Mac Miller
GO:OD AM
Warner Brother Data
Options: Ab-Soul, Lil B, Miguel, Chief Keef, Little Dragon
Manufacturing: Tyler, the Creator, I.D. Labs, Vinylz
“To everybody who promote me medicine/ don’t combine it with that bullshit, I’m hoping to not be a part of the 27 membership,” Mac Miller says on “Model Identify”, the second observe on his third LP, GO:OD AM. It’s a morbid line that captures Mac’s mindset up up to now in his profession. His final full size undertaking got here within the type of a 24-track mixtape titled Faces — a tape laced with some lower than refined dying rhymes. By the tip of the tape you couldn’t assist however assume that Mac may truly be a part of the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain and Amy Winehouse within the notorious 27 membership. He was heading down a darkish path of self-destruction that appeared prefer it had no mild wherever in sight. If you lastly get to the final observe on Faces you’ll discover Mac on “Grand Finale” pondering his personal dying by means of overdose. When he nonchalantly notes “I’m a bit shocked that I’m even nonetheless alive/ Mixin uppers and downers, virtually suicide” on the final verse of “Grand Finale” you possibly can nearly make out the basic story of an artist’s demise after utilizing medicine and alcohol to deal with the life that comes with the trade.
On Mac Miller’s main label debut, GO:OD AM he wakes as much as discover the as soon as dim mild on the finish of the tunnel. Though he seemingly overcame his substance abuse downside, on the opening observe “Doorways” he makes certain we all know that he isn’t precisely as straight-edge as his buddy Tyler, the Creator who produced the observe. “Ain’t sayin that I’m a sober, I’m simply in a greater place.” Mac cruises by way of the 17-track album showcasing his potential to make full, well-structured songs.
The outdated, happy-go-lucky, frat raps have been changed with gritty bars on self-awareness, love and every thing else that comes with signing a $10 million-dollar-deal with Warner Brother Data. On “Within the Bag” we discover an elevated Mac who’s left the texture good raps behind, “this the music that make white folks mad” he claims on the hook earlier than ravaging by way of the second verse. Once we get to “Ros” he breaks right into a touching love ballad devoted to his girlfriend. On “Time Flies” Mac flexes his lyrical prowess whereas Lil B gives some basic based mostly scripture within the background. It’s on this observe that Mac displays on a few of the choices he made whereas life zoomed by, “All of the instances that I’ve been reckless, with an ego huge as Texas, thinkin’ “I’m the person.”
The album boasts 5 options (not counting some comical dialogue from Domo Genesis and Schoolboy Q) that every one match the story Mac is attempting to inform. Probably the greatest songs on the album is “Weekend” which options some help from Miguel on the hook earlier than he steals the present on the outro. TDE’s Ab-Soul fired off an MVP verse on the fourth observe “Two Matches” however Mac held his personal like he did on the prequel that was on his final album Watching Films with the Sound Off. For years Mac has taken a backseat to a few of the seasoned lyricists however on GO:OD AM he makes a powerful case for why he needs to be thought-about as some of the gifted MC’s within the recreation. On the beforehand launched single “Break the Regulation” he flashes a breathless stream to enhance a powerful rhyme scheme, “No stress, dope vendor, smarter than your professor/ Hoes, I don’t stress her, put a bitch down like Outdated Yeller/ The stream’s stellar, stella ella ola, have you ever ever been.” Probably the most stunning function comes from Chief Keef on the gaudy observe “Lower the Examine”. Sosa and Mac channel the identical chemistry that they had on Keef’s Bang 3 album (I Simply Wana).
Manufacturing on GO:OD AM is dealt with by ID Labs, DJ Dahi, Frank Dukes Vinylz and the aforementioned Odd Future chief, Tyler the Creator. The entire beats on GO:OD AM present Mac with a canvas to color the image of his battle with medicine, love and success. On the primary half of the two-part tack “Good Circle/ God Velocity” Mac tackles the temptations he as soon as confronted and their results on his family members. The sinister sounding piano keys paired with a chilling choir that sounds prefer it’s made up of youngsters from the Adam’s Household create a depressing, drug heavy scene. When the observe transitions to the second half by means of a telephone name from Mac’s brother, the tone has been greater than set. Mac displays on his failure to defeat his vices on the soulful observe that’ll have even his most informal followers in shambles.
GO:OD AM is the perfect work of Mac Miller’s profession. It’s a refreshing reminder that artists nonetheless have the power to develop on their very own phrases — even in an trade that may expedite their maturation course of. Mac was as soon as a child from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania who signed a report deal, purchased an enormous home in Los Angeles and threw loopy events along with his buddies. He did what any regular child would do after incomes that kind of cash, “Received an even bigger crib, all the time use the additional house/ Shit was so totally different in 2008/ Rising pains, fill the open veins with Novocain/ Relapse, I eat that, I don’t complain” he raps on “Rush Hour”. GO:OD AM is probably the most clear music Mac Miller has ever made and in doing so he has created a sonically cohesive and spectacular album.
