365 – New Music Daily

To preface this review – a few Mac Miller albums could have occupied this spot – and some things that I write about this album can certainly apply to other Mac Miller projects.

I recently wrote a Thriller review detailing how it was simply impossible to fully understand the importance of Michael Jackson to people that grew up with him and his stardom. It may be obvious to state, but this works both ways. Generational gaps will make it difficult to feel the same level of connection with artists. That doesn’t mean that it can’t be appreciated and loved deeply, but it’s simply not the same. Stevie Wonder is arguably my favorite artist of all time, but I understand how someone that grew up when Stevie was up and coming can have a deeper connection with his music than I, especially when the discography continues to expand and expand over time – something that Mac Miller was tragically deprived of.

I say this in an attempt to contextualize the connection that I felt with Mac Miller. It’s not just that his music was a soundtrack, or even a companion, to middle, high school and even early college, but we seemed to be on parallel tracks of maturity – me with my own growing up, and his music maturing sonically and lyrically. As I grew up, I had music from Mac that seemed to fit each stage of my life. Everything culminated with his last album before death – Swimming – an album that this could easily be written about, the soundtrack to his amazing Tiny Desk, and one that is still very difficult for me to listen to, especially the beautiful intro that is Come Back to Earth. It was his most mature effort, with amazing beats, concepts, all of the above (he was an under the radar rapper-producer, for those that don’t know).

I remember watching his Tiny Desk in my sophomore year college dorm, rewinding the Thundercat bass riffs and being captivated by the moving 2009 rendition. Mac was always one of my favorite artists, for many reasons (including this album which yes, motherfucker, I’ll get to), and now it was being more and more solidified. The next day was the club fair at my college, I checked it out with two of my friends, and received a text from a friend saying Mac died. I couldn’t comprehend that Mac Miller could’ve died and assumed it was Mac from Always Sunny. I googled. It was clarified. My stomach and heart sank. I rarely am sad from celebrity deaths – but this one hit me.

I had just watched a video of him laughing and performing with his friends. He had just dropped an album that was filled with symbology of getting through hard times. This couldn’t be. But it was. The finality of it all quickly kicked in, the sadness, and sat with me for days. I didn’t just feel like I was grieving one of my favorite artists dying – I felt like I was grieving someone I knew. Someone I had a deep connection with, and above all, someone that shouldn’t have had this happen to them at 26.

His death is still very saddening to me as of this writing – and I can’t imagine what it was like for family and friends. It has lead me to still not listen to his posthumous album Circles, though I plan to soon, although that topic is a bit controversial (understandably).

Eventually diving back into his music, the album Faces was filled with nostalgia for me. It reminded me of late high school, smoking with friends, working through my own struggles, good and bad times all reflected positively through this album. It reminds me of the mixtape era of music, illegally downloading mp3s onto my iTunes, and even figuring out how to get them onto Spotify.

It allowed me to enjoy stuff that people would maybe find stranger, or I would be reluctant to accept due to the concern people might think I’m weird. Which, if you know me know, is insane to think about. Sir Michael Rocks verse on “What Do You Do” put me onto Eric Andre. I learned all the words to a sketch in Meatballs without knowing that it was from a movie, or said by Bill Murray. It felt like a combination of everything that made Mac great thus far, and the new things that he would build on to create his next few albums.

The album is filled with original ideas and seriously amazing lyricism, though very dark. Sometimes very troubling. Mac’s writing is filled with so much creativity but also grim lyrics. Two from one of the best songs, which showcases both his amazing lyrical ability as well as some of the beautiful harmonic vocals he could create, “Funeral”:

Doin’ drugs is just a war with boredom and it’s sure to get me

A shame that my tragedy my masterpiece, yeah

Simultaneously incredible and tragic – especially the second line. Mac Miller fans often clamored for the music he made while on drugs, something even more disturbing to clamor for when he eventually ended up passing away from a drug overdose (fuck Fentanyl). This album is still a tough listen as lines like this are interspersed throughout that ended up serving as foreshadowing a tragic end to an amazing life. Newer Mac Miller fans may have missed this one as it was only added to Spotify in the last few years. This album showcases his talents, how much he loved life, and is absolutely worth checking out.

Even watching the (below linked) Tiny Desk is hard to watch – but it is also a reminder of the fragility of life, as well as the inevitability and unpredictability of mortality. I watch this Tiny Desk when I’m sad, and of course, it bums me out, but it also reminds me that life is short. I have to enjoy every moment as much as possible, because not only do I never know when it will be my last personally, but also for all of those that I love and care about. A principle that I try to take with me every day.

If you read anything about Mac Miller, everyone who met him loved him. He had many friends in the music industry, and one can only imagine, outside of it as well. With his passing, we lost one of the most talented people in the newest generation of artists, and also an amazing individual. RIP Mac.