Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
May 6, 2013

"Same Love" was the fourth single released by Seattle-based rapper Macklemore and producer Ryan Lewis off their 2012 debut studio album, The Heist, featuring vocals by Mary Lambert. The track talks about legalizing gay marriage and was recorded during the campaign of Washington Referendum 74, which allows same-sex marriages in Washington state.
Macklemore explained that the song also came out of his own frustration with hip hop's positions on homosexuality. "Misogyny and homophobia are the two acceptable means of oppression in hip hop culture. It's 2012. There needs to be some accountability. I think that as a society we're evolving and I think that hip hop has always been a representation of what's going on in the world right now."
Gary Nunn in The Guardian said that the song was "a far cry from the cheese-fest that usually puts commercial interest first, tenuous rhyming couplets second and poignancy last".
The single was released on July 18, 2012. It entered the Billboard Hot 100 the week of February 7th, 2013 at #99, and later moved to #89, which is its current peak position. The song also replaced Thrift Shop at number 1 on the Australian ARIA Charts in January 2013, making Macklemore only the third artist to replace themself at number one on the ARIA Charts after Madonna in 1985 and the Black Eyed Peas in 2009.