albums The VS. EP (2009), The Heist (2012), and This Unruly Mess I've Made (2016) as part of the duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. In 2006, Lewis befriended rapper Macklemore on Myspace and soon after became the behind-the-scenes partner of a successful duo, producing, recording, engineering and mixing all of the duo's music, as well as directing the music videos for "Same Love", "Thrift Shop", "And We Danced", "Otherside (Remix)", "Can't Hold Us", "Irish Celebration", "My Oh My", "Victory Lap", "Downtown", "Brad Pitt's Cousin" and "White Walls" and designing promotional graphics.

Contents

Early life

Ryan Lewis was born on March 25, 1988, to Julie and Scott Lewis. Lewis has two sisters, Teresa and Laura, four years and two years older than he is, respectively. [1] At an early age, he played guitar in rock bands with his childhood best friend Ryan Sanson, and nursed a growing interest in music production around the age of 15. Lewis attended Ferris High School in Spokane, Washington, and graduated from Roosevelt High School in Seattle. He graduated from the University of Washington majoring in Comparative History of Ideas. [2] [3]

Career

2006–2008: Career beginnings

Lewis became a professional photographer and videographer. In 2008, he released his debut extended play, Instrumentals, with four alternative hip hop songs. [4] [5] In the same year, Lewis collaborated with Rhode Island-based emcee Symmetry in a self-titled work, released as an LP. [6] [7]

2009–2017: Career with Macklemore

Ryan Lewis with Macklemore at Sasquatch! Music Festival, in 2012 Macklemore & Ryan Lewis at Sasquatch 2011.jpg
Ryan Lewis with Macklemore at Sasquatch! Music Festival, in 2012

Lewis first met Macklemore in 2006, [8] but only in 2009 did they formalize the collaboration as the duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis and release the EP The VS. EP. [9]

In October 2010, Lewis produced the VS. Redux EP and, in December, their debut single, "My Oh My". [10] [11] "Wings" was released on January 21, 2011, followed by "Can't Hold Us" featuring Ray Dalton on August 16, 2011.

Their album The Heist was released in October 2012. Previously released singles "My Oh My", "Wings", and "Can't Hold Us" were announced to be included on the album – as was the song "Make the Money". "Can't Hold Us" was used as soundtrack for a Miller beer ad in UK and Ireland in June 2012. "Same Love" was released on July 18, 2012, and songs "White Walls" featuring Schoolboy Q and "Jimmy Iovine" featuring Ab-Soul were confirmed to be included on the album. The Heist debuted on the US Billboard 200 at number 2.

On October 30, 2012, Lewis appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show performing their single "Same Love" and then again on 18 January 2013, performing their single "Thrift Shop", which they had sung previously on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on 11 December 2012. The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 for six weeks, giving them their first number 1 hit in the US.

The Heist World Tour began in August 2012 to promote The Heist. [12]

On January 26, 2014, Macklemore performed "Same Love" at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards, where Queen Latifah read marriage vows for 33 couples who lined the aisles, including Lewis's sister, Laura, and her now husband. [13]

In January 2015, Lewis announced via Twitter that his third studio album would be released sometime in the second half of the year. [14] On August 5, 2015, Macklemore released a song for free download titled "Growing Up (Sloane's Song)", which features Ed Sheeran. [15]

On August 27, 2015, the duo released "Downtown", featuring Eric Nally, Kool Moe Dee, Melle Mel, and Grandmaster Caz; it was performed at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards on 30 August. [16] "Downtown" is part of their new album, This Unruly Mess I've Made , which was released on February 26, 2016.

