Rest In Paradise King
Intro
If you listen to music, you know who Mac Miller was. If you watch TV or keep up with the latest news about celebrities, you know who Mac Miller was. The man dominated YouTube, dated Ariana Grande, could flow with the best of them on the mic and truly was a genius with the pen. But, do you really know his story? Either way, we got you. Stop what you’re doing and enjoy this story of the come up of one of the most dope rappers of our generation.
How it all started
Mac Miller was always a huge fan of rap and had dreams of being a top dog since he was old enough to dream of his future. Mac was the guy who would be spitting freestyles on the back of the bus after school, the guy writing lyrics during his math lecture, the guy who was constantly working on his craft and not worrying what his naysayers were saying. And, he had plenty of naysayers. There were people who told him he didn’t have it, he was too white to be a rapper and he’d never make it big. Those people never stopped the Pittsburgh rapper from Kickin Incredibly Dope Shit. No, literally. In 2010 at the young age of 18 he dropped his first two mixtapes, K.I.D.S. (standing for Kickin Incredibly Dope Shit) and The Best Day Ever. These two projects both broke the internet and were full of college party anthems and effectively created the subgenre of rap that we all know as Frat rap. It was impossible to go to a party and not hear Knock Knock or Donald Trump, which of course are still anthems today. Mac was the most exciting young artist coming up and had a lot of momentum from his mixtapes into his first ever studio album titled Blue Slide Park. To prove to you just how big this young artist had become thanks to Frat Rap blowing up, Blue Slide Park was widely criticized and still debuted at number one on the charts. Though the record was mostly forgettable, Mac’s spot in the rap game was surely solidified and he now had a chance to have a huge glow up as an artist. Naturally, Mac did exactly that and kicked his work load into overdrive.
The Glow Up
Following the harsh reviews of his debut, Mac worked his ass off to improve. In 2012, we saw this first glimpse of improvement with his mixtape Macadellic. The mixtape explored a different theme and even a bit of a different sound while Mac still possessed his youthful and fun personality. He started to veer away from the party music to begin his progress in growing to become the artist he knew he could be. Since that release, Mac never missed. Watching Movies with the Sound Off, Live From Space, Go:od AM, The Divine Feminine, Swimming, and Circles were all the releases to follow and all are widely loved. Mac was able to showcase his growth in lyricism, flowing on a beat, and self-reflection. To drop masterpiece after masterpiece without missing a beat is so hard to do in the rap game, and he did just that. The kid with a dream turned into an outstanding artist who surely would have had a spot in the rap game as long as the game wanted him in it. He was on the path to becoming one of the artists with the most longevity in our generation. Unfortunately, this period of glowing up to become one of the best was also a period of great struggling for Mac. You can hear this in some of his lyrics. Miller fell victim to addiction, and it really just goes to show that you can have all the money and success in the world and still not be happy.
We Miss You King
Unfortunately, at the young age of 26 we lost Mac. Though he may be gone, he will forever live on through his music. Mac’s music will always be there to remind us that life is short and we need to enjoy it while we can. You only live once, but if you do it right once is enough. Mac reminds us to shoot our shot with that girl, to go out and party with your friends, to not be afraid to mess up and learn from it. It was a hell of a ride watching him start from the bottom, create a whole subgenre of rap, and become one of the premier artists in the rap game. From all fans of rap, we miss you king.
Hear the Growth Yourself
For you to take a short ride through his career and his path of growth, Cade’s favorite song from each Mac Miller project available on Spotify and Apple Music is below so you can listen in order and hear for yourself the growth in lyricism and just rapping in general.
K.I.D.S.: Knock Knock
The Best Day Ever: Donald Trump
Blue Slide Park: Up All Night
Macadellic: Fight the Feeling (feat. Kendrick Lamar and Iman Omari)
Watching Movies with the Sound Off: S.D.S.
Live From Space: Earth (feat. Future)
Go:od AM: Weekend (feat. Miguel)
The Divine Feminine: Dang! (feat. Anderson .Paak)
Swimming: Ladders
Circles: Good News