A Macklemore & Ryan Lewis x 'Same Love' appreciation post.

As we count down the days until Macklemore & Ryan Lewis bring their 'This Unruly Mess I've Made' world tour to New Zealand - they're playing Auckland's Vector Arena on Thursday July 28 and at Horncastle Arena in Christchurch on Saturday July 30 - we thought we'd write a little appreciation about Macklemore, and specifically the awareness that they've raised around gay rights.

But first, here's the tour info:

Grammy-Award winning superstars MACKLEMORE & RYAN LEWIS will bringtheir show-stopping THIS UNRULY MESS I'VE MADE world tour presented by Spark Thanks to New Zealand this July for their biggest tour yet!

The duo behind 2015's smash hit 'Downtown' will play Auckland's Vector Arena Thursday July 28 and Horncastle Arena in Christchurch on Saturday July 30.

More than three years after releasing their Grammy-winning debut album The Heist - featuring worldwide smash hits 'Thrift Shop' and 'Same Love' - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis are back with their official sophomore LP, titled This Unruly Mess I've Made, released globally February 26.

The album arrives after the success of the group's comeback single, 'Downtown', that also featured pioneering MCs Kool Moe Dee, Grandmaster Caz and Melle Mel, which they performed at the MTV Video Music Awards last August. This Unruly Mess I've Made also features collaborations with Ed Sheeran ('Growing Up') and Leon Bridges ('Kevin').

In an open letter on his website, Macklemore describes disappearing into the wilderness of America's Pacific North-West to embrace the recording process. “I had to figure out how to use my voice again. So, we went ghost. The Irish Goodbye, into the woods, in the dead of winter. We bought a 1985 Suburban, loaded up some equipment and left town.”

VECTOR ARENA, AUCKLAND - THURSDAY JULY 28
HORNCASTLE ARENA, CHRISTCHURCH - SATURDAY JULY 30

Here are 5 reasons we appreciate Macklemore & Ryan Lewis' song 'Same Love', and the repercussions of it:

#1. Macklemore has a personal connection to the song - though not homosexual himself, several of his family members are, and he has witnessed their experiences of not being able to get married, and living with discrimination. He spoke openly in an interview about this part of his life, watch it below:

#2. The song features the beautiful vocals of Mary Lambert. She said in an interview with the Huffington Post: “I never thought I would hear a song like ['Same Love'] on the radio. I think that's what was so emotional about the whole thing. I knew the implications of what we were going to do.”

#3. The song led to the creation of a music video and remix of the song by a group of Kenyan's called Art Attack. The song follows the same values seen in the original 'Same Love', and the video features home footage of homosexuals living in Kenya. The music video was banned in Kenya, however it helped to further raise awareness for the struggle of those living in Kenya - a heavily homophobic country.

In an interview about the new version of 'Same Love', an unnamed musician said: “I felt the need to do a song about LGBT rights after some of my friends who are gays and lesbians started telling me about the bad things that were experiencing in Kenyan society.  I live in Kenya, and I know how and what life is like for them, so I decided to record a song that will speak positively to the situation. We knew that, obviously, these will not be well appreciated by the larger Kenyan population who kicks against homosexuality, but we needed to do what we have to do. But yes, it was such a huge risk, there has been a lot of controversy especially around the video of the song, because of its erotic content and overall message.”

Watch their rendition of 'Same Love' below…

#4. The song's success has been immense. It was not only nominated for 'Song of the Year' at the Grammy Awards in 2014 (along with their nominations for six other awards), but they performed the song at the awards ceremony along with Madonna. The performance was also a place where Queen Latifah married 33 same-sex and heterosexual couples live on television - a feat that may not have happened without the existence of the song.

Watch the Grammy performance below…

#5. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis also brought Mary Lambert on tour with her around the world, where she got to sing 'Same Love' night after night. She said about the experience: “They were cheering and crying...10,000 people chanting my name. I had kids in rainbow shirts in front, looking at me... I couldn't believe I was part of this thing that meant so much to so many people. All I wanted to do was make sure I was honoring it correctly and being a good representation. I couldn't believe this was my life, especially after the shit show I'd been through. It was really, really gratifying.”

Tickets to the tour are available now, click HERE to purchase Auckland tickets, and HERE for Christchurch tickets.

Watch the 'Kevin' music video below…