Mac Miller was a creative enigma, the likes of which the music world has rarely seen since. Miller was an artist who approached hip-hop in a way that made him stand out from the crowd, it gave him the push to become a teenage rap prodigy and the kind of entrepreneur that guaranteed him a place in history, no matter how tragically short his career may have been. While many artists who emerge at a young age often end up as a flash in the pan, Miller proved himself to be one of the finest wordsmiths of his generation.
His first hip-hop moniker was Easy Mac, and under this name, he released his debut mixtape But My Mackin’ Ain’t Easy in 2007; he was just fifteen and had only been rapping for twelve months, yet the record grabbed the attention of his fellow classmates, a key step in the journey of Miller. A couple of years later, he settled on the name Mac Miller and released his first two mixtapes, The Jukebox: Prelude to Class Clown and The High Life.
Both releases found a much wider audience than his first venture and the two releases saw him receive widespread recognition and truly kickstart his career. it was the beginning of Miller’s reign in party-starting hip-hop bangers.
Throughout his all-too-short-career, Miller released four full-length studio albums during his life and the posthumous Circles, which was greeted with glee by his mourning fans in 2020. Even though his career was cut painfully short, Miller created a canon of songs that will live long in the memories of his fans and will no doubt be passed on to countless generations.
Before his death in 2018, Miller appeared on Go 95.3, which allowed him free reign to play five tracks. The station refreshingly didn’t put any barriers in place and let Mac play whatever he wanted, but he only played one track which wasn’t one of his own. His fans were tuned in to listen to him, so he gave those on the other side of the airwaves what they wanted, and it provides a fascinating insight into which of his own songs mattered the most to him.
Miller shared two collaborations in his picks. First off is the GO:OD AM track ‘Weekend’, which saw him enlist a favour from Miguel. The track gave both men one of their biggest hits and helped bring the artists closer together. Miguel co-headlined the memorial concert for Miller, which was held shortly after his death. ‘Dang!’ is another collaboration that made it on to Miller’s selection of records, which saw him link up with the imitable Anderson .Paak in 2016. Paak also appeared at the memorial concert at The Greek and agreed to perform ‘Dang!’ alongside Mac at the show before his shock passing.
Miller also picked out the stonking songs ‘Diablo’ and ‘Objects in the Mirror’ which hint at the rapper’s appreciation for all of the aspects of his sound. Sadly, the world lost Mac Miller all too soon, however, through his music, we can still celebrate his life.
Mac Miller’s favourite Mac Miller songs:
- ‘Weekend’
- ‘Diablo’
- ‘Dang’
- ‘Objects in the Mirror’
