Mac Miller | Artist

Malcolm James McCormick aka Mac Miller was an American rapper born 1992 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A self-taught musician, Miller played piano, guitar, drums, and bass by the age of six. He first started rapping at the age of 14. Before that, he wanted to be a singer. In high school, he decided to focus on his rap 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." Miller began his career in Pittsburgh's local hip hop scene in 2007, at the age of 15. In 2010, he signed a record deal with independent label Rostrum Records and released his breakthrough mixtapes K.I.D.S. (2010) and Best Day Ever (2011). Miller's debut studio album, Blue Slide Park (2011), became the first independently distributed debut album to top the US Billboard 200 since 1995. In 2013, he founded the record label imprint REMember Music. After his second studio album, Watching Movies with the Sound Off (2013), he left Rostrum and signed with the major label Warner Bros. Records in 2014. With them, he released four studio albums: GO:OD AM (2015), The Divine Feminine (2016), Swimming (2018), and the posthumous Circles (2020). For Swimming, he was posthumously nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rap Album. Along with recording, he also served as a record producer for himself and other artists under the pseudonym Larry Fisherman. Early in his career, Miller's music was widely regarded as "frat rap", with lyrics focusing on partying, smoking marijuana, and lusting after fame, money, and women. Later he began to employ a more expressive and experimental approach to his subsequent releases, incorporating jazz and funk elements. By the release of Swimming, a review of Rolling Stone stated that Miller had shed his frat rap reputation. Rolling Stone writer Danny Schwartz described Swimming as "spanning rap, funk, and trip-hop." Miller struggled with addiction and substance abuse, which was often referenced in his lyrics. After a relapse, he died from an accidental drug overdose of cocaine, fentanyl, and alcohol at his home at the age of 26.

Artist Website: macmillerswebsite.com

Featured Albums: Mac Miller

Related Artists: Larry Fisherman