A Thank You to Mac Miller

There is a question I like to ask people. If you can only listen to one artist’s or band’s discography for the rest of your life, which band or artist would it be, and why?

I like this question because there are a variety of reasons people could have for choosing their artists.

Some people choose their artists because of the diverse songs they have that could be applied to different moods.

Others choose favorites that are tied to special memories. An old high school buddy of mine once answered Queen, not because he liked them, but because it’s what his late mother used to play in the car when she took him to school.

Others simply choose the classics, like the Rolling Stones or the Beetles, which come with the assurance that they will still be good later in their lives.

For me, Mac Miller was all of the above. An incredible musician, who was there for all the memories of my teenage years, and still my favorite artist. Still someone I look up to. Today, on the second anniversary of his death, I wanted to finally say thank you. 

“No matter where life takes me, find me with a smile
Pursuit to be happy, only laughing like a child”

The first time I listened to Mac was on way to school, the fall of my sophomore year. This is back when Apple music had just come out, and I still hadn’t migrated from the dark side to Spotify yet. While browsing the music app, I had noticed Mac’s face on top of the Good:AM album in the best new rap playlist and had queued it up for the drive. By the time the alarm rang at the beginning of “Brand Name,” I was hooked. From then on, he was by far my favorite artist.

Finding a new favorite artist is akin to winning the jackpot, especially if they had been around for a while. Mac had already released over seven full projects under a variety of aliases, and I got to listen to them all. “I am who I am” and “Objects in the Mirror” from Watching Movies, “Party on 5th ave” and “Smile Back” are absolute bangers, and I cannot believe I had never heard “Nike’s on my Feet” before then. Almost exactly a year later, The Divine Feminine was released, and I don’t think I listened to anything else for a full week after its release. Mac soon became the soundtrack of my life. 

”Ask her what she wearing, say it's nothing but a brand name
Baby, this right here is hand made”

When you have an artist on repeat, their songs inevitably become a part of your memories. Mac was with me during all the peaks and pitfalls that was high school. “ROS” and “Dang” were the soundtracks of my first real relationship, and I still think of a certain girl with pretty brown eyes every time they come on. “When in Rome” and “Break the Law” echoed throughout the locker room before Friday night basketball games. Every day on the way to and from school, I sang along to “We” with CeeLo Green or “Rush Hour” at least once. My little sister wasn’t the biggest fan, but she wasn’t driving.

”Your love's not too kind to me
I hate the pain these days of rain
You're playing games of hide and seek, my love”

I clearly remember the day his last living album Swimming came out, August 23rd, 2018. Music fans will remember that was the date that Travis Scott released Astroworld and YG Stay Dangerous as well. I was twenty at that point, a year into college, and a lot had changed since the time of The Divine Feminine.

The Mac Miller behind Swimming had grown as well. There was a weariness to the album, the sound of someone who had been forced to grow up a little too quickly. But the kid was still there, the same optimist believed in himself enough to know that the world was still his to take.

A few weeks later, my cousin called me while I was playing video games with my roommate. “Dude, Mac Miller died.” Just like that, the man who had been there my entire teenage life, who had inspired so many and had so far still to go, was gone. 

“And they don't wanna see that
They don't want me to OD and have to talk to my mother
Telling her they could have done more to help me
And she'll be crying saying that she'll do anything to have me back”

I think the part that gets me the most is not that he meant so much to me and millions of others, but that he still had so much more life to live. You could tell, with every project, he was growing as both a musician and as a person. With each lyric he shared we saw the struggles, related to the sad times, and rejoiced in the happy. His ability to connect through music was so great that despite him being a stranger, someone most of us had never met, we regarded him as a friend, a confidant, a brother. He had so much more to achieve and live. What could have been.

So, Mr. Mac Miller, thank you. Thank you for your music and for sharing your soul with us. Thank you for the countless memories that I get to relive during your songs. For hyping me up before games and dates, and for consoling me after losses and breakups. I really hope, for all our heroes, that those who have passed know how much they did. For so many people. Thank you.