Marie Bliss

4/27/21
English 9
Mrs. Nield

Mac Miller is often described as a genius lyricist and musician. I would say I agree with this
statement. Mac Miller released his first mixtape (“But My Mackin' Ain't Easy” ) in 2007 under
the stage name Easy Mac. Since then he has released 20 albums/mixtapes, and 28 singles in total.
Mac has gone by 5 different stage names throughout his whole career, Delusional Thomas, Easy
Mac, Larry Fisherman, Larry Lovestein & The Velvet Revival and finally, Mac Miller. In this
essay I will be analyzing many parts of his career including his achievements, his music journey
in general, how his music is so impactful to so many people, how his music has evolved in
meaningful ways and finally, how his death impacted how his music is perceived today.

Mac Miller's mission with his music was to express himself, and through that, connect with
others. According to an interview Mac did with Vulture in 2018 he said “I used to rap super
openly about really dark shit,” he says of that time in his life and artistry and the mark it has left
on the way audiences connect the facts of his life with the themes of his music, “because that’s
what I was experiencing at the time. That’s fine, that’s good, that’s life. It should be all the
emotions.” Mac Miller's topics in his music have differed depending on the album, as each
album represents a different time in his life. His latest albums are the most deep and lyrically
special in my opinion. His album “The Divine Feminine” speaks on love, different kinds of love
and has a very light jazzy vibe. It is light and fun to listen to, but equally as insightful. Then
came his more emotional albums (my personal favorites) “Swimming” and “Circles”, these
albums have touched so many people. “Swimming” is about getting to know yourself,
discovering that you are uncomfortable with who you are but learning to accept it. This album is
about getting better from the dark times and learning how to swim instead of drown. “Circles” is
about falling back into the dark times after believing you were getting better. These albums are
connected and are supposed to be seen as “Swimming in Circles.” Later I will touch on how his
death impacted how these albums are now perceived.

Now that we have looked into what Mac wanted to accomplish with his music, the question
“What did he end up accomplishing?” comes up. Besides winning many awards and having a
very large fan base, taking his death into account, it is hard to say what he accomplished on a
personal level. If you listen to his lyrics closely and connect the dots, it was clear he struggled
with drugs and mental health issues. It is so unfortunate that he was in the public eye and very
few people noticed how much he was struggling before his death. Mac said what nobody else
could, and spoke for so many people through his music. He accomplished reaching so many
people through music and the ability to speak to so many through expressing his emotions. This
is what NPR had to say about it, “What will last longest out of Mac's time on earth is the stuff
that's less visible, way trickier to measure: You can't quantify moral support or predict what
effect boosting somebody's confidence will have, what an artist will do with an open door, what
an audience is going to elicit from a creative mind.”

Mac Miller’s death made his music have a completely new meaning. His discography can now
be seen as chapters in a book about his life, including ups and downs and exploring different
kinds of genres leading up to his last two albums, “Swimming” and “Circles”. Swimming was
released August 3rd, 2018. Mac passed away September 7th, 2018. Circles was released January
17, 2020 (posthumously). Listening to “Circles” for the first time being released after his death
was shocking and hard to process. This album sounds like a parting gift, the words he didn’t get
a chance to talk about and just said with no explanation. The first track on the album titled
“Circles” makes what I am saying make perfect sense.

In conclusion, Mac Miller was an inspiration to so many. His passion for music, along with his
willingness to be so raw and real with his music resulted in so many people feeling validated and
heard. He will forever be missed, but be remembered by the music he left behind. The music
world would not be the same without Mac Miller.

Bibliography:

Bennett, Emma. “Mac Miller's Music Has Deeper Messages than You Think.” Maneater,
themaneater.com/stories/insight/mac-millers-music-has-deeper-messages-than-you-think.

Vulture, Christaan Felber for. “The Perfectionist.” Vulture, 17 Jan. 2020,

www.vulture.com/2018/09/mac-miller-profile.html.

Kelley, Frannie. “What Will Mac Miller's Legacy Be?” NPR, NPR, 5 Nov. 2018,
www.npr.org/2018/11/05/663398174/what-will-mac-millers-legacy-be.

Sitaraman, Vaishalini. “Review: The Evolution of Mac Miller's Music.” The Arizona State
Press, 21 Feb. 2020,
www.statepress.com/article/2020/02/specho-review-the-evolution-of-mac-miller.