1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:10,959 Speaker 1: Disgraceland as a production of Double Elvis. The stories about 2 00:00:11,000 --> 00:00:15,440 Speaker 1: mac Miller are insane. He was threatened by the most 3 00:00:15,560 --> 00:00:18,520 Speaker 1: powerful man in the world, rejected by some of the 4 00:00:18,560 --> 00:00:22,120 Speaker 1: most powerful taste makers in the business, dumped by one 5 00:00:22,160 --> 00:00:25,720 Speaker 1: of the most popular singers in the universe. He self 6 00:00:25,760 --> 00:00:29,480 Speaker 1: medicated with drugs and alcohol to combat feelings of depression 7 00:00:29,600 --> 00:00:33,959 Speaker 1: and inadequacy. He hallucinated while hold up in the recording 8 00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:36,920 Speaker 1: studio alone. He was charged with a hit and run 9 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:39,680 Speaker 1: when he drunkenly ran his car into a telephone pole 10 00:00:39,760 --> 00:00:43,280 Speaker 1: and fled the scene. He was just twenty six years 11 00:00:43,280 --> 00:00:46,839 Speaker 1: old when counterfeit oxy cotone pills laced with a lethal 12 00:00:46,960 --> 00:00:51,720 Speaker 1: dose of fentanyl contributed to his unexpected death. And mac 13 00:00:51,800 --> 00:00:55,240 Speaker 1: miller process see ups and downs of life through his music, 14 00:00:55,720 --> 00:01:00,560 Speaker 1: great music, music that became exponentially stronger and more profound 15 00:01:00,600 --> 00:01:03,640 Speaker 1: as he got older. Unlike that clip I played for 16 00:01:03,680 --> 00:01:06,639 Speaker 1: you at the top of the show that wasn't great music. 17 00:01:07,480 --> 00:01:11,120 Speaker 1: That was a preset loop for my melotron called ham 18 00:01:11,120 --> 00:01:16,080 Speaker 1: and Eggs MK. Two. I played you that clip because 19 00:01:16,080 --> 00:01:18,959 Speaker 1: I can't afford the rights to someone like you by Adele, 20 00:01:19,880 --> 00:01:22,680 Speaker 1: And why would I play you that specific slice of 21 00:01:22,800 --> 00:01:27,399 Speaker 1: vocal acrobatic cheese. Could I afford it? Because that was 22 00:01:27,440 --> 00:01:31,200 Speaker 1: the number one song in America on November eighth, twenty eleven, 23 00:01:31,720 --> 00:01:34,039 Speaker 1: and that was the day that mac Miller released his 24 00:01:34,160 --> 00:01:38,039 Speaker 1: debut studio album, Blue Slide Park, a release that was 25 00:01:38,120 --> 00:01:42,440 Speaker 1: met with an unexpected critical backlash, a backlash that led 26 00:01:42,480 --> 00:01:47,520 Speaker 1: mac Miller down some previously unexplored and increasingly dark rabbit holes. 27 00:01:48,920 --> 00:01:54,920 Speaker 1: On this episode, threats, rejection, hallucinations, a hit and run, counterfeit, pills, 28 00:01:55,280 --> 00:02:15,160 Speaker 1: and mac Miller. I'm Jake Brennan and this is disgraceland. 29 00:02:29,680 --> 00:02:33,520 Speaker 1: The coffin was just big enough to fit him five 30 00:02:33,560 --> 00:02:38,320 Speaker 1: foot seven, not an inch more, not some flashy shit either, 31 00:02:38,840 --> 00:02:42,720 Speaker 1: a basic pine box. Honest, and though it was a 32 00:02:42,720 --> 00:02:46,760 Speaker 1: real coffin, this wasn't the real deal. Mack Miller was 33 00:02:46,960 --> 00:02:52,280 Speaker 1: very much alive. The song's playback continued, Mack sang along 34 00:02:52,400 --> 00:02:55,200 Speaker 1: and pointed a flashlight up at the lid. With his 35 00:02:55,280 --> 00:02:57,600 Speaker 1: other hand, he used a knife to carve two words 36 00:02:57,639 --> 00:03:02,480 Speaker 1: into the soft wood