Mac Miller Pt. 2 : The Dark Side

 

                Good evening boys and gals, this is part 2 of my experience listening to Mac Miller. Today we’ll be talking about another 3 projects of his, them being “Macadelic”, “Watching Movies with the Sound Off”, and “Faces”. These projects are definitely different from what I got from Mac’s work in the previous blog post so this will be interesting to get into.

                The first project we’ll talk about is a mixtape that came after “Blue Slide Park”, “Macadelic”. This mixtape is definitely a segway from the innocent rapper feel we got from Mac’s projects before. It starts off with a different bang with a rap that already sounds like a much more grown Mac Miller. The content of this project is interesting as we see him go ham on crazy beats to talk about the success he’s attaining at this point in life. The concept of this mixtape seems to take form of a simulation as we go through Mac’s state of mind at that point of time. The shift in character and lyrical content shows again the versatility this young rapper had at this point, showing it through the use of features from other respective artists. Examples of this that I enjoyed were ‘Fight the Feeling’ with Kendrick Lamar and Iman Omari, ‘Lucky Ass Bitch’ with Juicy J, ‘Ignorant’ with Cam’ron, and ‘The Question’ with Lil Wayne. The energy of this mixtape was fun, and great example of what a hype mixtape should sound like.

                The second project that I listened to was his second studio album, “Watching Movies with the Sound Off.” This album definitely took a darker vibe compared to his first album because unlike “Blue Slide Park”, this isn’t about his inspirations and dreams as a rapper. This is the other side of the coin as we start looking into the darker sides of Mac that goes over identity and how success and fame can skew that personal image of yourself. Songs like S.D.S go over this topic well as we hear lines like “I’m underwater in my dreams”. There’s also a conversation of social constructions where Mac questions concepts like god and human behavior alongside success. This album feels like Mac’s attempt at conquering his personal issues as this album felt like a journey that invites interesting yet harsh self-critique. Mac admits that this is hard, making this process be something that can potentially numb you, making you feel like you’re watching movies with the sound off. This album could be a great one to listen to today with our current circumstances with COVID and the well-known feelings of isolation and confusion. This was a really fun project, and honestly my favorite so far as I heard tracks that I personally related to as another person going through life.

                Finally, I listened to the “Faces” mixtape that follows this album. Many considered this mixtape as Mac’s opus magnum as the concepts covered in this project are furthered from “Watching Movies with the Sound Off”. The concept of this project is deep, having it be about our personas as we partake in activities such as taking drugs, attaining wealth, and dealing with love. There are moments in life that change who we are as individuals, creating new faces as we move on in life. I thought this was a fun concept to delve into, and I appreciate the honestly that comes out of this project with Mac. When it comes to the music itself, the production of this project was amazing as I heard a beautiful blend between rap and jazz. I believe the usage of jazz was important to furthering the concept of this project because like jazz music itself, life can be messy and random. By having jazz beats in the songs, we can hear how Mac dances around it as he tells us his issues and worries as an individual. Songs like Malibu do a great job of showing the relationship between the music and rapper as Mac uses the sounds to enhance his written material, similar to how a movie does it. Overall, this was a really great project and I can understand where people come from when they say this was probably one of his best projects. I personally enjoyed this project and hold it in high regard, wondering if the next couple of albums can match this.

**None of this music that I talk about is mine and belong to the artist and his/her label respectively**

 

MY FAVORITE SONGS:

Macadelic: Desperado, Loud, Thoughts from a Balcony, Aliens Fighting Robots, Fight the Feeling, Lucky Ass Bitch, Ignorant, The Question, Angels

Watching Movies with the Sound Off: The Star Room, Avian, I Am Who Am (Killin’ Time), Objects in the Mirror, Red Dot Music, Gees, Watching Movies, REMember

Faces: Angel Dust, Happy Birthday, Wedding, Funeral, Diablo, Ave Maria, San Francisco, Colors and Shapes, Insomniak, Rain, Apparition, New Faces V2