2012 might have been the year of the dragon but for hip hop head’s nationwide it has been the year of Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. The Seattle based rapper/producer duo have been turning heads all year with their unique sound, heavy beats and oh yeah their Pro Gay lyrics.

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis are heterosexual but welcome being advocates for marriage equality for gay men and woman. Most of their pro gay lyrics are inspired by Macklemore’s childhood where he witnessed his uncles being in a loving, gay relationship. In their newest video “Same Love” they tell a heart wrenching  story of a young man’s internal battle to come out of the closet to his family and the world.

This open minded philosophy is extremely rare in the hip hop community causing some to question their talent and sexuality. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis quickly silenced the haters after being  included in XXL’s  magazine’s “freshmen class of 2012″. They followed up with a knockout blow when they released the quirky video for the track “Thrift Store” .

It was just announced through the duo’s website that their independently recorded album “The Heist” will be released on October 9th.

For those of you who can’t wait till the 9th to cop the EP you can stream the whole album for FREE via NPR.com