Heady fusion of musical hooks and pertinent themes

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. AP FILE PHOTO

TWO YEARS after winning coveted Grammys for best rap album, rap song, rap performance and best new artist, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis are still seeking affirmation for those triumphs.

Their fans love them, but how they’re perceived by the rest of the music world isn’t easy to control—unless they do something radical about their preachy, feel-good hit songs.

In “This Unruly Mess I’ve Made,” the hip-hop duo’s followup to “The Heist,” if you can go past their whiny, self-critical raps or what is perceived by their naysayers as skin-deep proselytizing, the energy-fueled hooks the duo generates are good enough to keep you grooving (“Downtown” and “Buckleshot,” with KRS One and DJ Premier).

No, “Thrift Shop” was no fluke—and neither was the equality-promoting “Same Love.” The smooth, soulful riffs of “Need to Know” benefit from the duo’s chemistry with hot-to-trot Chance the Rapper.

But, the stellar cameo to watch out for belongs to Ed Sheeran, who demonstrates his belting ability and prodigious high notes in “Growing Up.”

Idris Elba is also a scene-stealer in “Dance Off”—a track that recalls “Thriller’s” cleverly realized fusion of dance music (Michael Jackson) and spoken word (Vincent Price).

The album may be uneven, but it isn’t the “unruly mess” it initially seems to be, because its musings about parenthood (“Parenthood”), drugs (“Kevin”) and racial discrimination (“White Privilege II”) keep it pertinent!