| Mac Miller | |
|---|---|
 | |
|
Birth name |
Malcolm James McCormick |
|
Also known as |
Larry Fisherman, Delusional Thomas, Larry Lovestein, The Velvet Revival |
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Born |
January 19, 1992 |
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Died |
September 7, 2018 (aged 26) |
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Genre |
|
|
Occupation |
Rapper, record producer |
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Years active |
2007-2018 |
|
Label |
Rostrum Records (2010-2014) |
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Associated Acts |
Ab-Soul, Beedie, Casey Veggies, Domo Genesis, Earl Sweatshirt, ScHoolboy Q, Vince Staples, Pharrell Williams, Wiz Khalifa |
Malcolm James McCormick (January 19, 1992 – September 7, 2018), known professionally as Mac Miller, was an American rapper and record producer. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Miller began his career in the city's hip hop scene in 2007, at the age of fifteen. In 2010, he signed a record deal with Pittsburgh-based independent label Rostrum Records, with whom he had his breakthrough with the mixtapes K.I.D.S. (2010) and Best Day Ever (2011).
Miller's debut studio album, Blue Slide Park (2011), reached number-one on the US Billboard 200, the first independently distributed album to top the chart since 1995. The title of album was in reference to a section of Frick Park (also known as "Blue Slide Park") in Pittsburgh, close to where Miller lived at the time. Although receiving great commercial success, Blue Slide Park had mixed reviews amongst critics with Jordan Sargent of Pitchfork infamously giving the album a 1.0 rating out of 10. This would later lead Miller into greater substance abuse that reflected in his future musical projects.
After moving to LA, Miller would release his seventh mixtape Macadelic in 2012. The mixtape was a turning point for Miller as he decided to make music he wanted to make, indicated in the contrasting lyrical content and subject to his earlier works. As opposed to Blue Slide Park, the mixtape contains various different cosigns and guest features. In 2013, Miller founded his own record label imprint, REMember Music. During this time, the reality documentary TV show Mac Miller and the Most Dope Family (2012-2014) aired on television for two seasons. Miller ended the production after the second season, saying it was 'too much' to balance a busy tour schedule with the show. He had also stated that he'd get angered when people would recognize him for his role in the TV show rather than him as a musical artist.
Following Macadelic, his second studio album, Watching Movies with the Sound Off (2013), was released under Rostrum Records. Continuing the changes in his lyrical themes and sounds established from Macadelic, Miller describes the album as very personal and introspective. The album's title is derived from his tendency of making music while watching movies on mute. He estimates that he recorded over four hundred songs during the making of this album. It was also the first project where he self-produced a large majority of it under his Larry Fisherman alias, since he was self-conscious of his skills on the production. He also served as a record producer for other various artists under the same pseudonym.
As his eleventh and final mixtape, Miller independently released Faces (2014) on May 11, 2014, as a follow-up to his second studio album. It is often regarded by many to be his magnum opus for his personal exploration of his drug abuse and dark headspace. As a contradiction to the heavy lyrical themes, Miller created more psychedelic and jazzy instrumentals throughout the production. Though, this was not the first time he explored making music rooted in jazz. He had previously released a jazz EP named You under the alias of Larry Lovestein, in 2012. Faces has since then gained a cult status amongst rap fans as one of the greatest mixtapes ever made, especially during the mixtape boom of the early 2010s.
After Watching Movies with the Sound Off, he left Rostrum and signed with the major label Warner Bros. Records in October 2014. With them, he released three studio albums: GO:OD AM (2015), The Divine Feminine (2016), and Swimming (2018).
Despite his worsening drug abuse and depression, with the help of American producer Rick Rubin he managed to stay sober more often and for longer periods. Miller focused on stabilizing himself during this time, and it reflected in his third studio album GO:OD AM. As a departure to the dark and depressing themes within Faces, Miller stated he wanted this album to feel like "a breath of fresh air." After completing this album, he began work on his next studio album, having great desires to explore the emotion of love in his music. This desire manifested into The Divine Feminine, his fourth studio album, a project he describes not just about romantic love, but also the experiences he's had with women throughout his life and what it meant to him. Before the album's release, he began dating singer Ariana Grande, who is the subject of the track "Cinderella."
The themes explored in his next album, Swimming, was different to all those in his previous works. Focusing on self-love and healing, both mentally and emotionally, the album was met with positive critical reviews. Many critics commended the work as his most impactful one yet, and often remarked about Miller's musical journey from his beginnings in "frat rap" to his nuanced narrative and growth presented in Swimming. For this album, he was posthumously nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rap Album.
Miller struggled with substance abuse, which was often referenced in his lyrics. On September 7, 2018, Miller was found unresponsive in his home and later pronounced dead from a suspected drug overdose.
Before his death, he was in the works of making another studio album that would be a companion album to Swimming (2018), the intended concept being "swimming in circles." The project was completed by Jon Brion, who had co-produced several tracks on the former of the two companion albums. These two albums were meant to be the first two installments in a trilogy of albums, where the third would've been oriented on purely hip-hop.
Circles was posthumously released on January 17, 2020, by REMemeber Music and Warner Records. This would be Miller's sixth and final studio album, which received great critical acclaim with it debuting at number three on the US Billboard 200.
Discography[]
Studio albums[]
- 2011: Blue Slide Park
- 2013: Watching Movies with the Sound Off
- 2015: GO:OD AM
- 2016: The Divine Feminine
- 2018: Swimming
- 2020: Circles