Macklemore’s new song ‘Growing Up’ is a cuddly bit of calculation

Surely you wouldn’t diss a doting new dad, would you?

That’s the question that seems to animate “Growing Up (Sloane’s Song),� a deeply sensitive ditty from Macklemore & Ryan Lewis that appeared online Wednesday. The Seattle hip-hop duo’s first new music since their Grammy-winning 2012 album “The Heist,� the song addresses Macklemore’s two-month-old daughter, whom he assures he’ll do his best to raise even as he attends to the demands of his career.

“Don’t wanna be a dad that’s living in FaceTime,� he raps over a low-slung soul-rock groove, “But I got a world to sing to and you at the same time.�

It’s all very cute, especially when Ed Sheeran drops in to belt a chorus about how “you’ll wrap your fingers around my thumb.�

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But given the controversy that surrounded Macklemore’s success -- the complicated questions about cultural appropriation and white privilege -- “Growing Up� also feels like a calculated strategic move, one meant to soften Mackmore’s image and preempt more criticism before he and Lewis return with their follow-up to “The Heist.� (Think of the widely adored Sheeran as a human shield.)

In a statement, Macklemore said “Growing Up�-- which goes on to recommend the work of Langston Hughes and Sam Cooke to little Sloane -- was “the right song to re-emerge with� because it reflects “where I’ve been the last year, through all the ups and downs.�

Yet the statement also insists that the track “is NOT an official lead single� from the duo’s next album, but rather “a personal moment of expression� intended for their fans.

Well, maybe. To my ears, though, “Growing Up� is clearly meant for the haters.

Twitter: @mikaelwood

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