“Malibu” warns that “The good times can be a trap” and toys with the idea of checking into rehab before resolving to just save the remainder of the coke for another day. Miller catalogues reckless substance use like a news anchor would a traffic jam: he matter-of-factly calls himself a “drug absorbent endorphin addict” with a “drug habit like Philip Hoffman” on “What Do You Do?”, and even “Therapy”’s lightweight account of a night out with a girl contains a bout of self-medication.
Hard partying bleeds into unexpected corners of the proceedings, from the debit card covered in “snowflakes” on “Friends” to the cautionary PCP comedown tale of “Angel Dust”. Much of the time, that means picking apart Mac’s infatuation with drugs. Faces goes where Watching Movies wouldn’t, picking over the fallout from a teen rap sensation suddenly becoming nouveau riche. Mac gets downcast for the midsection body shot combo of “Happy Birthday”, “Wedding”, and “Funeral”, a passage that moves seamlessly from excitement to fear and uncertainty (“Do you ever reach to touch her, but there’s nothing there?/ Do you tell her that you love her, but she doesn’t care?”) into despair (“Doing drugs is just a war with boredom, but they’re sure to get me”). On cuts like opener “Inside Outside” and “Here We Go”, the latter in which Mac pridefully scans his growing empire and notes that he “did it all without a Drake feature”, the joy is infectious. Where Watching Movies was equally concerned with refining his writing skills and presenting a personality you wouldn’t mind sparking up a j with, this mixtape prizes frankness over curation. Mac Miller’s most ambitious post- Watching Movies project arrived in the form of a Mother’s Day mixtape called Faces, which advances on his last LP's heady sprawl with a palette stretching from rainy day introspection to playful wordplay exercises.
Odd Future associate Vince Staples’ Stolen Youth featured Mac in the producer’s chair unfurling hypnotic soundscapes under his Larry Fisherman pseudonym.
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It’s hard to get a clear sense of what the Mac Miller of 2015 feels beyond grateful, a little apologetic and - in the album’s most powerful moments - lonely at the top.Mac has since worked tirelessly to prove Watching Movies’ gains were no fluke, showcasing his range on a series of off-the-cuff side projects: Delusional Thomas featured an impishly pitched-up Mac cutting loose on a half-hour mixtape of gutbucket murder raps, while Live from Space documented the plush sonics of Miller’s summer 2013 Space Migration Tour, which fleshed out Watching Movies’ spacier cuts with the help of Syd tha Kid and Matt Martians’ project the Internet. He wants to “grow up old and rich” and give his mom “some grandkids, she can spoil them.” When he looks back, it’s about the STDs he didn’t get or the money he made in 11th grade. Beyond the vivid OD vision of “Perfect Circle/God Speed,” Miller’s tales of overcoming drugs don’t have the gut-wrenching confessional feel of great 12-stepper rap like Eminem’s Recovery or even Macklemore’s “Starting Over.” Instead, he’s looking forward, treating his formidable rap skills (still on ample display, though dialed down from his showy peak of 2013’s Watching Movies with the Sound Off) like his 401k plan.
Cole or Big Sean disciple, habitually counting his many blessings. has him turning into the most boring type of major label rapper: a J. Without the lure of parties or the agoraphobic agony of drugs, Miller’s first album for Warner Bros.
“the first album I recorded while being happy in a long time,” an opportunity for him to face addiction, insomnia and his tortured insides with clarity on songs like “Weekend.” It’s easily his most mature work – but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s his most entertaining. Now, as the 23-year-old says on his third studio album, it’s time to “man up.” He calls GO:OD A.M. Rapper Mac Miller emerged in 2011 like a weeded fratboy frosh looking for the best party, and came out of 2013 like a depressive college radio MC laboring over his best rhymes.
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