Circles: Album Review
A Final Send-off to a Late Legend
After his untimely death, Mac Miller’s family respectfully released his final record, Circles, as a companion to his 2018 album, Swimming. This is the most recent of the many posthumous releases from rappers who have left us too soon. How does Mac’s passing effect the way we listen to this album?
On September 7th, 2018 rapper and musician Malcolm James McCormick, better known as Mac Miller, unfortunately died due to an accidental overdose in Studio City, California. Prosecutors for the Central District of California charged three men: Stephen Walter, Ryan Reavis and Cameron James Pettit for selling him marijuana and cocaine laced with fentanyl, which ultimately led to his untimely demise. Thousands came together in mourning Mac Miller’s death. My manager, and an adamant hip-hop fan, Alex Smith had this to say about his passing: “Mac’s death hit me really hard, We were around the same age, and from his music it felt like we were dealing with the same stuff- It felt like I lost a friend.”
Jon Brion (left) with Zane Lowe (right) on Beats 1
Photo: Beats 1
More recent posthumous releases have been done disrespectfully and are obviously just label cash grabs, such as XXXtentacion’s Bad Vibes Forever. However, Mac’s new album is different. His family was very close in the making and release of this album, and it was nearly finished when Miller passed away. His family worked one on one with Jon Brion, acclaimed film score producer for movies such as Punch, Drunk Love and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. They even had a visual art installation full of fan art of Mr. Miller in New York, California, and Philadelphia (where Mac was born and raised).
Mac’s original vision for the album was to be a companion to his more hopeless sounding and sad album Swimming. Jon Brion stated, “Mac wanted to mix rapping and singing on Swimming, make a fully singing album with Circles, and then return to true form rap in a third album.”
As you begin the album you’re met with the words, “This is what it looks like, right before you fall.” In the context of his death, these words are haunting and setup the mood for the rest of the album. If any posthumous album is a perfect send-off, it’s Circles.
With lyrics like “Everybody’s gotta live and everybody’s gonna die”, off of the song “Everybody”, it seems as if Mac was saying goodbye, giving his fans some closure. Mac sounds happy here, he’s hopeful after being lost for so long. It’s heartbreaking to know that he had so much planned and lost it all.
The album is full of lo-fi beats and plucky chords, which makes it feel so much more personal. Mac puts everything out there almost saying, “here’s me, I know I’ve got some issues but I’m working on them.”
In the context of which this album released and as a final send off to Mac Miller, I’d give this album a solid 9/10. It was respectful, important, real, and most importantly a great 48 minutes of music.
R.I.P. Mac Miller January 19, 1992 - September 7, 2018