In March, it was the Internet’s delight to discover that Macklemore owns a naked oil paining of Justin Bieber with a syrup-drenched pancake draped over his erect — ahem — silverware. The piece hangs in the rapper’s studio apparently, but we never knew why until now.
Macklemore told TMZ, joking at first, “It’s an investment piece. I think that that painting is going to be worth a lot of money. I search eBay and Etsy for fine pieces of art. It cost me about $20, I’m pretty sure that the minute that the Justin Bieber album went No. 1, I’m pretty sure that painting went to about $30, $33. Do the math, man.”
The rapper then revealed he actually bought the piece as a white elephant gift but the person left it at his studio — that’s the actual story.
But does it inspire him to make better music? “Probably not,” he replied.