Hey! Welcome back for another edition of the SoundCentric newsletter!

It was an exciting week in music this past week, but nothing can compare to the feeling of waking up on a Friday and hearing a new Mac Miller album for the first time. My breakdown of the release of the new album is below!

There is also a Google Form below to submit your music, and in the future I will be picking my favorites and giving them a review. So, submit away!

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Deep Dive

Mac Miller's Family Has Handled His Posthumous Work Perfectly

I’ll be honest, this is an odd article to write.

I’m about to give a compliment for something you’d expect from any family. It’s like complimenting your best friend for remembering your birthday. Uhhh… yeah, thanks?

That being said, in the day and age we live in, what I’m about to say is pretty rare: Mac Miller’s family has done the best and most respectful job of releasing his posthumous works.

We’ve all seen albums in recent years released by families of artists who passed away far too young that feel like money grabs. Sometimes, they’re even uncomfortable to listen to.

These albums are filled with features from artists the deceased never met, layered over beats the rapper never heard. But I don’t want to place blame on those families. I have no idea what their lives or financial situations are like, and I pray I’m never in the position they’re in. The labels, on the other hand? I’m more than happy to place some blame on them.

Mac Miller passed away at the age of 26 in September 2018, just a little over a month after releasing his classic album Swimming. Following his passing, his family held the Mac Miller: Celebration of Life concert at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. The show featured tribute performances from artists like Anderson .Paak, John Mayer, Thundercat, SZA, ScHoolboy Q, Chance the Rapper, and many more. Proceeds from the show benefited the Mac Miller Circles Fund.  

Unbeknownst to the general public, Mac was making another album at the exact same time as Swimming, which would later be released in 2019 under the title Circles. Not only was he working on this other album, but some of the songs that ended up on Swimming were originally meant for Circles, and vice versa.

You can find a lot of amazing details about the creation of these two albums and all of Mac’s other projects in Donna-Claire Chesman’s The Book of Mac. In the book, music engineer Vic Weinstain said, “Circles came as a byproduct of the [number] of songs we had that existed in an alternate world we were working on.”

A lot of people have a negative opinion of posthumous releases, and understandably so. These opinions aren’t just based on recent posthumous releases like those from Juice WRLD, XXXTentacion, and Pop Smoke. Tom Breihan noted in his review of Tupac’s 2006 release Pac’s Life that, “Pac's Life doesn't exactly pay tribute to the actual life of Tupac Shakur. It's about the legend of the unrepentant thug who was too uncontainable to live.”

Mac Miller collaborator and producer Thelonious Martin said about Circles, “I don’t really like posthumous music, but seeing what this was selected from, [having] the family’s blessings, and Jon Brion working on it… This one, I feel, it’s a little bit of a different situation. It’s a beautiful situation. Usually, stuff is undone, and the family blessing might not be with good energy surrounding it… I would want Mac’s legacy to be carried on in the most proper way possible, and that’s what we’re getting.”

Publicist Nick Dierl said, “On some level, it’s an inherently flawed process. You’re trying to make decisions in place of not having the one person who should ultimately be making decisions. In that way, it’s never perfect. But, considering the circumstances, I feel like everyone involved treated [Circles] with the intention it deserved and made every effort to present it to the world in as respectful a way as possible.”

Now, the Miller family just dropped another body of work this past week with the release of Mac’s Balloonerism, an album created between the making of Watching Movies With the Sound Off and Faces. They teased the release with a mini trailer shown at Tyler, the Creator’s annual Camp Flog Gnaw festival. Later, the family posted the following on Instagram:

As the statement above explains, the Miller family believed that “the project showcases both the breadth of his musical talents and fearlessness as an artist. Given that unofficial versions of the album have circulated online for years and that releasing Balloonerism was something Malcolm frequently expressed as being important to him, we felt it most appropriate to present an official version of the project to the world.”

This album had more of a rollout than some mainstream artists get while they’re still here. At every turn, it feels like the Miller family has made thoughtful decisions that best represent Mac’s artistic vision, with the focus always on the music. No random features. No big-name producer placements. No gimmicks. Just beautiful art.

Like I said at the start of this article, it feels weird to praise a family for acting ethically, but that’s the world we live in. So thank you to the Miller family. We know your son meant the world to you, and his music has meant the world to all of us.

Long live Mac Miller.

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Thank you for tuning in to newsletter number 2! And in case I don see ya’, good afternoon, good evening, and goodnight!