The artist Mac Miller called “one of the most special people in the world”
The late Pittsburgh emcee Mac Miller was a great talent and after eight years in the spotlight, by the time of his death in 2018, he had quite the discography. Whether it’s his early mixtapes or his later albums, his bodies of work are loved by fans and critics alike.
However, Miller’s sound evolved over time, and his love for other artists didn’t stop when he became a public figure. The Blue Side Park creator was always willing to share his inspirations and let it be known who he thought were the best MCs and which projects were the most important to him as an artist.
That said, in 2013, Mac Miller unveiled some of the albums that not only made him fall in love with hip-hop but the bodies of work that kept him driven during his career and among some of the names he mentioned were old-school legends such as A Tribe Called Quest, Wu-Tang Clan and Big L. But one of the more contemporary projects that Miller named was Apocalypse.
The ‘Fifth Ave’ rhymer named the 2013 album by Thundercat as one of his favourites, and during the interview, he unveiled that he loved the energy that was coming out of the West Coast during the early 2010s with people such as Kendrick Lamar and Nipsey Hussle.
Speaking about his love for the LA-based rapper and Apocalypse, Miller stated, “It’s incredible. I love Thundercat bro, I think he’s like one of the most special people in the world. Everyone should listen to him.”
Miller unveiled that the two had become friends on a personal level and that their friendship fuelled his affinity for him as an artist even more, detailing, “The energy he brings is important. [I’ve gotten to know him.] He’s my homie.”
Unlike many artists on the East Coast at the time, during the early 2010s, LA artists were very much supporting each other and the creative energy in California was undeniably superior. From Nipsey Hussle to Odd Future and Westside Boogie, the albums coming from the West Coast were unbelievable.
Speaking about the love California MCs were showing each other during that period, Miller explained, “Everyone [in LA is] just supporting each other. Everyone is kind of like on the verge, It would be so tight to me if all of us were just the only things that mattered. I really think that nothing else would even matter. No offence to anybody.”
Apocalypse was released only a year after Kendrick Lamar’s groundbreaking major label debut, Good Kid, m.A.A.d City, and Thundercat even appeared as a featured artist and producer on Kenrick’s sophomore album To Pimp A Butterfly, considered one of his best projects.