Mac Miller

Mac Miller

Mac Miller performing at the Governor's Ball in 2011.
Background information
Birth name Malcolm McCormick
Also known as Most Dope, Easy Mac
Born (1992-01-19) January 19, 1992 (age 20)
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Genres Hip hop, hipster hop, psychedelic hip hop, alternative hip hop
Occupations Rapper, producer, actor, songwriter
Years active 2007 – present
Labels Rostrum Records, Most Dope Entertainment
Associated acts Wiz Khalifa, Beedie, The Ill Spoken, I.D. Labs, Big Jerm
Website www.macmillerofficial.com

Malcolm McCormick (born January 19, 1992),[1] known by his stage name Mac Miller (previously Easy Mac), is an American rapper from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is signed to Rostrum Records and released his debut album Blue Slide Park on November 8, 2011.[2]

Early life

Malcolm McCormick was born on January 19, 1992, the son of an architect and a photographer, and raised in the Point Breeze part of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.[1][3] His father is Christian and his mother is Jewish; Miller was raised Jewish and had a Bar Mitzvah.[4][5][6] Before attending Taylor Allderdice High School, Miller attended Winchester Thurston School.[7] In high school, Miller decided to focus on his hip-hop career, later noting, "Once I hit 15, I got real serious about it and it changed my life completely ... I used to be into sports, play all the sports, go to all the high school parties. But once I found out hip-hop is almost like a job, that's all I did."[1] Miller, a self-taught musician, plays piano, guitar, drums, and bass.[1][8]

Career

Before embarking on a solo career, Miller was part of rap group The Ill Spoken together with fellow Pittsburgh rapper, Beedie. The Ill Spoken released the mixtape How High in 2008. Prior to changing his name to Mac Miller, he was known as EZ Mac and released the mixtape But My Mackin Ain't Easy in 2007 at 15 years old. In 2009 Mac Miller released two mixtapes The Jukebox: Prelude to Class Clown and The High Life before getting signed to Rostrum Records.

In early 2010, Miller signed with Rostrum Records.[9] Rostrum president Benjy Grinberg met Miller while recording with Wiz Khalifa at ID Labs.[10] Although Grinberg started giving Miller advice, he didn't show any interest in getting involved with his career until the artist began work on the K.I.D.S. mixtape, when, as he later told HitQuarters, Grinberg "noticed a maturation in his sound and approach to his music."[10] By that point Miller had started attracting interest from different record companies but chose Rostrum due to its location in his hometown and association with Wiz Khalifia.[10] K.I.D.S. was released by the label in August 2010.[1] The mixtape was inspired by the movie Kids. A significant breakthrough came in late 2010 when Miller embarked on his first "Incredibly Dope Tour", selling out at every location on the tour.[10]

Miller's 5th[when?] release was a mixtape titled Best Day Ever. The mixtape features his single "Donald Trump" and the hit songs "Wear My Hat", "BDE Bonus" and "All Around The World." The mixtape featured mainstream producers such as Just Blaze, 9th Wonder, and Chuck Inglish. On November 22, 2010 his first single "Knock Knock" premiered its video on YouTube.[11]

On March 29, 2011, he released an EP called On And On And Beyond. The six-track work was produced by Rostrum Records.

On July 5, 2011, Miller announced the title of his first album Blue Slide Park on his YouTube channel, set for a Fall release.[12] In September 2011 it was revealed that Miller would release a mixtape titled 92 Til Infinity hosted by DJ Jazzy Jeff prior to the release of Blue Slide Park.[13] However, the release did not happen, and it was since then left in planning.

Prior to his 2011 national Blue Slide Park tour, Miller traveled Europe on his "Incredibly Dope Tour" visiting cities such as London, Manchester, and Amsterdam.

On October 14, 2011, Mac Miller released a 13 song mixtape called I Love Life, Thank You for reaching 1,000,000 followers on Twitter. It had features from Sir Michael Rocks of The Cool Kids, Talib Kweli, and Bun B.

On November 2011, Blue Slide Park debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200 with first week sales of 144,000 copies.[14]

On March 23, 2012, Mac Miller released his seventh mixtape called Macadelic. He released "Loud" as a single off the mixtape as well as filiming a music video. Miller also released a video for "Thoughts From A Balcony".

Awards and honors

In 2009 at age 17, he made it to the final four in Rhyme Calisthenics, the MC competition at Shadow Lounge.[15] In 2010, he won two awards at the Pittsburgh hip-hop awards.[16] His video "Live Free" won video of the year and he also won Best Artist Under 21. In September 2011 Maroon 5 announced that Mac Miller will be featured on their remix of their top chart song "Moves Like Jagger".[17] In 2011 Miller was one of eleven rappers featured in XXL magazine's Freshman Class of 2011.[18] The video for the first single released from this mixtape, "Donald Trump", has reached over 53 million views on YouTube[19] and Donald Trump himself, who is referenced on the song, acknowledged the video on the social networking site Twitter when it reached 20 million views stating "Who wouldn't be flattered?". He declared that Miller was the “new Eminem,” and stated “I am very proud of him.”[20] Endorsements by Donald Trump helped Miller become increasingly more popular. The song also charted on iTunes debuting at #73 and peaking at #40,[21] before Miller was signed to a major label. In 2011, his first TV appearance took place in the VH1 show Single Ladies; he played a fictionalized version of himself that succeeded in selling one of his mixtapes to one of the main characters. Also in 2011, he was a part of MTV Jams Fab Five artists.[22]

Musical philosophy

Mac Miller includes Big L, Lauryn Hill, The Beastie Boys, Outkast, and A Tribe Called Quest among his influences.[8] He also has a close relationship with fellow Pittsburgh rapper Wiz Khalifa, saying "Wiz has been a big brother to me with this music thing so far. Our relationship is beyond music. He really is just my homie, whether I will be making music or not."[23]

As an artist, Mac Miller has performed in a number of different styles. His classic musical style contains lyrics focused on marijuana, women, and "a dream". However, Miller has lately been experimenting with new styles in his music, such as in his 2012 mixtape Macadelic. Most songs have a heavy psychedelic influence, and include lyrics with deeper meaning. Also, older artists and music performers are praised on some of Mac's new works (the beginning of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" by the Beatles is used as an interlude for the song "Loud").

