Pittsburgh rapper Mac Miller has managed to shake his “frat boy” image with the release of his major-label album GO:OD AM.
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Take a listen to Mac Miller’s new album GO:OD AM. |
His breakout 2011 album Blue Slide Park helped establish Mac Miller as a rising talent and force in Hip-Hop when it topped the charts in 2011 when he was just 19-years-old.
Since then, Mac battled with drugs and depression over the criticism Blue Slide Park received. However, the challenges helped the rapper move into more mature subject matter on GO:OD AM.
“Over the 70-minute run time, Miller explores depression, substance abuse, sobriety and women, all in his attempt to grow and be a better man,” noted Tarun Sathish in his review of the album for The Pitt News. “The epitome of these attempts comes in the near eight-minute “Perfect Circle / God Speed,” where he contemplates his maturity, or lack thereof, and how his substance abuse could hurt his mother.”
The maturity can also be found in Mac Miller’s stage performance. His growth was underscored during a recent show at the LC Pavilion in Columbus, Ohio.
“Miller actually performed for the audience, not allowing the music to over power his lyrics,” wrote Kaley Rentz in The Lantern. “In contrast with other popular rap stars, the teenage Internet sensation was engaging with his fans, almost seeming to speak his mind instead of rapping his lyrics.”
Mac Miller purposely switched up his performance, to properly re-introduce himself to old and new fans alike.
“I think you change the performance. Cause there’s two — to me, there’s two ways to do it,” Mac Miller told Tribe Called Quest’s Ali Shaheed Muhammad during an interview on NPR’s “Microphone Check” where he also revealed his ATCQ inspired tattoo.
“You either hit it from an energy standpoint where all you’re trying to do is create energy,” Mac Miller said. “You want to people to jump around. You want people to put their hands in the air. You want people to not think You want to people to just like lose their minds.”
