The Faces of Mac Miller
How Mac Miller’s “Faces” set up a genre-defining rapper’s legacy
“…my tragedy my masterpiece….”
-Mac Miller, “Funeral”
Mac Miller’s Faces combines the somber, strong lyricism he was known for with the musical complexity that made it one of his strongest works. Originally released in 2014, it wasn’t until the posthumous re-release that we would be able to truly understand the honesty of the Pittsburgh rapper and his struggles with loneliness, addiction, and fame that he dealt with before his passing to overdose in 2018.
From the first song, “Inside Outside,” Faces was presented differently. Miller jumps straight into a horns section proclaiming, “I shoulda died already,” plunging you directly into one of his most beloved works. The strong jazz influence present throughout the mixtape pairs perfectly with the monotone, proud-spoken rapper. Such genre mixing could have been a costly decision, but Miller pulls it off like only he could. This continues into the mixtape, with each song bringing a powerful story and music behind it.
Faces was the first time Mac had openly rapped about his addiction issues. In “Angel Dust,” he starts with lines about his braggadocios lifestyle, holding nothing back, just to completely turn it around with the line “waking up annihilated on the pavement” in reference to a PCP overdose. “Polo Jeans,” his ninth track, goes into unnerving detail about Mac’s cocaine addiction and his reliance on the drug. He was losing control of his life, but he couldn’t stop. He struggled with how his brash lifestyle affected others in subsequent tracks “Therapy” and “Grande Finale.” In the latter, he proclaimed tragically, “The world will be just fine without me.” Mac’s complicated and engrossing journey through an earlier part of his career opened the world’s eyes to a deeper, more vulnerable artist.
The strong jazz influence and classic hip-hop backing are present throughout the piece, but it’s the story that makes Faces Mac Miller’s defining work. The twenty-four songs plus a bonus track keeps the listener hooked from beginning to end. Re-released in 2021 by his estate on all streaming platforms, Faces still shines in a new era of rap. The music and the stories he tells are engrossing, pulling the listener in and out of the depths of a dark but intriguing masterpiece. While Miller was not around to see his greatest work find success in its re-release, his genius lives on through an inimitable voice, beyond a life that was cut tragically short.
