Mac Miller Pt. 3 : The Conclusion

 

What’s up guys! Finally, we are at the conclusion of the trilogy of me listening to Mac Miller and giving my takes. For this part, we’ll be covering the albums, “GO:OD AM”, “The Divine Feminine”, “Swimming”, and “Circles”. Let’s get right into it.

                The first album I listened to after “Faces” was “GO:OD AM”. To recap on what I thought of Mac’s work before this, it was pretty dark. The topics of drug dependency, identity, and the harsh lifestyle that comes with success were pretty common in Mac’s work up to this point. While it did create a lot of interesting songs, there was a point in “Faces” where I saw a dark side of Mac that worried me. A lot of artists go through up and downs, and that mixtape was very honest on how it showcased Mac’s issues. When I listened to “GO:OD AM” however, things changed. Much like what the album name and intro is alluding to, this album is about Mac’s come up from his fall. He talks about how he was in a bad spot, but his mentality has changed for the better to at least confront what’s causing his problems. The songs in this album showcase this mentality as the beats and sounds sound like the opposite of “Faces”. These songs are jumpier and more energetic compared to the dark, moody sounds I’ve heard for a while from Mac. “Rush Hour” does a great job at proving my point as Mac raps about how the world can’t fix your issues, it’s up to you to confront them. He talks about things like bending time to your will and using every moment to live in a brighter perspective. The eagerness to show his new aspect on life is apparent and this was a great project to listen to.

                The next album is “The Divine Feminine”. This album is special because I personally got a lot out of this work. Much like “GO:OD AM”, the positivity is there, but it’s through the aspects of love and vulnerability. This project is the beginning to a more concrete sound of Mac that we hear in this later albums, and while we did get a taste of it before, Mac’s music here is much cloudier and chill. He’s enjoying the moment as he raps about loving his partner and enjoying all the benefits life has to offer. I loved how Mac chose to sound softer and more vulnerable in this album to showcase the more feminine side of men when they tend to get all “lovey-dovey”. Compared to the typical songs of modern rap that force a sense of masculinity in its lyrics, Mac takes the road not often travelled and in return made me understand how he felt in his relationship. It’s peaceful, it’s calming, and it’s something you feel safe with. I also loved the cover album for this project as it furthers that cloudy vibe and the consistency of the songs in this project was apparent overall.

                After this we get “Swimming”. Now this is what I’d consider the coin flip side of “The Divine Feminine”. In this project, we get a much more candid and sober Mac Miller as he struggles with loneliness, love, drugs, and expectations. The sounds of chill rap and soft lyrics are seen again but used in a different manner. Songs like “Come Back to Earth” furthers this idea of vulnerability, and how someone who looks good on the outside can be troubled on the inside. Mac does a great job at showing his honesty, and his mood on these songs portrays the pain he’s felt in this point of time. “Hurt Feelings” is an uplifting song but the tone on the song shows Mac’s true mood as he’s trying to get better. The idea of ‘it’s easier said than done’ is a quote that applies to this and many other songs like “What’s the Use?”, “Self Care”, “Ladders”, and “2009”. That doesn’t mean that he’s returning to the old Mac we’ve seen in “Faces” and “Watching Movies with the Sound Off”. No, this Mac is much more conscious about his life and knows that no matter how hard life gets, you gotta keep moving. This maturity is easily seen in songs like “Wings”, “Small Worlds”, “Conversation, Pt.1”, and “So It Goes”. Overall, this project was a great example of portraying the problems an individual goes through in life. Mac isn’t resistant to anything due to his fame and reminds me he’s still human like the rest of us. Writing this, it’s a shame knowing that this was his last project he released because I truly believed he was winning the war that was going on inside himself. He seemed more grounded and wasn’t shy of acknowledging the issues he was going through in his life.

                Finally, we get to “Circles”. This is probably the first posthumous album I didn’t mind because the songs in this album sounded like the genuine Mac Miller I heard in “Swimming”. The songs in this project seem to cover the same topics in “Swimming”, but with a more uplifting sound to it. Mac continues to talk about the issues in his life but knows that he’ll succeed at some point. The songs in this album were haunting to me because again, it seemed like Mac knew he was going to beat his internal demons at some point, and it’s an honest shame that I’ll never be able to hear his victory speech.

                This concludes my journey of listening to all of Mac Miller’s work and talking about it. As an artist, Mac Miller showed amazing skill and energy in all of his projects from “K.I.D.S” to “Swimming”. I don’t want to include Circles because he himself wasn’t there to organize and work on that album himself so we’ll just appreciate it as a posthumous album and that’s it. One thing I wanted to acknowledge was the amazing amount of consistency Mac’s songs had in his projects, and how each song helped further the concept Mac tried to create in his work. It was an honor to listen to Mac Miller because I never realized how personal his music sounded. The journey of Mac Miller was one of maturity, and his transformation from the goofy kid to the conscientious figure I saw in “Swimming” just shows how life can change people. I heard Mac sing about his highs and I heard him talk about his lows, and I appreciated his honesty on giving his audience status updates on whether or not he was overcoming the struggles he faced in life. He was an amazing artist, and I think I benefited a lot out of listening to his albums back to back from start to finish. If you are a Mac fan, I’m sure you’ve done this but if you aren’t, I highly recommend taking the time to check this artist out. There’s so much more I can say about him, but I think it’s best to cut it here. If you guys want to talk to me about him, feel free to check out my Twitch or drop your comments under this post. Thank you so much if you are reading this, it means a lot to me. Take care.

 

**ANY MUSIC THAT IS DISCUSSED IN THIS BLOG IS NOT OWNED BY ME AND BELONG TO THE ARTIST AND HIS/HER RECORD LABELS RESPECTIVELY**

 

MY FAVORITE SONGS:

GO:OD AM: Rush Hour, 100 Grandkids, Weekend (ft. Miguel), Clubhouse, In the Bag, Perfect Circle/God Speed, When in Rome, ROS, Cut the Check (ft. Chief Keef), Jump, The Festival (ft. Little Dragon)

The Divine Feminine: Congratulations (ft. Bilal), Dang! (ft. Anderson .Paak), Skin, Cinderella (ft. Ty Dolla $ign), Planet God Damn (ft. Njomza), God Is Fair, Sexy Nasty (ft. Kendrick Lamar)

Swimming: Come Back to Earth, Hurt Feelings, What’s the Use?, Perfecto, Self Care, Ladders, Small Worlds, Conversation, Pt. 1, Jet Fuel, 2009, So It Goes

Circles: Circles, Good News, I Can See, Everybody, Hand Me Downs, That’s On Me