Mac Miller's Magnum Opus

    Just a couple days ago was the 2-year anniversary of the passing of Mac Miller. Mac Miller had been one of my favorite rap artists since I first heard his mixtape K.I.D.S. back in 2010. His albums matured greatly over the years from his first work, K.I.D.S., being a very jovial record celebrating teenage years to his last work, Swimming, being a deep dive into his personal struggle with depression and drug addiction. Yet, right in the middle of his discography is what I believe to be his best album and with another year going by without him, I wanted to analyze the importance of the record and why it resonated so much with his most loyal following. 

 

    Mac Miller’s Faces was his 6th official studio release coming out on May 11th, 2014. While it only released on mixtape websites and has still not been made available on streaming services, it very much flows like an album and has a runtime of 85 minutes with a total of 24 tracks. This album was a turning point in Mac Miller’s discography. Mac had discussed mental health problems on the previous two albums, but Faces was much more honest and rawer about it. This album is very dark throughout the entire runtime, and Mac raps in-depth about the specific drugs he has abused and the damages that they have caused on his mental well-being. 

 

    The album opens with the lyrics “I should have died already”, which perfectly sets the tone for the entire project. Throughout the album, Mac explores the paradox of being addicted to drugs. This breaks down to the idea that you use drugs in order to escape your problems but then the drugs just create even more problems, but rather than quitting you continue using them to alleviate the pain which propels you further down the addiction rabbit hole. But the album doesn’t just highlight the negatives of drugs, it has songs that are upbeat and celebrate the fun that does come with these substances in the short term. Songs like “Insomniak” and “Diablo” are great displays of the lyricism that Mac possessed and are there to provide an exciting break from some of the bleaker moments on the album. The song “Friends” has always stood out to me because Mac breaks down how poor his mental health has become due to his excessive use of cocaine, and that he is not sure what tomorrow will bring. The song “Grand Finale” is the last song on the album and it is essentially a good-bye from Mac to the world with lyrics such as “Bury me in Alleghany County” and “The world will be just fine without me” being present on the song. In the song he mentions his regrets of being addicted to cocaine and it is a very powerful song to close out an album focused on his mind at that point in his life.

 

    Faces came to me at the right time in my life and I still revisit it whenever I am feeling down in the world. Mac was able to create an immensely vulnerable piece of art that would instantly be relatable to people that have ever dealt with any mental struggles in life. The album has become fairly hard to listen to at times considering that his untimely death resulted from a cocaine overdose, which makes this project be eerily self-aware of what his fate was going to ultimately be. It still is one of my favorite albums ever and not a day goes by where Mac is not missed. Rest in Peace Mac Miller. 

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