Mac Miller: new millennium’s Frank Sinatra
Who would have thought the next big hip-hop artist would be Malcolm McCormick, a Caucasian, Jewish, 19-year-old kid from Pittsburgh? McCormick, better known by his stage name, Mac Miller, has believed it all along.
Since getting serious about his hip-hop career at age 15, Miller has not looked back, releasing five mixtapes, which are all celebrated on DatPiff.com for their amount of downloads. DatPiff.com is considered “the authority for free mixtapes” and is used to leak new material by most hip-hop artists.
Miller made a connection with the Taylor Gang General, Wiz Khalifa, who went to the same high school as Miller.
That connection would help Miller to sign with Rostrum Records. Rostrum would then help him to release one of his most celebrated mixtapes, “K.I.D.S : Kicking Incredibly Dope Sh** .”
Miller became associated with Taylor Gang early on, but he still holds down his own crew, which he refers to as Most Dope in many of his songs, as well as videos when he throws the “thumbs up” in the air.
The guys that make up Most Dope can be seen in most of Miller’s music videos, and some of them actually contribute to Miller’s music and live performances. In one of the released singles off his debut album, Miller raps, “Most Dope is my family.”
After releasing “K.I.D.S,” Miller did not wait long to release his next mixtape, “Best Day Ever.” That mixtape would be his most celebrated, accumulating 738,742 downloads so far.
Mac Miller is not restricted to just musical genius; he and his Most Dope crew are also no strangers to business schemes.
In a very humorous YouTube video, set in ID Labs on July 5, Miller announced his debut album title, “Blue Slide Park,” which is a homage to Frick Park, the largest municipal park in Pittsburg, known to the locals as Blue Slide Park.
Since then, buzz has only grown.
According to MTV.com, in late September Miller announced that, if the album received 25,000 preorders, he would release its title track. That’s not all, though. If the preorders get to 50,000, Miller will donate 50,000 dollars to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
It doesn’t stop there. If the album receives 100,000 preorders, then the whole record will be released early.
“I want to get my fans my album,” Miller said to MTV. “We have a date, Nov. 8. “Blue Slide Park,” it’s coming out, but I would love it if we could get it out earlier.”
Miller has already released four songs off the album, three of them (“Frick Park Market,” “Smile Back” and “Party at Fifth Ave”) accompanied with their official music videos. You can see Miller’s humor on “Party at Fifth Ave” as he and his Most Dope Crew dress like old men throughout the video.
Not only is Miller trying to get his album out early for fans and releasing music videos, but he also released a new mixtape, “I Love Life, Thank You,” in the midst of all this. I believe it’s safe to say that Mac Miller loves his fans.
“I Love Life, Thank You” instantly became a celebrated mixtape on DatPiff.com, getting over 50,000 downloads since its release on Oct. 14.
An old-school, jazzy style can be heard on the second track, “People Under the Stairs.”
Track eight, “Family First,” tells the story of Mac’s adaptation to fame: “It’s hard when I can’t even find the time to call my mom / and she thinks I’m going Hollywood / I guess she probably should / It seems like people see the bad and don’t acknowledge good.” This mixtape was definitely a reflection of themes like the one found in “Family First.”
Miller’s music seems to take his new-school vibe and incorporate an old-school style that could be compared to Camp Lo or even the early Will Smith, known back then as The Fresh Prince.
Miller’s debut album is due out Nov. 8, but if preorders grow to 100,000, we will all get an early release. So go to iTunes now, and preorder “Blue Slide Park.”