On January 22, 2016, the duo released "White Privilege II", the second single on "This Unruly Mess I've Made". [17] On June 15, 2017, Macklemore announced via his official Instagram that the duo were on hiatus. [18] [19]

2017–present: Other works

July 2017 saw the release of Kesha's song "Praying", which Lewis co-wrote and produced. [20]

On August 19, 2019, Hobo Johnson's song "Subaru Crosstrek XV" was released, which Lewis co-wrote and produced. [21]

Discography

Studio albums

TitleAlbum details
Symmetry and Ryan Lewis [3]
(with Symmetry)

Extended plays

TitleAlbum details
Instrumentals [4]
  • Released: 2008 [4]
  • Format: Digital download
  • Label: Independent

Remixes

See also

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References

  1. ↑ Sommerfeld, Seth (February 26, 2013). "A Different Beat". The Pacific Northwest Inlander . Retrieved January 30, 2014.
  2. ↑ Varga, George (November 29, 2013). "Macklemore & Ryan Lewis: The stars align". San Diego Union-Tribune . Retrieved June 30, 2015.
  3. 1 2 "Symmetry And Ryan Lewis (Free Download)". Symmetry Music. October 10, 2012. Retrieved April 7, 2013.
  4. 1 2 3 "Ryan Lewis producing his own album titled Instrumentals". Wantickts. October 10, 2012. Archived from the original on April 10, 2014. Retrieved April 7, 2013.
  5. ↑ "Ryan Lewis 'Instrumentals'". Jeremy Timothy Brown. October 10, 2012. Retrieved April 7, 2013.
  6. 1 2 "Symmetry & Ryan Lewis LP". Audio Mack. October 10, 2012. Retrieved April 7, 2013.
  7. ↑ "Real Sick Quality Rap NEW FREE ALBUM – Ryan Lewis & Symmetry – LP". This is Song Sick. October 10, 2012. Archived from the original on May 11, 2013. Retrieved April 7, 2013.
  8. ↑ Jabari Presents: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis (Documentary). YouTube. Retrieved on December 30, 2012.
  9. ↑ "Macklemore – "Irish Celebration"". thatsthatish.com. Retrieved May 6, 2013.
  10. ↑ "Seattle rapper Macklemore records Niehaus tribute | Seattle Mariners blog - seattlepi.com". Seattle Post-Intelligencer . December 23, 2010. Retrieved July 20, 2012.
  11. ↑ Baker, Geoff (December 23, 2010). "New song about Dave Niehaus by Seattle rapper Macklemore". The Seattle Times.
  12. ↑ Ryon, Sean (October 6, 2012). "Macklemore & Ryan Lewis "The Heist" Album Stream". HipHop DX. Archived from the original on April 29, 2015. Retrieved January 27, 2014.
  13. ↑ Dan Avery. "Macklemore, Madonna, Queen Latifah Host Gay Weddings". newnownext.com. Retrieved January 27, 2014.
  14. ↑ Jason Lipshutz (January 2, 2015). "Macklemore Promises New Album Coming in 2015". Billboard . Archived from the original on September 7, 2015. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
  15. ↑ Reed, Ryan (August 5, 2015). "Macklemore Returns to Celebrate Daughter's Birth With Joyous New Track". Rolling Stone.
  16. ↑ Nolan Feeney (August 27, 2015). "Macklemore and Ryan Lewis 'Downtown' – New Song". TIME.com. Retrieved August 27, 2015.
  17. ↑ Stuart, Tessa (January 22, 2016). "Macklemore and Ryan Lewis Drop New Track 'White Privilege II'". Rolling Stone . Retrieved April 22, 2016.
  18. ↑ "Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Announce Decision to Part Ways". BallerStatus.com. June 15, 2017. Retrieved July 3, 2017.
  19. ↑ "Macklemore Parts Ways with Ryan Lewis, Announces Solo Album". Rap-Up. June 15, 2017. Retrieved July 3, 2017.
  20. ↑ McIntyre, Hugh (July 6, 2017). "Kesha Returns Triumphantly With New Single 'Praying'". Forbes . Retrieved July 11, 2017.
  21. ↑ "Zane Lowe and Hobo Johnson". Beats 1 . August 16, 2019. Retrieved August 28, 2019.
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