The Lasting Legacy of Mac Miller



I was 15 years old the first time I heard Mac Miller. One of my friends had his iPod Touch playing out loud in the school cafeteria as I walked by, and I heard the chorus of one of Mac's most well-known songs, "Best Day Ever".

"No matter where life takes me/find me with a smile/Pursuit to be happy, only laughing like a child/I never thought life would be this sweet/It got me cheesin' from cheek to cheek." 

I was immediately drawn to the music and the voice of the man, who I quickly learned was just a few years older than I was. This began a near decade-long obsession to the musician who I viewed so much more than just a regular white frat rapper. Mac became the soundtrack to my teens and early 20's, as I'm sure he did for almost anyone my age that heard his music.


As much as I enjoyed K.I.D.S and Best Day Ever, Mac's impact on my life began to really take shape in 2013 with his 2nd studio album, "Watching Movies With the Sound Off". This was Mac transitioning from a prominent party-rapper to a musician who was as introspective as he was vulnerable. He also began to show his true talent as an all-around musician, as opposed to the one-dimensional MC many people believed he was.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Gbl-IDp1qc (Objects in the Mirror Live Performance)


After Watching Movies, many of the younger fans Mac had garnered from K.I.D.S and Best Day Ever seemed to dissipate, most likely due to the change in tone from party rap to gritty, honest hip-hop, however my reaction was the opposite. The more open and honest Mac was, the more I listened. I loved nearly every song on Watching Movies, and it set the tone for his future projects that I would also love.


In 2014, Mac released his best singular project, a mixtape titled "Faces". It was the most honest and self-aware piece of music I had ever listened to, and it has captivated me to this day. Since his passing, I have listened to Faces more than any other piece of music, and the foreshadowing of his death is borderline terrifying. Mac knew his time was going to be limited on this earth, and his fans such as myself refused to believe him.



Following Faces, Mac released two albums; "GO:OD AM" and the "Devine Feminine", before his final album "Swimming". Just a month following the release of "Swimming", Mac was gone. He died on September 7th, 2018 of a drug overdose, and my world was changed forever. I remember exactly where I was when I heard the news, and how I felt like I knew Mac despite never meeting him. That's how honest his music was. He made fans feels like friends, and friends feel like family.

No artist has had the same impact on my life that Mac Miller did, and I doubt anyone ever will. His time on this earth was far too short, and it is up to his fans and fellow artists to continue his legacy. 

While he may be gone, his voice and talent will echo on forever, and I hope wherever he is, he's cheesin' from cheek to cheek.

RIP Mac Miller - January 19, 1992 - September 7, 2018


- Cameron Begin

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