I saw Astronautalis open for Why? never having heard any of his music and completely fell in love with it. For people who saw him back in 2003, has he always been freestyling based on suggestions from the audience?

"I know you'd rather see me gone than to see me the way that I am. But I am in the life anyway." Maybe I was just an angsty teenager, but few lyrics have stuck with me like that one.

I haven't seen a single episode of the GI Joe cartoon (only some of the "Knowledge is half the battle!" PSAs), but I felt like a lot of the jokes in this episode were broader references to kids' cartoons that even non-GI Joe fans could understand. Re-using animation cells to save money, zero on-screen deaths (because…

I think you're spot on!  I feel like the joke is that Macklemore is rapping about wearing your granddad's coat with the same swagger of Kanye West calling himself the Louis Vuitton Don.  The song is obviously highly self-aware!

You're right, Genevieve.  My apologies!  Your review of the song is well-written and reasonable, and I'm sorry if I was dismissive of it.

I completely agree.  Steven's flippant Lonely Island remark reveals a complete ignorance to who Macklemore is as an artist.  To me, Thrift Shop is a funny indie subculture response to mainstream rap songs about wearing Gucci and whatnot.