Interview: Mac Miller – (8/23/10)

At only 18 years old, Mac Miller is helping to bring attention to the city of Pittsburgh’s budding hip hop scene.

Since graduating high school this past spring, the young emcee has been enjoying a rapidly growing fan base. This buzz, coupled with a great work ethic, helped Mac land a record deal at Rostrum Records last month.  The label is also home to Pittsburgh’s rising star, Wiz Khalifa.

Mac Miller stopped by the HipHopAtLunch.com offices to share the stories behind his tattoos, talk about his beat selection process for the K.I.D.S. mixtape, and touch on what it’s like to be working with Rostrum Records.

That Justin Bieber meets Jadakiss comment had me cracking up!

It was cool to see that Mac Miller’s tattoos have a great deal of meaning, as they definitely stand out in all of his videos.  I agree with Mac and TreeJay, that putting art on your body helps to describe who you are without having to say a word.  Also, hearing Mac say that his engineer, Big Jerm, doesn’t even know what a guitar is was pretty hilarious!  Whether or not that’s true, Mac, Jerm, and E. Dan have been on point with the production process so far and shouldn’t switch a thing.

The young emcee has been getting a lot of love from his videos for ”Kool Aid and Frozen Pizza” and “Don’t Mind If I Do,” with the latter being done over a smooth sample from Owl City’s extremely popular “Fireflies.”  Since those tracks were the lead singles, I decided to include other standout songs from the K.I.D.S. mixtape below:

Mac Miller – “Knock Knock”

This fun, care-free track helps to show Mac Miller’s versatility, as he both sings the hook and speeds up his flow on the second verse.  Mac starts the song with:

“I feel like a million bucks, but my money don’t really feel like I do,
And from the ground, I build my own damn buzz,
People was amazed I was still in high school…
Everything’s good, I’m white boy awesome,
Up all night, Johnny Carson,
I ain’t got a Benz no, just a Honda,
But trynna get my money like an Anaconda,
Real real long.”

I wonder how many people thought Mac was going to say that he was “white boy wasted” instead of “white boy awesome,” ha!

Mac Miller – “The Spins”

A lot of people are making comparisons between Mac and Wiz Khalifa, mostly due to the strong weed references in both of their lyrics.  Having said that, this track does strike a strong comparison to The Khalifa Man’s “The Thrill,” especially with its indie-rock hook.  Here’s Mac’s second verse:

“These hoes is drunk,
Wanna come and smoke this blunt,
Then let me take them home and do anything I want,
I said baby I can ride ya, just let me get inside ya,
I can take you higher if you hit this vaporizer,
I got that dope dick, I’ll be your supplier,
You’re grabbing on my sheets and hitting notes like you Mariah,
Obsessed with me, undressing freak on ecstasy,
I’m out it and she texted me,
Like what you doin next week, next week.”

That “dope dick” line was pretty hilarious.

Mac Miller – “Senior Skip Day”

The trumpet used on “Senior Skip Day” really adds a lot to the smooth hook.  Just so you know, not all of the songs on Mac’s mixtape are so up beat.  For example, Mac gets serious on “Poppy,” which was recorded on the night he lost his grandfather.

Be sure to keep an eye out for the upcoming dates to Mac’s Incredibly Dope tour.  In the meantime, you can catch up on his videos and live footage via TreeJTV.com.

Thoughts on Mac Miller?