Diverse Hip Hop

Mac Miller recently released his highly anticipated ”Macadelic” mixtape. On this tape we see Mac experimenting with new sounds and collaborating with some big names like Lil Wayne, Cam’ron and Kendrick Lamar. The 17 track mixtape marks Mac Miller shows us another side of the Pittsburgh native. Check out what I have to say about the tape after the break.

1.  ”Love Me As I Have Loved You” – This is the intro track for the tape, the track is basically a female speaking in some foreign language with “Row Row Row Your Boat” being whistled in the background. It’s kind of creepy if you ask me, sounds like something you’d hear in a horror movie right before someone dies. The track ends by the girl finally saying “Love me as I have loved you” in English followed by laughter. I like Mac’s sense of humor.

2. “Desperado” – Desperado is the first track on the tape we actually hear Mac Miller vocals. The ID Labs produced cut shows us Mac Miller’s lyrical ability. He has dope bars but his delivery is a bit boring on this one. I can’t say it’s a boring song but Mac Miller wasn’t what kept me listening it was the beat. ID gave Mac a killer beat which lead up to the beginning of the 3rd track “Loud.”

3. “Loud” – ID Labs comes through again for Mac, this is arguably on the the best if not the best Mac Miller songs out. With the right push this song could do really well. Everything about it was great the beat, verses and hook were all on point.

4. “Thoughts From A Balcony” - This was another stand out track on the tape. With great production from Sap, Mac really tells a good story on this one. The hook wasn’t the best but it does go with the subject matter.The lyrics were more personal, something you could help you reflect on your own memories. He gave us a glimpse into his current mind state. Blue Slide Park should have had more songs like this. Overall this is a great song, you can tell he put his heart into this one.

5. “Aliens Fighting Robots” feat. Sir Michael Rocks - The title of this track was enough to put me off but I still ended up listening. Sir Michael Rocks makes the first guest appearance on the tape with a solid verse. Brandun Deshay did his thing with the beat. With dope verses from Mac in addition to the good hook I can boldly say this is another track you should check out.

6. “Vitamins” –  Mac took a page out of Wiz Khalifa’s playbook on this one. Vitamins is song about his drugs usage, the production on this was perfect, sounds like something we could get a Wiz remix to. I’m not a big fan of songs about drugs but Mac really does tell a great story on this. It’s a perfect song just to vibe out too.

7.  ”Fight The Feeling” feat. Kendrick Lamar & Iman Omari – This was the first song I listened to mainly because of the Kendrick feature. Iman Omari handled the hook and production. Honestly the two Mac verses were extremely boring, he made it really easy for Kendrick to kill him with a verse which wasn’t to special either. I wasn’t feeling this one. The girl moaning at the end was the best part of the song.

8. “Lucky Ass B*tch” feat. Juicy J – Lex Lugar produced songs have become really repetitive but not this one. Mac really killed his two verse especially the first verse. Juicy J did his thing on it. This is a banger definitely a song you should look out for.

9. “The Mourning After” – This song is basically him telling us a story about the morning after he was with a girl. It’s the type of song you’ll like but not listen to much.

10. “1 Threw 8″ – Dope beat, decent verses, lame hook. It’s a cool song I won’t be listening to it much either.

11. “Ignorant” feat. Cam’Ron –  This is one of the most unexpected/weirdest collaborations I have ever seen. Cardo gave them a killer beat which they did justice to. At first I was skeptical about these 2 doing songs now I want more from the pair.

12. “The Question” feat. Lil Wayne – One of the best if not the best song off the mixtape. The production was on point, perfect hook, nice verse, great feature from Weezy. If your looking to put new songs on your iPod’s I recommend this.

13. “Angels (When She Shuts Her Eyes)” – Another standout track for me. The type of song you can bump on a rainy day or when your feeling moody. Loved his flow on it and well Clams Casino came through with a great beat.

14. “Sunlight” feat. Iman Omari –  Iman Omari makes his second appearance on the tape this time on a better song but his hook was weak. Mac killed his verses. The beat was nothing special at least we got one thing from this song Mac claims he’ll continue doing mixtapes till his richer than Bill Gates.

15.  ”Clarity” – I didn’t feel this song one bit. Everything about it was so boring and depressing to listen to.

16. “America” feat. Casey Veggies & Joey Bada$$ – Another weak song in my opinion. I hated the sample Hannibal King used mostly because it’s sounded really annoying. Casey Veggies and Joey Bada$$ had good verses but not even that could save the song for me.

17. “F*ck ‘Em All” – ID Labs provides Mac Miller with the beat for the final track of the tape. On the hook Mac screams “Get your money f*ck ‘em all”  the perfect motto for us. The hook is inspirational for regular cats like myself. Perfect outro track. Mac has something with this song.

- Even though the collaborations were good Mac allowed all of the rappers to kill him on his own sh*t and Iman Omari was garbage on both hooks apart from that the guest features were good.

- Mac Miller’s subject matter seems to be limited to on this tape. His verses are mostly about girls, drugs and drinking. Taking into account that his only 20 his subject matter should expand with time as his career grows.

+ Mac showed growth as an artist and person on this mixtape. He experimented with new production on songs like “Lucky Ass B*tch”, “Loud” and “Ignorant” and really showed his versatility on them. I think with more songs like those he’ll be able to get more fans. 

+ Having a 17 track mixtape could be a hit or miss, usually the songs get repetitive but in this case Mac hit the spot. The track were all different in their own ways. The production was great in general with only like 2 bad beats. Some of the standout tracks were “Loud”, “Ignorant”, “The Question”, “Thoughts From A Balcony” and “F*ck ‘Em All”. 

OVERALL SCORE:

8 OUT OF 10