Credit: Brick Stowell

The tragic story of Mac Miller is undercut by his generally positive outlook on life. The rapper, who found fame amid a flurry of mixtapes—most notably influenced by the works of rock bands—sadly lost his life following a drug overdose in 2018 at the tender age of 26. However, his positivity is one thing his fans adored.

Miller was a creative tour de force who shot to fame as a teenage prodigy. The rapper lived up to the initial hype before blossoming into one of the most talented lyricists of his generation. This footage of him freestyling as a teen shows that Mac was no ordinary talent. It promised a startlingly bright future.

Things got moving for the rapper quickly. He first started releasing music as Easy Mac while he was a teenager, and his debut mixtape, But My Mackin’ Ain’t Easy, arrived in 2007 under this moniker when he was just 15. Staggeringly, at this point, Miller had only been rapping for 12 months, and only two years later, his first two mixtapes arrived as Mac Miller.

What set these Miller mixtapes apart from the rest of the hip-hop set was his noted appreciation of rock music. While many of his contemporaries would rarely confess to liking an alternative music group, miller made it a clear part of his philosophy. He thought that the right music at the right time could be a perfect match, no matter the genre.

It meant that when speaking with Complex about some of his favourite records, he routinely looked back to the classics of the 20th century for inspiration. He picks out Prince’s Controversy, The Beatles 1967 hit Sgt Pepper and even the more melancholic Either/Or from Elliot Smith, about which he said: “That represents my young depressed music when I was a sad little kid. The happiest little kids are the saddest little kids when they’re alone. [Laughs.] Elliott Smith is a genius. He’s incredible, but he’s just very sad.”

However, Miller also had an antidote for the blues. He believed that if you were ever feeling sad, then Bob Marley and his album Legend was a place to source happiness. “Bob Marley makes me happy. I realised, if you’re ever sad [just play Bob Marley.]”

“Like this one time,” he continued, “when I was in Las Vegas, we were going crazy with the Molly and then having a horrible come down. It was really bad, postpartum depression. Bob Marley saved everyone’s life. It was eight in the morning and everyone in the whole hotel room was dancing, singing Bob Marley together.”

The tragic story of Mac Miller is not without its tears. However, his fans can take solace in the music he left behind, just as Miller did with Bob Marley.