The year is 2011. I’m sitting in the back of the school bus, dressed in a Hollister t-shirt and Nike SB’s. “Donald Trump” by Mac Miller blasts through the pair of headphones I’m sharing across the seat with my friend.
That was the exact memory that flashed in my head when I read the words “Mac Miller dead at 26 years old.” The news update that seemed to burn a hole into my phone screen. I was oddly silent as I slipped into mourning a true artist that I had been following since my middle school days.
The frat rapper from Pittsburgh passed away on September 7th, 2018, from an apparent drug overdose. Miller was no stranger to drugs as he suffered from usage and fighting inner demons for years, like many others in this world. Yet, Miller’s death seemed to hit home a little harder than most celebrity deaths. Perhaps because we can all recall a time where we ignorantly sang his lyrics to the top of our lungs or listened to his voice softly wrap around the chords on his Divine Feminine Album. He put all of his emotions and soul into his music. His songs either dripped with the carefreeness of being a young person in their twenties or told a story of someone who was suffering from something that was much deeper than appeared. Listening to his songs was like reading poetry that was riding over a soft, yet deep beat that you could feel over the smallest parts of your body. His musicality and ability to collaborate with other artists and still make a hit was beautiful. He had swag that could be felt from his smile or the way he wore his hat. This white boy had a groove that we couldn’t get enough of.
As I drove down the highway shuffling between his works, I realized the common thread that occurs in the industry. It seems as though the most talented artists and musicians suffer from an addiction or mental health problem that engulfs their life, and leaves them drowning with no life preserver in sight. What demons are you struggling with? What keeps you up at night? What gives you the feeling of drowning when you’re walking on land with not a drop of water around you? Yank those demons from within and harness the power to overcome them. Reach out. Talk to someone. Get help. Stay the course. Self – Care.
Mac, I hope you’re resting up. The gifts you left on this earth will not be forgotten nor discarded. Forever in our hearts, Mac Miller.