I was 11 years old when I was in my neighbor’s kitchen, listening to Mac Miller for the first time. This was my first experience with rap, and I was intrigued. I was immediately drawn to the music and especially to Mac Miller, listening to his music constantly and always waiting for the next album. As I got older, I started finding new music and listening to new artists. Recently, I started listening again to the artist who had opened up the musical world for me.

It was only a few weeks ago that rapper Mac Miller was found dead in his Studio City home. His cause of death was an accidental overdose on Friday, September 7. He was only 26 years old.

Mac Miller, whose real name is Malcolm James McCormick, had been struggling with drug and alcohol addiction for years.

For the past two years, his ex-girlfriend Ariana Grande had helped him with his attempts at sobriety. However, a week after their breakup in May of this year, Miller crashed his Mercedes Benz into a telephone pole. Miller fled the scene and was later arrested for a DUI. Many blamed Grande for his relapse after their breakup.

During his life, he released five studio albums and many mixtapes from 2007 to August of this year. The last collection of songs he released was “Swimming”, Miller’s final studio album, which was released on August 3. Miller’s breakup with Ariana Grande is a common theme throughout the entirety of this album. In these songs, Miller reflects on his depression and drug abuse while also illustrating his self healing and personal growth. His music represents his growth by showing his efforts to overcome his drug addiction and depression. 

Miller put his life into his music. He sang about his drug problems and also his problems with depression. Some of his most popular songs were “Donald Trump” and “Self Care”. His music was inspirational to many people, during and also now after his life. In my own experience, Miller’s music was something that inspired my entire musical taste. He had very mellow and relaxing songs, but also songs that you would want to hear at a party.

While there were many more songs that I liked by Miller, some of my personal favorites were “Weekend” and “Party on Fifth Ave”. “Weekend” was a song that I listened to most mornings. I would get up, barely awake, and immediately start the song on my phone. When I first started watching music videos on YouTube, “Party on Fifth Ave” was one of the first ones I watched. This video drew me in instantly because of Miller’s costume as an old man and the electric scooters they ride throughout the video.  

In the wake of his death, many fans have been reaching out to people and warning them about the dangers of addiction and how they can find help. They’re also encouraging others to reach out to friends who are suffering from addiction to get them to seek help.

Even Miller himself warned about the dangers of drugs. “Overdosing is just not cool. There’s no legendary romance — you don’t go down in history because you overdosed. You just die,” Miller said in 2016.

In an interview from this August, Miller explained that he was not a drug addict. “If a bunch of people think I am a huge drug addict, OK. Cool. What can I really do?” he said. “Have I done drugs? Yeah. But am I a drug addict? No.” Miller wanted his fans to know that he was not a drug addict and that he was getting help.

However, it is apparent that for the last few years, Miller was struggling with his attempts to remain sober. He explained in an interview that he didn’t want people to think that he had once again fallen into the world of drugs because he claimed that he hadn’t. In an August interview with Vulture, he said, “It just seems exhausting to always be battling something… to always be battling for what you think your image is supposed to be. You’re never going to be able to get anything across. It’s never gonna be the real… No one’s gonna ever really know me.”

Throughout his life, Miller went through struggles and battled depression. Despite his death, Miller’s music will live on forever, and he will be known as one of the best in the game. Thank you, Mac, for all you contributed to the music community and to the world.

Creative Commons photo source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Millermac.jpg