Review Summary: The end is nigh.
I'm 17.
And no, that was not the introduction into some rant about how my generation has awful music, but I'm better than them because I listen to cool music like Hendrix and the Beatles and Zeppelin.
No, it's much worse than that. You see, I go to a high school where, If you don't listen to Mac Miller, you are either an
A) Asshole. Who the f*ck doesnt like Mac Miller?
B) Virgin. Seriously bro, who the f*ck doesn't like Mac Miller?
C) Hipster. Come on bro. Who the f*ck doesn't like Mac Miller???
So I guess I'm supposed to like the album. I would really prefer it for people to not think im some pompous asshole. There lies the crux of the issue though, as I can't find any possible redemption in an album that has a song where the majority of the lyrics are -
“DrinkDrinkDrinkDrinkDrink! Fill it up! Fill it up! X4”
And for the record, I'm not against drinking, I've done my share. Many people in the comments will now comment on how I wrote that last sentence just because I wanted you guys to know I'm super hip because I'm drinking and I'm underage. You might be right, I honestly don't know. I'm super hammered right now, bro. I just had a Bud Light.
But I digress, the 'Music' lacks any originality or creative thought. Most of the lyrics revolve around, guess what, Sex/Drugs/Money. But don't worry, every once in a while he'll pitch a mean curveball and talk about his Van or Hashtags. The words are recyclable, which may be good for the environment, but really suck in music. The lyrics follow an almost cynically childish train of thought that were clearly written to impress freshman girls in high school. In fact, I find it difficult that anyone above the age of 18 can possibly derive any pleasure from this. Or anyone under 18, for that matter.
Musically, It's a creative wonderland. The time signatures fluctuate between 4/4 and 4/4. Every once in a while, it will switch to 4/4. The flow of the rapping stays the same in almost every song, but Mac is smart enough to mix it up by squeezing in that one extra syllable every few lines. Some of the sampling is well done, I guess. 'Party on Fifth Avenue' Is almost, but still not quite, bearing some resemblance to music. The sampling is fairly well fitting, the lyrics are about partying of course, and the music kind of repeats, but at least its straight shooting and tries to do something kind of ambitious. My personal favorite lyrical gem on this album is -
“My light up shoes on, my light up shoes on, my light up shoes on, they love it when my kicks flash. This ain't the time to just sit back, theres a party on 5th ave!”
Who is Miller's primary audience? The partiers? No, most of the cool one's listen to badass music like Tyler the Creator. The Straight Edge clique? Clearly not. Freshman girls? I dont think most of them could find the download link. Perhaps that disturbingly large group of kids that smoked weed twice out of a water bottle bong and now listen to music that explicitly states that they smoke as well? And when did Bob Marley become so popular with middle schoolers!? Am I to believe that all middle schoolers are stoners? Or should I quit my prog band and start making reggae?
Im getting sidetracked. Take it easy on me, it's so hard to talk about the music when almost nothing on this album resembles anything like music. I actually just downloaded the album cover of Blue Slide Park onto my brand new ipad 3's gorgeous retina display, only for the device to be used as toilet paper. Unfortunately, the device is scarred forever by the fact that Mac Miller was, even if only for a second, on the screen. That and all the sh*t.
The lyrics are stale and contrived, the music is garbage, the album cover looks like something someone would post on Instagram and Mac Miller himself is a complete tool.
Don't buy the album, don't listen to it, don't even read reviews about it. But I'm no Howard Roark, I'm going to walk around my hallways with my beats on full blast and my jailbroken ipod touch up all the way jammin to “Loitering”. But that's only because I want to be cool.
I think I'm gonna go hit up some Grey Goose.