When we get to “Ros” he breaks into a touching love ballad dedicated to his girlfriend.
On “In the Bag” we find an elevated Mac who’s left the feel good raps behind, “this the music that make white people mad” he claims on the hook before ravaging through the second verse. The outdated, happy-go-lucky, frat raps have been replaced with gritty bars on self-awareness, love and everything else that comes with signing a $10 million-dollar-deal with Warner Brother Records. “Ain’t sayin that I’m a sober, I’m just in a better place.” Mac cruises through the 17-track album showcasing his ability to make complete, well-structured songs. Although he seemingly overcame his substance abuse problem, on the opening track “Doors” he makes sure we know that he isn’t exactly as straight-edge as his friend Tyler, the Creator who produced the track. On Mac Miller’s major label debut, GO:OD AM he wakes up to find the once dim light at the end of the tunnel.
When he nonchalantly notes “I’m a bit surprised that I’m even still alive/ Mixin uppers and downers, practically suicide” on the last verse of “Grand Finale” you can almost make out the classic story of an artist’s demise after using drugs and alcohol to cope with the life that comes with the industry. When you finally get to the last track on Faces you’ll find Mac on “Grand Finale” pondering his own death by way of overdose. He was heading down a dark path of self-destruction that looked like it had no light anywhere in sight. By the end of the tape you couldn’t help but think that Mac might actually join the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain and Amy Winehouse in the infamous 27 club.
His last full length project came in the form of a 24-track mixtape titled Faces - a tape laced with some less than subtle death rhymes. It’s a morbid line that captures Mac’s mindset up to this point in his career.
“To everyone who sell me drugs/ don’t mix it with that bullshit, I’m hoping not to join the 27 club,” Mac Miller says on “Brand Name”, the second track on his third LP, GO:OD AM. For the new and improved Mac Miller we can only hope that his newfound clarity and moment in the sun will last a long time.Visit for more information The most surprising, yet appropriate, guest appearance comes from Internet prophet Lil' B on "Time Flies." While Miller reflects on his experiences in the verses, the Based God waxes philosophic on the song's choruses, pondering time and our place in it: "As we keep livin' and keep bein' positive, all we can do is hold on to these memories." He's right: time moves forward and moments are fleeting. Miller matches the range well, whether it's crooning in his nasal Pittsburgh drawl on "ROS" or nimbly twisting words on "Cut The Check." Not to be outdone on the aforementioned song, guest Chief Keef delivers clever one-liners like "I was posted with the hammer, y'all was telling' po-lice / now I wrestle with the racks, b****, I'm Mick Foley." Longtime Mac Miller collaborators ID Labs contribute the bulk of the album's diverse production, providing lush soul-stirring organs and a rich bass line on "Brand Name," bombastic percussion on "When In Rome" and the ethereal synths of the album's closing cut "Festival," which features Little Dragon. With a balanced new perspective comes a well-balanced variety of sounds.
On GO:OD AM, he's a young man who ruminates on life and its contradictions ("Perfect Circle/ God Speed") but is finally comfortable enough to revel in his success instead of lamenting its drawbacks ("100 Grandkids"). He's not the dark, drug-addled Mac Miller of his 2014 mixtape Faces, but he's also not the wide-eyed kid who made the platinum hit " Donald Trump" anymore. The album starts off with the dreamy calm of the Tyler, The Creator-produced "Doors." Over sleepy strings and playful piano Miller sings instead of raps: "Ain't sayin' that I'm sober, I'm just in a better place." And throughout the album it seems true. Now, emerging from a dark period-a long night if you will-he presents GO:OD AM (a stylized play on the greeting "good morning"), his major label debut, and evidence that he has entered the next phase in his life and career. In that time he's learned that the byproducts of fortune and fame at a young age can be depression and addiction. In just a few years the 23-year-old rapper from Pittsburgh has gone from teenage Internet sensation to top-selling-albeit critically-maligned-indie artist to accepted and respected oddity.