Dear Mac Miller:
The day was September 7th, 2018. Death and you met. In many of your songs, you talked about how when it happened, it would be your time to go. Malcom, when you died, a piece of me and millions of others did too.
Music is something we all learn about when we are young. We remember Disney music playing through our heads. When I was young, my older brother would show me music, a lot of it I probably shouldn't be listening to, but I was anyway. One day, my brother introduced me to an artist named Mac Miller. As I began to learn more of your music, I became inspired. The way you used your words to capture the heart and soul of every listener would raise your name to the top charts. Over time, everything changed.
As a young kid in High School, you were making thousands of dollars and gaining a lot of listeners. Ten year old me didn't know what it was like to have the money and fame mentioned in your music, but I knew what it was like to live every day like it’s your last. Something you rapped about a lot was life and how one should live everyday like it is their last. A lyric that inspired me from your “Best Day Ever” mixtape was “No matter where life takes me, find me with a smile.” Being a happy kid with nothing but joy, I could connect to the “Best Day Ever” mixtape because of its lyrics about happiness and living life to the fullest.
Life was at a peak for you, money wasn't a problem, partying was your passion, world tours were your destination. That would fall apart.
In 2011, “Blue Slide Park” was released. The album was a hit and was bought by millions around the world. Blue Slide park would be the number one independent album in 16 years. Your fans loved it, but the critics hated it. One critic from the website “Pitchfork” rated it a 1 out of 10 stars. That rating put a bad label on yourself, with critics saying you’re a “Frat Rapper,” which wasn’t true. All of this hate would put you into a whirl of deep depression.
Addiction would change you.
As you began to grow as an artist, you released another mixtape in 2012 called “Macadelic,” and it was different than anything before. It was filled with depressing lyrics and wake up calls for many fans. The mixtape was about speaking to the critics and your depression, drug use, and addiction.
You began to sober up in 2014, so you wrote about sobriety and the changes in your life. You realized that death could happen at any moment and woke up.
After all the drugs, albums, and mixtapes, years were going by and you continued developing your style. In 2015, “Good A:M” was released. This was about waking up and realizing your problem, which was your drug addiction. A very powerful song in the album was called “Perfect Circle - God Speed.” This song featured a phone call to your friends about ending drug use and how it was hurting people other than yourself. You sang, “I need to wake up before one morning I don’t wake up, I’m too obsessed with going down as a great one.” That lyric touched me because I realized that my favorite artist was on his last breath and was about to die. It scared me because even though you were still alive, it may be the end.
One thing I enjoyed most about you was how even though you were famous, you didn't live the celebrity lifestyle. You were a great person that gave everyone the love and respect they deserved, even though they didn’t have what you had.
The year of 2015 was a successful year for you. The world was completely shocked with the release of your album, “The Divine Feminine.” This album was about love and happiness, which was different from your other music. Still sober and in love with your girlfriend, Ariana Grande, you were living your best life. Millions of people adored you two. Years began to pass by and your addiction arose again. Pills were back in your life after the break up of you and your soulmate.
In the summer of 2018, you began to be happy again. You were excited to release your new album, “Swimming,” which would go down as one of the best artistic albums of all time. An album that was all about life, and even though it was tough at times, you had to keep swimming. A lyric I live by is “I'm treading water I know If I stop movin', I'll float”. This lyric pushes many people to look at the brighter side. Even though life is tough and things happen, if you don’t keep going, it will end.
One month after the album release, you left. I was in deep pain. Death affects many people in different ways, but it hurt me to know that an artist I grew up to was gone. It hurt knowing that you weren't here anymore. I never wanted to see you leave this earth, as you did many things for me growing up. Malcolm James Mccormick, you have helped shape me into the person I am today. You helped me grow and develop, and I know I am not the only one. You helped save many people because of your way with words. You will be missed.
Sincerely,
Jacob Gilland
