How did Mac Miller get his rap name?
When Pittsburgh raised Mac Miller burst on the hip-hop scene in the late noughties, he both set and reflected the changing zeitgeist. Youth culture was shifting away from what defined music in the late 90s and early noughties: instead of glamorised, larger-than-life heroes and polished finished products, the hipster-leaning, internet-facing generation had arrived.
Miller became a near instant favourite for his boy-next-door charm and talent that, as just a mere teenager, proved he could hold his own with his older and more experienced contemporaries. This indie rap scene, so associated with college rap and the wider hipster cultural movement, also included the likes of Chiddy Band, Asher Roth, and even Miller’s mentor, Wiz Khalifa.
Naturally, the sideways snapback toting, American Apparel wearing, skateboarding Mac Miller needed a rap name as fun and catchy as his early stuff. Born Malcolm James McCormick, the pressure was on to find something… Not that.
In a 2011 interview with MTV News, Mac discloses exactly how he arrived at Mac Miller. “He’s a 19 year old rap phenomenon from Pittsburgh who enjoys life and enjoys making music every day, and working very hard for everything he gets,” he starts, smiling at the camera.
“My grandpa started calling me Mac when I was born so it stuck,” he continues. “It’s cool. My grandpa was a huge Mac Main fan. It’s a family name, but it does sound really good after Mac. You know? I mean, it’s also my brother’s first name.”
“Q and I were talking on the phone, cos when I went by Easy Mac at the age of 15, we were like, first thing we gotta do is change my name. And we were like, ooo Mac Miller, that sounds cool.” It can be assumed – but not verified – that Mac was referring to Quentin “Q” Cuff, the rapper’s manager, business partner, and close friend.
2011 was the year his debut album, Blue Slide Park, was released after success with mixtapes K.I.D.S and Best Day Ever. Speaking to the size of his already loyal fan base, that was, and the excitement surrounding this new genre of college student-aged, indie rap, Blue Slide Park broke records upon release: it became the first independently distributed debut to top the Billboard 200 in over a decade.
Mac then embarked on a creative career in which his musical evolvement was as exciting to watch as it was brilliant to listen to. Taking on a second alias – the brilliantly named Larry Fisherman – Mac produced for himself and other artists, experimenting with conceptual, atmospheric beat tapes that sound not necessarily a world – but definitively a neighbourhood – away from his original stuff.
He worked with friends including Schoolboy Q, Vince Staples, Earl Sweatshirt, and A-Soul, proving himself as not just a great rapper and lyricist of the scene he had come to define, but a master producer, too. It also proved to be the route into experimentation with genres outside of rap, including jazz, soul, and electronic.
This steady maturity and confidence in his sonic prowess, as well as his trademark confidence in vulnerability, was explored in albums Watching Movies with the Sound Off, GO:OD AM, and his final album, 2016’s The Divine Feminine. As fans will know, Malcolm James McCormick died tragically at the age of 26. Circles was released posthumously in 2020 by his producer Jon Brion as one last celebration of the rapper’s visionary approach to hip-hop.