Macklemore to Play at Halftime of NFC Championship

Seattle-based wordsmith Macklemore and beat maker Ryan Lewis are set to perform during halftime of the Seahawks NFC Championship game against the San Francisco 49ers this Sunday at CenturyLink Field.

Macklemore is a familiar face on the sideline at the Seattle sports venue, making an appearance just last week during the team’s divisional round playoff game against the New Orleans Saints. But now he’ll take to the field to perform on the same turf where his hometown Seahawks will battle for the right to represent the NFC in Super Bowl XLVIII.

The hip-hop duo has expressed an affinity for the Seahawks and Seattle sports that is often portrayed in their unique sound. The music video for White Walls shows Macklemore donning a No. 96 Cortez Kennedy jersey while entertaining on top of the iconic Dick’s Drive-In in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood – where Macklemore grew up. Their 2010 release My Oh My paid tribute to the late Seattle Mariners broadcaster Dave Niehaus. The crowd-hopping anthem Can’t Hold Us can be heard after every Seahawks touchdown at CenturyLink Field. And they joined the Pete Carroll-driven effort We Day Seattle as surprise performers last March. Macklemore also raised the 12th Man flag with other area musicians at the Space Needle prior to the the Seahawks’ playoff run last season.

Their album The Heist saw unprecedented success after its independent-release in 2012, reaching platinum status (more than 1,000,000 copies sold) that next year with no commercial support. The recording is up for Album of the Year at the 2014 Grammy Awards set to take place later this month, where the pair is also scheduled to perform.

On top of Album of the Year, the duo’s success with The Heist has them up for awards in six more categories, including Best New Artist, Best Rap Album (The Heist), Song of the Year (Same Love), Best Rap Performance (Thrift Shop), Best Rap Song (Thrift Shop), and Best Music Video (Can’t Hold Us). The 56th annual ceremony gets started at 5 p.m. PT on Sunday, Jan. 26.