The song Mac Miller called “real meaningful to me”
The late rapper Mac Miller was an extremely prevalent figure in hip-hop before his passing. As one of the most prominent white emcees in the culture, his music was undeniably fantastic, and his songs were full of positivity and good vibes. However, there was one song in particular that Miller highlighted as “real meaning ful to me”.
Mac Miller was a rapper of the 2010s and rose to fame in the early 2010s. While this period saw an influx of young black and Latino creatives rise out of Harlem in New York, a strange surge in talent came out of Pennsylvania’s Pittsburgh. Miller, akin to Wiz Khalifa, was signed to Rostrum Records, and on this label, he acquired quite a cult following.
Miller had a natural rise to fame in his hometown and, unlike other artists, didn’t feel the need to relocate. In 2008, the ‘Party On Fifth Ave’ act began to immerse himself in the Pittsburgh hip-hop scene. The musician performed at open mic nights and created several demos. Through networking and collaborating with other up-and-coming individuals around Pittsburgh, by 2010, Miller was signing with the independent record label Rostrum Records.
By this point, Rostrum Records had been home to Wiz Khalifa for several years. Furthermore, they had successfully crossed him into the mainstream. That said, Mac Miller became the label’s next prodigy. Aged 18, Miller released a series of breakthrough mixtapes, K.I.D.S and Best Day Ever.
Prior to these two mixtapes, Miller had already recorded and released three. However, with the facilities and producers of Rostrum, he ascended to new heights. But My Mackin’ Ain’t Easy, The Jukebox: Prelude to Class Clown and The High Life all performed exceptionally well on the mixtape-sharing website DatPiff.
With Miller’s music travelling over state borders and capturing the musical consciousness of teens across America, Miller had droves of fans. Now they were waiting for an album.
In 2011, the late rapper released his debut album Blue Side Park. Following this, to sure up his support, Miller released his iconic mixtape, Macadelic; a 17-track project that within weeks of its release had been downloaded over 1.3 million times.
One track that featured on Macadelic was very close to the lyricist’s heart and that was the ‘The Question’ featuring Lil Wayne. The ID Labs produced track hears the emcee get highly personal in the way in which he reflects on his life and place in the world.
In an interview with MTV News following the mixtape’s release, Miller explained the thoughts he had that inspired him to write the song, disclosing, “I feel like in a lot of people’s lives, at a certain point, you kind of just look in the mirror and try and think about who you are as a person like ‘What am I supposed to do here? What am I doin’ with my time?’”
As he continued to open up about the deep meanings behind the song, the Pennsylvania artist divulged that he called upon Lil Wayne because the track has a special meaning to him, explaining, “This song is a real meaningful song to me, man, and I wanted to make sure I got Wayne on something that was heartfelt,”
Miller concluded, “I got him on a record that I was saying something and not just talkin’ shit, so this record right here really kinda deals with a question that I’ve been goin’ through in my own head.”