Mac Miller’s 2014 mixtape Faces will be released to Apple Music and Spotify Friday, Oct. 15.
The late rapper began his music career as an 18-year-old, fresh out of high school, known for making frat boy rap, constantly referencing his love for weed and Patrón, his desire to own designer clothes and getting all the pretty girls to flock to him.
However, at the end of his career, fans saw Mac touching a more introspective side of his creative brain, acknowledging his struggles with a somber, yet uplifting tone. Unfortunately, the rapper’s career was cut short due to an accidental drug overdose Sept. 7, 2018.
Faces really bridges this gap, diving deep into the mind of a generational talent at the peak of his drug abuse.
Mac even compared his mental state at the time to not being on planet earth in a 2017 tweet. While as an up-and-coming rapper, Miller rapped about drugs and alcohol as if they are nothing but sources of entertainment, on Faces, Mac can be heard referencing his drug use as more of an obstacle.
For example, Miller rapped “My brain fried, always chasin’ the same high I’m too f***** up to function, do nothin’ but waste time” in his mixtape “Faces.” In his mixtape “K.I.D.S.” Miller also rapped “This weed got me laughing like a damn hyena.”
With that being said, Faces is not a sad mixtape by any means, it is simply an illustration of one point in time in a man’s life, as all of Miller’s albums are.
One huge reason why Mac is my favorite artist is that every single one of his projects is like reflecting on a certain time in his life, diving deep into his personal life and problems, resulting in a particular level of individualism; you really get to hear his true feelings.
While originally released as a free project on Mother’s Day of 2014, the mixtape was never released due to sample clearances. Faces is the last of Mac’s mixtapes to be released to streaming after his 2010 tape K.I.D.S was cleared for release last year. It’s tremendous to be able to see a great deal of Mac’s work becoming widely available, hopefully being ushered into a new audience who will enjoy it as much as those who have had to suffer through Soundcloud ads over the years.
Personally, Faces is a top three Mac project for me and I recommend any music fan listen to the work in its entirety once it is released. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette posted a presumed tracklist for Faces which includes a bonus song and can be found here.
However, if you’re pressed for time, here are a few must listen to tracks: “Wedding,” “Friends” and “New Faces V2.” “Wedding” is such an incredible song with a creative outlook on relationships as Mac uses a past affair as the basis for this heartfelt ballad; definitely worth the four minutes.
This article was written by Kevin Fitzpatrick. He can be reached at [email protected].
