Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars.
Reader and Listener Discretion Advised: Discussion of suicide and drug use. Author does not condone such behavior under any circumstances. The lyrics of this album also contain some explicit language; this article does not imply endorsement of such language.
With the death of three rising hip-hop artists like XXXTentacion, Juice WRLD, and Mac Miller, one could argue 2018 was the end of an era in the ever-changing landscape that is hip-hop.
Miller’s death was excruciating in the sense that his following came from an image of self-deprecation and sensitivity rarely found in the industry of misogyny and toxic masculinity. However, Mr. Miller has faced a resurgence with the release of his second posthumous album, Balloonerism, nearly seven years after his accidental overdose; being a more upbeat entry compared to his previous work, Circles, four years ago.
Balloonerism by Mac Miller is a more upbeat coda entry to the artist’s discography, reminding us fans of the talent of somebody who left us too soon.
Off the bat, Balloonerism, unfortunately, is not Mac Miller’s best work. “It was unfocused due to rapping taking a backseat to musical content,” CCHS senior student Austin Majors says.
Most of the tracks on the album are highly experimental, forgoing any connection to Miller’s debut album, KIDS, with a somber tone that is a continuation of Miller using his art to explore the demons of his life.
With minimal lyrical content, the sparse lyrics comprise an array of infused instrumentals from an R&B and Jazz-filled aesthetic. “The song [“Shanghai-La”] with drums that don’t follow any rules and bright synths that pop up…like a memory of a good day, distorted from something that was once peaceful,” according to Pitchfork Magazine.
Sometimes, this infusion of sound works masterfully, as in such tracks as “Stoned” and my favorite song “DJ’s Chord Organ,” with an angelic feature from SZA recorded back in 2014, that reminds me why I fell in love with Miller’s music. Yet, sometimes, Miller repeats similar themes of pursuing love in all the wrong places on stronger albums, leaving them feeling redundant. Take, for instance, “5 Dollar Pony Rides,” the lead single, which “finds Miller wishing he could make his girl happy,” according to the Guardian Magazine.
During my conversation with Majors, while congregating at the overly crowded, bright senior tables, he admitted that he thought there was no meaning to the album itself. I found that to be an oversimplification. Though I agree that many of the album’s themes of loneliness and alienation Mac Miller explored in more cohesive works such as Swimming or The Divine Feminine, its flawed approach gives it such strong appeal.
In a sense, Balloonerism is the lighter version of David Bowie’s final album, Blackstar, which touches on the star’s knowledge of his demise, which is coming soon. But, while Bowie faced death with a resigned smile, Miller has a morbid fascination with death as something to envy and accept all the same.
None of this is more embodied by the final track of the album “Tomorrow Will Never Know,” which, combined with drums, sounds of mysterious voices, and heavy guitar riffs, creates a nightmarish final atmosphere.
“The nearly 12-minute Tomorrow Will Never Know hits hard… where an unanswered telephone rings emptily,” the Guardian Magazine reports. And what does this telephone ringing eternally in a nod to the MacGuffin in Sergio Leone’s “Once Upon A Time In America” mean? Perhaps the telephone’s voice is that of Miller’s phone ringing forever in time, as due to his passing, he cannot pick up the line and answer whoever is calling him from the great beyond.
A lot of artists who died young, whether it be Ritchie Valens or Buddy Holly in that fatal plane crash in 1959 or Tupac and Biggie during the Hip Hop Wars, tend to develop a cult-like following. Their fans, spending tireless hours at night, dream of the albums they never made that would’ve changed the world if released and recorded.
It’s important to note that men like Mac Miller were never perfect; they were human like the rest of us, battling unseen demons that feel real in their minds. The biggest lesson from their stories is that it is never about being perfect.
Striving for perfection can only come when we accept the most significant lesson: that humanity will forever be inherently imperfect at the end of the day.
