Macklemore: 'Kendrick Lamar deserved to win'

MACKLEMORE may have won four Grammys on Sunday night but he felt like a thief and texted Kendrick Lamar to say that he deserved to win.

MACKLEMORE may have won four Grammys on Sunday night but he felt like a thief and texted Kendrick Lamar to say that he deserved to win.

"You got robbed," the text read. "I wanted you to win. You should have. It’s weird."

"I robbed you." he wrote after winning best rap album and beating out not only Kendrick Lamar, but rapping royalty, including Jay-Z, Kanye West and Drake.

Macklemore then posted the text to Instagram, hinting that he understands his unusual position in the rap and hip hop world usually dominated by black stars.

While Macklemore & Ryan Lewis picked up four awards, including best new artist and in three rap categories (best performance and best song for Thrift Shop and best album for The Heist), West, whose Yeezus album has enjoyed both commercial and critical success and has been lauded as the album of the year by many reviewers, left empty handed.

Last week The Associated Press reported that the two were almost eliminated from competition in the rap categories by subcommittee members who felt they were too poppy.

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis's near clean-sweep of the awards was perhaps the biggest surprise of the night.

Although maybe it shouldn't have been such a surprise. The two were honoured as Billboard magazine's top rap act for 2013. They also beat out Kanye West and Jay Z in the best group category at the BET Awards.

Macklemore performed Same Love at Sunday's awards, accompanied by Mary Lambert and Madonna as the soundtrack to 33 weddings, gay and straight, over which Queen Latifah officiated.

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis missed out on the last major award for album of the year, with French electronic musicians Daft Punk taking the honour for Random Access Memories.

However, even Daft Punk was impressed by the pair, with collaborator Paul Williams spending as much time praising Macklemore and Lewis' Same Love performance as he did talking about the win.

"All that love is fantastic," he said.