Alternative hip-hop artist, Macklemore and Producer Ryan Lewis released their new single “Same Love” in July of 2012. This is their fourth single from their debut album The Heist, making it to the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States. Macklemore and Lewis wrote the track in support of the legalization of gay marriage and released it during the time period when Washington State was debating whether to reject or approve same-sex marriage. “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,” Macklemore told Kurt Anderson from studio360.com. The video that accompanies the track presents an emotional story of a young boy who doesn’t necessarily know how to express that he is gay to his family, friends and himself. Macklemore raps about his own uncle’s story of growing up gay in a stereotypical homophobic religious community. He also talks about ridding the stereotypes America associates with gays, including how certain music genres do not “approve” of their orientation. “Strip away the fear/ underneath it’s all the same love/ about time we raised up.” These comprehendible lyrics explain that love is universal; it does not have a gender or preference, it’s an emotion that every human being is capable of. The chorus, “And I can’t change/ Even if I try, even if I wanted to/ my love, my love, my love/ she keeps me warm” is Mary Lambert singing about her love for her wife. The video began and ended with the boy lying in a hospital bed—first as a newborn with his mom, and last as an ill old man having his husband by his side. The symbolism is undeniable; love has and always will be the same, thus the track title “Same Love.” Macklemore and Ryan Lewis will be touring the U.S. and U.K. from April-July 2013.