Why Mac Miller’s ‘The Divine Feminine’ is the perfect album for a Sunday morning
It’s a summer Sunday morning after a long week of work, and hopefully some needed nights out on the town. It’s gig season, so maybe you’ve even gotten the chance to party with your favourite artist, or are gearing up to in the coming weeks. Nonetheless, it’s time to get out of bed and reset, and we’ve got just the album for it. Mac Miller released The Divine Feminine in 2016, a series of melodic, introspective tracks that make you smile to yourself while they’re playing.
Featuring guest appearances from Kendrick Lamar, Anderson .Paak and former romantic partner Ariana Grande, it’s a nod to his inspiration and influence in diverse corners of hip hop and R&B. The Pittsburgh rapper, who tragically passed away in 2018, is remembered by music he released as well as that put out posthumously, most recently Balloonerism in January this year. However, The Divine Feminine remains one of our primary portals into Miller’s insights on love and relationships.
Despite the album title’s homage to women, you don’t need to be one to enjoy it. However, you do need to both admire us and be open to your own feminine side, as Miller does throughout the poetic prose covering its ten lengthy tracks. In an interview with iHeartRadio, he says the album is his “perspective on love and an adoration towards a female”, which doesn’t sound like an angry breakup song or anything like that.
Once you’ve opened your eyes, Miller’s fourth studio album is best listened to in order. The angelic voices that echo through the beginning of its first track, ‘Congratulations’, sound like a revival, which is exactly how waking up on a Sunday should feel (although let’s be honest, it rarely does). The album is so well-produced that if you close your eyes, you might even feel like you’ve ended up in a church service taking place down the road. The light piano that follows is practically Edvard Grieg’s ‘Morning’ in the hip-hop universe, reinforcing the song’s meditative feel.
Once you’ve fully woken up on the right side of the bed, ‘Dang!’ featuring Anderson .Paak will get you on your feet. Its bouncy, electric guitar-driven beat is perfect for clearing up last night’s dishes interrupted by a little boogie in the kitchen, so much so that its soulfully delivered loose internal rhymes might go right over your head. And there’s no rush with the chores- ‘Stay’ will continue to lift your spirits for an extra six minutes.
‘Skin’ and ‘Cinderella’ are the perfect songs to get ready to once you can take that step. The former, whose darker instrumental and sensual lyrics invoke The Weeknd we knew around the same time period, should make anyone feel sexy. The latter, in which Miller sings his praises to Grande, will make you believe in love again, as its captivating beat makes its playful, cheeky bars by both Miller and Ty Dolla $ign fit for the club.
The stretch of the album’s second half, marked by features from NJOMZA and CeeLo Green, can backdrop wherever your morning takes you next, whether it’s reading a book or setting yourself up for the week ahead. If you like Kota the Friend’s ‘Colorado’ or Travis Scott’s ‘Coffee Bean’ ‘Planet God Damn’’s simple beat comprised of just a few notes will transport you right back to the late 2010s, while ‘We’’s overlay of Miller’s voice in the background lets you appreciate his unique sound, emblematic of older songs like ‘Thoughts from a Balcony’ and ‘The Question’ on Macadelic.
If you can make it out of the house for a walk, ‘My Favourite Part’ featuring Grande herself will slap on those rose-tinted glasses as in the nonchalant romantic duet, the two reassure each other and discourage rushing into anything too fast. Grande’s heavenly vocals will make you feel like you’re floating as you skip down the street, and effortlessly complement Miller’s short, sung notes.
The album’s optimistic close is solidified by Miller’s last-minute collaboration with Lamar in ‘God Is Fair, Sexy Nasty’, whose ethereal sound comes to a close with a recorded anecdote by Miller’s own grandmother. As she recounts her experience of learning to mutually respect and anticipate her husband’s feelings, the album ends on a soft and sentimental note, reinstating the reflective one on which it opened. No matter your energy level, The Divine Feminine will make you reflect, dance and admire both yourselves and others as you start a new week.