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 Same may refer to: *Sameness or identity Places * Same (Homer), an island mentioned by Homer in the ''Odyssey'' * Same (polis), an ancient city * Same, East Timor, the capital of the Manufahi district * Samé, Mali * Same, Tanzania * Same Dist ...

", " Thrift Shop", " And We Danced", " Otherside (Remix)", " Can't Hold Us", "Irish Celebration", "My Oh My", "Victory Lap", "

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ...

", " Brad Pitt's Cousin" and " White Walls" and designing promotional graphics.

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. 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 Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the ...

, and graduated from Roosevelt High School in Seattle. He graduated from the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seatt ...

majoring in Comparative History of Ideas.

Career

2006–08: Career beginnings

Lewis became a professional photographer and

videographer Videography is the process of capturing moving images on electronic media (e.g., videotape, direct to disk recording, or solid state storage) and even streaming media. The term includes methods of video production and post-production. It ...

. In 2008, he released his debut extended play, ''Instrumentals'', with four

alternative hip hop Alternative hip hop (also known as alternative rap) is a subgenre of hip hop music that encompasses a wide range of styles that are not typically identified as mainstream. AllMusic defines it as comprising " hip hop groups that refuse to confo ...

songs. In the same year, Lewis collaborated with Rhode Island-based emcee Symmetry in a self-titled work, released as an LP.

2009–17: Career with Macklemore

Lewis first met Macklemore in 2006,Jabari Presents: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis (Documentary)
YouTube. Retrieved on December 30, 2012. but only in 2009 did they formalize the collaboration as the duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis and release the EP ''The VS. EP''. In October 2010, Lewis produced the ''VS. Redux'' EP and, in December, their debut single, "My Oh My". " 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 A miller is a person who operates a mill, a machine to grind a grain (for example corn or wheat) to make flour. Milling is among the oldest of human occupations. "Miller", "Milne" and other variants are common surnames, as are their equivalent ...

beer ad in UK and Ireland in June 2012. "

" was released on July 18, 2012, and songs " White Walls" featuring

Schoolboy Q Quincy Matthew Hanley (born October 26, 1986), better known by his stage name Schoolboy Q (stylized as ScHoolboy Q), is an American rapper. In 2009, Hanley signed to Carson-based independent record label Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) and in late ...

and "Jimmy Iovine" featuring

Ab-Soul Herbert Anthony Stevens IV (born February 23, 1987), better known by his stage name Ab-Soul, is an American rapper, singer and songwriter. Raised in Carson, California, he signed to indie record label Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) in 2007, where ...

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 ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' (often shortened to ''Ellen'' or ''The Ellen Show'') is an American daytime television variety comedy talk show that was created and hosted by its namesake Ellen DeGeneres. Debuting on September 8, 2003, it was pro ...

'' 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 ''Late Night with Jimmy Fallon'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by comedian Jimmy Fallon. About pag ...

'' 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''. On January 26, 2014, Macklemore performed "Same Love" at the

56th Annual Grammy Awards The 56th Annual Grammy Awards presentation was held on January 26, 2014, at Staples Center in Los Angeles. The show was broadcast on CBS at 8 p.m. ET/PT and was hosted for the third time by LL Cool J. The show was moved to January to avoid comp ...

, where

Queen Latifah Dana Elaine Owens (born March 18, 1970), known professionally as Queen Latifah, is an American rapper, actress, and singer. Born in Newark, New Jersey, she signed with Tommy Boy Records in 1989 and released her debut album ''All Hail the Que ...

read marriage vows for 33 couples who lined the aisles, including Lewis's sister, Laura, and her now husband. In January 2015, Lewis announced via Twitter that his third studio album would be released sometime in the second half of the year. On August 5, 2015, Macklemore released a song for free download titled "Growing Up (Sloane's Song)," which features

Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran (; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently re ...

. On August 27, 2015, the duo released "

", featuring

Eric Nally Foxy Shazam is an American rock band from Cincinnati, Ohio formed in 2004. , the band's lineup consists of lead vocalist Eric Nally, pianist Sky White, trumpeter and backing vocalist Alex Nauth, bassist Trigger Warning, guitarist Devin Williams ...

, Kool Moe Dee,

Melle Mel Melvin Glover (born May 15, 1961 in The Bronx), better known by his stage name Grandmaster Melle Mel (or simply Melle Mel) () is an American hip hop recording artist who was the lead vocalist and songwriter of Grandmaster Flash and the Furi ...

, and

Grandmaster Caz Curtis Brown (born April 18, 1960), better known by the stage name Grandmaster Caz or Casanova Fly, is an American rapper, songwriter, and DJ. He was a member of the hip hop group The Cold Crush Brothers from 1979 to the mid-1980s. He is best kno ...

; it was performed at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards on 30 August. "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". On June 15, 2017, Macklemore announced via his official Instagram that the duo were on hiatus.

2017–present: Other works

July 2017 saw the release of

Kesha Kesha Rose Sebert (; born March 1, 1987), formerly stylized as Ke$ha, is an American singer and songwriter. In 2005, at age 18, Kesha was signed to Kemosabe Records. Her first major success came in early 2009 after she was featured on Americ ...

's song "

Praying Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication. In the narrow sense, the term refers to an act of supplication or intercession directed towards a deity or a deified ...

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

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Remixes

* "Vipassana (Ryan Lewis Remix)" by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis; from the ''VS. Redux'' EP * "Otherside (Ryan Lewis Remix)" by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis featuring

Fences A fence is a barrier enclosing or bordering a field, yard, etc., usually made of posts and wire or wood, used to prevent entrance, to confine, or to mark a boundary. Fence or fences may also refer to: Entertainment Music * Fences (band), an Amer ...

; from ''VS. Redux''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Ryan 1988 births American male rappers American hip hop record producers Grammy Award winners for rap music Musicians from Seattle Living people University of Washington College of Arts and Sciences alumni Musicians from Spokane, Washington LGBT rights activists from the United States Pop rappers