Discography

Main article: Mac Miller discography
Studio albums
Extended plays

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Todd, Deborah M. (August 12, 2010). "Like Wiz Khalifa, rapper Mac Miller is another talent from Allderdice". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10224/1079223-388.stm. Retrieved 2011-02-23. 
  2. ^ Mac Miller To Release “Blue Slide Park” On November 8th. Macmiller.org. Retrieved on 2012-01-14.
  3. ^ "Mac Miller attack – Music". Toronto.com. http://www.toronto.com/article/692440--mac-miller-attack. Retrieved 2011-11-24. 
  4. ^ Phillips, Rashad (2011-03-09). "Mac Miller Talks Jewish Heritage | Get The Latest Hip Hop News, Rap News & Hip Hop Album Sales". HipHop DX. http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.14347/title.mac-miller-talks-jewish-heritage. Retrieved 2011-11-24. 
  5. ^ Tobias, Jonathan (2010-11-04). "DXnext: Mac Miller | Check Out New Hip Hop Artists & Upcoming Rappers". HipHop DX. http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/dxnext/id.185/title.dxnext-mac-miller. Retrieved 2011-11-24. 
  6. ^ "Mac Miller – Exclusive Interview with Rap Star". Shalom Life. March 7, 2011. http://www.shalomlife.com/culture/14799/mac-miller-exclusive-interview-with-rap-star/. Retrieved 2011-04-14. 
  7. ^ Assad, David (June 7, 2007). "PG East: Winchester Thurston is Division 2 lacrosse champion". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07158/791858-364.stm. 
  8. ^ a b "Mac Miller". Rostrum Records. http://rostrumrecords.com/home/artists/mac-miller. Retrieved 22 May 2011. 
  9. ^ "PRESS RELEASE: Mac Miller Signs to Rostrum Records – - Are You In That Mood Yet ?". Areyouinthatmoodyet.com. 2010-07-21. http://areyouinthatmoodyet.com/?p=22457. Retrieved 2011-11-24. 
  10. ^ a b c d "Interview With Benjy Grinberg". HitQuarters. 17 Oct 2011. http://www.hitquarters.com/index.php3?page=intrview/opar/intrview_BGrinberg.html. Retrieved 19 Oct 2011. 
  11. ^ "Mac Miller – Knock Knock". Youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmEpkztK5Lw. Retrieved 5 July 2011. 
  12. ^ Miller, Mac. "Mac Miller – Album Title Announcement". Youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vu-1CkITrL0. Retrieved 5 July 2011. 
  13. ^ "Mac Miller To Release "Blue Slide Park" On November 8TH + Album Art". MacMiller.org. http://macmiller.org/mac-miller-to-release-blue-slide-park-on-november-8-album-art/. Retrieved 17 September 2011. 
  14. ^ Jacobs, Allen (2011-11-16). "Hip Hop Album Sales: The Week Ending 11/13/2011 | Get The Latest Hip Hop News, Rap News & Hip Hop Album Sales". HipHop DX. http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.17630/title.hip-hop-album-sales-the-week-ending-11-13-2011. Retrieved 2011-11-24. 
  15. ^ "Allderdice grad Mac Miller garners national attention with his latest mixtape – Music – Music Features – Pittsburgh City Paper". Pittsburghcitypaper.ws. http://www.pittsburghcitypaper.ws/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A93057. Retrieved 2011-11-24. 
  16. ^ Mervis, Scott (2011-03-31). "How Wiz Khalifa, Mac Miller and Girl Talk became the new face of the music scene". Post-gazette.com. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11090/1135889-388.stm. Retrieved 2011-11-24. 
  17. ^ Name* (2011-09-14). "Mac Miller to Appear on Maroon 5′s "Moves Like Jagger (Remix)"". Xxlmag.Com. http://www.xxlmag.com/news/2011/09/mac-miller-to-appear-on-maroon-5s-moves-like-jagger-remix/. Retrieved 2011-11-24. 
  18. ^ "XXL Freshmen 2011 | Mac Miller". Xxlmag.Com. 2009-05-25. http://www.xxlmag.com/2011-freshman-class/mac-miller/. Retrieved 2011-11-24. 
  19. ^ TreeJTV. "Mac Miller – Donald Trump". YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74TFS8r_SMI. Retrieved 2011-11-24. 
  20. ^ Steven J. Horowitz Donald Trump Brands Mac Miller "The Next Eminem". hiphopdx.com. August 19, 2011
  21. ^ "'Donald Trump' by Mac Miller (American Songs iTunes Chart)". DownloadCharts.net. http://www.downloadcharts.net/us/artists/music/mac-miller/songs/donald-trump/. Retrieved 2011-11-24. 
  22. ^ "Mac Miller Appearance On "Single Ladies" | Mac Miller Fan Site". Macmiller.org. 2011-06-13. http://macmiller.org/mac-miller-appearance-on-single-ladies/. Retrieved 2011-11-24. 
  23. ^ Tobias, Jonathan. "DXnext: Mac Miller". HipHopDX, Cheri Media Group. http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/dxnext/id.185/title.dxnext-mac-miller. Retrieved 22 May 2011. 

External links