Soundcheck: Who Is Mac Miller?
posted in: Features • Urban
You may have heard one of his mixtapes, or perhaps you’ve stumbled upon his uber-popular YouTube channel, but chances are, if you don’t know Mac Miller already, you soon will.
Malcolm McCormick”better known as Mac Miller and before that, EZ Mac”is the nineteen-year-old leader of Pittsburgh’s fastest-growing, grass-smoking, grass-roots rap uprising since, well, Wiz Khalifa. He followed the footsteps of his hometown hero to launch an independent career that rivals that of rappers’ twice age with ten times his budget. Miller joined Khalifa on Rukkus Records in 2010, and has since enjoyed a quick rise to the top of the charts”first with his mixtape K.I.D.S., inspired by the 1995 movie of the same name then with another mix tape released in March, Best Day Ever, which included the current buzz-worthy single Donald Trump and featured production from Just Blaze, 9th Wonder and Chuck Inglish.
His debut album, Blue Slide Park sold 144,000 units in its first week, staking a claim at the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200. It marked the first time an independent artistdebuted at No. 1 since Tha Dogg Pound did it in 1995. While some were quick to cast him off as another pot-smking white kid who makes silly songs, something tells me he’s smarter than the average stoner.
Quickly courted by major labels, Miller chose to stick to the independent route. “I never really got far enough to see an offer for real,” Mac said in November. “I got no hatred towards major labels or anything. I never got a chance to hear what they had to say. We just really wanted to stick with our home team and keep it in the family.”
It seems Miller’s loyalty paid off. Since Blue Slide Park‘s release, fans have been paying for the record the old-fashioned way.
“The numbers are cool”144,000, that’s crazy. But whatever it is, the fact that I got a No. 1 album on my first try independently is just something that no one could ever take away from me,” he said. “I had fans tweeting me with pictures of nine albums that they bought.”
Despite criticism from many who say he should jump ship, Miller hopes his self-made success can help pave the way for up and comers to follow suit.
“There’s certain things that majors can bring you…but I just kind of want to go and see what we could do on the strength of just being us,” Miller explained. “For me, I want to see if we can change the game, change the industry. I think it’s dope because it’s inspiring a lot of kids to really try to do it themselves, to use the social networking and the Internet and YouTube and take their shit really seriously and kind of go on their own.”
Despite all his declarations of independence, rumors began swirling recently after a mix-up gave people something to talk about. He cleared up the issue for HipHopDX last month.
“Sam Crespo, a dude who helps send out records for me to see if we could get them on the radio, works for Atlantic but he has his own independent thing that he does to help an independent artist get on the radio. It’s still funded by us to try to get it but it’s not like we get hella spins. So, what happened was, he was supposed to send out an email from himself but he accidentally sent it from his Atlantic email [address].”
Still, it doesn’t sound like the confident emcee is ruling out a jump to a major in the future. “I’m not trying to sound cocky but I could pretty much pick any label I want and sign to it right now. It’s not like I can’t get a major record deal. It’s kind of just me taking my time and figuring out what’s the best for me. That’s a big step for me.”
While fans seem to swallow anything Miller dishes out, industry insiders have been reluctant to fully embrace him. Consistently criticized for rapping about nothing others are beginning to appreciate the unique appeal of Miller’s swagger, or more appropriately, anti-swagger.
In an editorial on HipHopDX, Editor-In-Chief, summed up his change of heart and made some revelations that just may be contagious.
Some of Mac Miller’s toughest critics ought to be his most optimistic spectators, and know that this new class of commercially-successful artists are leveling the playing-field for anybody feeling like the labels took Hip Hop away from the people¦I’ve met few people with the success Mac is having to be as truly authentic and unpretentious than Mac Miller.
Only time will tell is Miller will continue on his indie rise to the top. Although the music may not be my cup of tea, I’m rooting for the underdog this time.