Mac Miller has exploded onto the international hip-hop scene, due in part to the critical acclaim for his last mixtape offering, Best Day Ever. Unfortunately this explosion has somewhat confused Mr Miller; his first official album Blue Slide Park is a hastily-timed, awkward and insincere jump from freshman rapper to wannabe hip-hop cliche. In the space of just 18 months Mac has lost the easy ‘you-could-be-me-too’ warmth which emanated from his popular home-made videos; filmed in local playgrounds, supermarkets and on his parent’s porch. Instead hotel suites, tuxedos and scantily clad girls dominate the visuals that complement his latest music. The welcoming and bubbly innocence is lost as Mac, looking lost within the confines of his suit, raps about money and designer clothes.
Rather than sticking with the carefree concepts of his previous mix-tapes, (including marijuana smoking, enjoying the long haze of summer and idolising both Nike trainers and hot girls) he has released an odd collection of mismatched songs. Some of the 16 tracks perplexingly claim he is still that average Pittsburgh teenager, “PA Nights” and “Of the Soul”, whilst the title song, “Blue Slide Park” screams he has so much money nobody can mess with him.
This awkward attempt at misogynistic, bling rap, one that doesn’t fit with Mac’s previous image, is furthered in “Of the Soul” when he describes a woman in a way that ODB would be proud of.
On “PA Nights” he extends a feeble olive branch to the parts of his audience he may not have already disenchanted, claiming “his fans still know who he is.” Yet I’m not sure they do Mac, not if you don’t anymore, shown by the contradictory themes embedded in every song. The sole redeeming feature of the album is that it’s so carefully produced. It’s a real shame his carefree proselytising of old is limited on the soulful and heavy hitting beats that are so eminent on his latest offering.
2 Stars