An Ode to Mac Miller

I didn’t know Mac Miller personally, but I truly felt like I did.

I’ll never forget the first time I listened to your music. A friend suggested I listen to “Kool-Aid and Frozen Pizza,” and from that point on I was hooked. There are many unique artists, but Mac, you were truly something special.

Miller was coined as a musician that made stoner music and pop genre rap, but his talent ranged further than that. As my love for music grew, Mac Miller was right there every step of the way, growing in his craft. I watched his growth and witnessed his increased versatility. Miller pushed boundaries.

He has an enormous discography and each project revealed a new talent or somewhere he had grown. His flow got better with each song. His style grew further and further away from mainstream music. He blossomed in areas that I didn’t know he could get better in.

It’s absolutely insane to think the first piece I wrote in the Cluster this year was a review of his most recent album, “Swimming.” I never thought that would be the last album he’d release. It was beautiful, from top to bottom. Comprehensive of all of the talents he possessed.

Combining jazz-styled beats with a raspy voice and rap lyrics, he created his own sound. On the radio today, it’s normal to listen to multiple artists that sound the exact same. It was truly refreshing to hear music from an individual that maintained their own individuality.

He was in a lane of his own. He had a love for music over everything and gave respect to all those trying to find fame and those already there. He opened his home to budding and established artists to record at his in-home studio.

Mac Miller was an icon, a representation of positivity and happiness. The love he walked around with was so evident and it still shows. The outpouring of love from fans continues days after his passing.

Every day I get on Twitter and see some post referencing Miller’s greatness or the impact he had on someone. Many admitted to their own personal struggles and spoke to Miller as a means of support and an outlet to their reality.

Celebrities and fans alike, agreed that he was more than a musician to them. He was respected by rap greats and loved by the world. Miller didn’t do it for the fame, he was being himself and doing what he did best, make great music.

You were my next concert Mac, and it hurts even worse I never got to see you perform live. Anyone close to me knows how much of a fan I was. I can listen to your music at any event, any time of the day, in any mood.

Mac, you asked a question in one of your songs. On “One-threw-8,” off your mixtape “Macadelic” you asked, “Dear people on earth after I die, what’s the weather like?” Mac, it’s nice out, but it’s always gloomier without you here. Rest in Peace young king, fly high and “Thumbs Up.”