Music Analysis #2

 New Faces v2- A Musical Analysis

New Faces v2- Mac Miller, 2014, USA

    


    One of my all-time favorite rappers will always be Mac Miller. I have been listening to his music since he released one of his first mixtapes K.I.D.S. Which is an acronym for "kicking incredible dope shit." I could not stop playing this mixtape when it first was released. My favorite song on it is "Nikes On My Feet". I even bought blue suede shoes just because of this song! It is still one of my all-time favorite songs to this day. From Spotify's Wrapped 2020, I played "Nikes On My Feet" for over 6,202 minutes. Plus, Mac Miller was my #1 artist for the year. But my favorite song by Mac Miller you cannot access on Spotify. It is on Mac Miller's, what I would say, best album/mixtape of his career. Which is known as "Faces". The reason this mixtape is not on Spotify, or any other streaming service, is quite wholesome. Mac wanted this mixtape to be accessible to everyone. Since he was fighting depression and what would sadly be his demise his drug addiction. This album would be a turning point for his sanity at the time. It pushed him to start to face his problems rather than deny them. One of the only ways Mac Miller could find happiness at the time was to make music. He produced most of the instrumentals on the mixtape. Started to invite his friends to his studio. Where they would spend days there perfecting this mixtape. So when it came time to release the mixtape he wanted it to be free. To show his gratitude to his fans for always being there for him.
Rhythm
    This instrumental, same as my last blog post, has a simple repeating rhythm. It makes the song have a fluent flow. While it goes from verse to chorus to verse and so on. Which I find pleasing to listen to. Also, with the simple repeating rhythm, it makes it easier for the rappers. That is on the instrumental to rap on. Which makes the song even more fluent than what it already is.
Lyrics
    The lyrics on this song have some really deep meanings. My favorite lyrics from this song come from Da$h. Where he goes on to say "Tryna see the bright side of life, and a ***** just keep coming back with a dark picture." This is quite true for a lot of people. Where depression clouds over them even when they try to be happy. Each rapper talks about their problems in each of their verses. This goes to show us these musicians are just humans. They breathe the same air as us even though they live a very different life from us.
Instrumental
    As I said before the instrumental has a simple repeating rhythm. It was created by the producer randomblackdude. Which is quite a funny alias to go by as he is even on the song. The producer's rapping alias is Earl Sweatshirt. He created this instrumental while he was at Mac Miller's crib. Now Earl is credited for the production of the instrumental. But really he and Mac sat together creating it.
They spent over 12 hours perfecting this instrumental. Where they even scrapped it completely but eventually came back to it. 
    From the instrumental to the lyrics I think this is one of the very few perfect songs for me. I fell in love with it instantly when I first listened to it. So it will always hold a very special place for me. The album, in general, will always be the best Mac Miller production. Josh Glicksman also noted it being the heart of  Mac Miller's career. Which I come to find to be true. Since a lot of people can find a song on this mixtape that they can relate to in some way.

Glicksman, Josh. "Five Years Later, 'Faces' Is the Heart of Mac Miller's Career." Five Years Later, 'Faces' Is the Heart of Mac Miller's Career, Billboard, 10 May 2019, www.billboard.com/articles/columns/hip-hop/8510929/mac-miller-faces-anniversary.

"Mac Miller: How A White Kid From Pittsburgh Earned Acceptance in Hip Hop." Youtube, uploaded by Jake Zeeman, 7 Sept. 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJAR-xUCpQI

    


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