It’s well-known that Macklemore and Ryan Lewis are independent; that is, they made the conscious decision to not sign a major label record deal. I feel like us as the audience often draw our own conclusions that they have all of these huge music video budgets, hire companies to run their merchandise, and have stacks of cash at their disposal. The thing is, they do EVERYTHING themselves. They built their own studio, where they recorded their debut album. They do their own music videos. They run their own merchandise. They do it all. I can only imagine the feeling when after all of this, your debut, INDEPENDENT album skyrockets to #2 on Billboard’s Top Albums chart. Hit this well-crafted documentary by Jabari to get an up-close look at their rise.

The Heist is in stores now.