Mac Miller’s 8 Most Moving Songs From ‘Swimming,’ Five Years Later

variety.com:

McKinley Franklin editor On Aug. 3, 2018, just weeks ahead of Mac Miller’s death on Sept. 7 at the age of 26, the rapper released his fifth studio album, “Swimming.” Across its 13 tracks, Miller entered a new melodic era that permeated with vulnerable confessions and paid tribute to his jazzy influences.

Looking back five years after its release, the album acts as a sort of admission of his spiritand an unrealized farewell. Built as the counterpart to its 2020 successor “Circles” (as in “Swimming” in “Circles”), the former peaked at No.

3 on the Billboard 200, where it’s stayed for 235 weeks. “Swimming” became certified platinum in February 2021 — making it Miller’s first project to do so — and became double platinum in June 2023.

Rising to popularity in late 2010 for his “frat rap” sound, Miller’s debut album “Blue Slide Park” (2011) earned an infamous 1.0 rating from Pitchfork, driving the narrative that he was yet another rapper whose repertoire was defined by “lust[ing] after fame, money and women.” And while he rapped about “tryin’ to get a mansion” in the dawn of his career, Miller quickly came into his own.