memento, Maury, remember that you have 37 00:03:02,560 --> 00:03:06,760 Speaker 1: to die. Sure. The whole concept for this music video 38 00:03:06,960 --> 00:03:10,919 Speaker 1: was more than a little cliched. Mac Miller reminding himself 39 00:03:10,960 --> 00:03:14,840 Speaker 1: of life's and permanence. While stuck inside a coffin, mac 40 00:03:14,880 --> 00:03:18,440 Speaker 1: Miller buried alive by the anxious thoughts inside his head. 41 00:03:19,040 --> 00:03:22,360 Speaker 1: Mac Miller has to die so that mac Miller can live. 42 00:03:23,320 --> 00:03:26,800 Speaker 1: But cliches are cliches for a reason, because they're true, 43 00:03:27,360 --> 00:03:31,680 Speaker 1: because they're honest. Just like this cheap pine box, life 44 00:03:31,800 --> 00:03:33,680 Speaker 1: buried you, and you found a way to punch up 45 00:03:33,680 --> 00:03:35,560 Speaker 1: through the dirt and the worms and all the other 46 00:03:35,760 --> 00:03:37,920 Speaker 1: ly fucking creepy crawleys that lived six feet under in 47 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:40,880 Speaker 1: darkness and roth. Life put you in a box, and 48 00:03:40,960 --> 00:03:43,640 Speaker 1: you said, nah, no today, motherfucker, and you fought your 49 00:03:43,680 --> 00:03:46,320 Speaker 1: way out, fought your way out, fought your way at a 50 00:03:46,400 --> 00:03:48,720 Speaker 1: version two point zero or three point zero or whatever 51 00:03:48,840 --> 00:03:51,720 Speaker 1: very end of yourself you were becoming. This time it 52 00:03:51,760 --> 00:03:54,840 Speaker 1: was two thousand and eight, but mac Miller was twenty six. 53 00:03:55,520 --> 00:03:58,240 Speaker 1: He was filming the video for his new single Self Care, 54 00:03:58,440 --> 00:04:01,840 Speaker 1: off his upcoming fifth studio, All Swimming. He'd been through 55 00:04:01,880 --> 00:04:04,320 Speaker 1: the ringer of time and time again, just like everybody, 56 00:04:04,640 --> 00:04:07,440 Speaker 1: and this time was no different. Told he wasn't good enough, 57 00:04:07,680 --> 00:04:09,960 Speaker 1: nearly convinced he was trying to be someone who wasn't. 58 00:04:10,320 --> 00:04:12,920 Speaker 1: His heart had been broken The drugs were always just 59 00:04:12,960 --> 00:04:15,240 Speaker 1: a text message away, whether you were truly in need 60 00:04:15,360 --> 00:04:21,160 Speaker 1: or you were just bored. Which one was he in 61 00:04:21,240 --> 00:04:25,600 Speaker 1: need or just bored? He wasn't sure, but regardless he 62 00:04:25,680 --> 00:04:29,800 Speaker 1: knew he'd showed a text to the man. Soon enough, Drugs, heartbreak, 63 00:04:30,040 --> 00:04:32,919 Speaker 1: the pressure of fame. It was all your basic life 64 00:04:32,920 --> 00:04:35,159 Speaker 1: and death shit. And you respond to life and death 65 00:04:35,200 --> 00:04:38,000 Speaker 1: shit one of two ways. You either let it all 66 00:04:38,040 --> 00:04:40,479 Speaker 1: bury you, or you punch up through the pine box 67 00:04:40,560 --> 00:04:43,560 Speaker 1: coffin like Uma Thurman and Kill Bill Volume two, and 68 00:04:43,800 --> 00:04:47,120 Speaker 1: you get back up, get ready for anything, packed accordingly, 69 00:04:47,680 --> 00:04:50,080 Speaker 1: because there was always more life left to live, and 70 00:04:50,200 --> 00:04:52,920 Speaker 1: because any of us could leave this planet at any moment. 71 00:04:53,680 --> 00:04:56,480 Speaker 1: It was like Arthur Lee sang in that song, Everybody's 72 00:04:56,480 --> 00:05:00,440 Speaker 1: got to live and Everybody's gonna die. He knew what 73 00:05:00,560 --> 00:05:03,239 Speaker 1: was up. Arthur Lee was dope, and so we're Dylan 74 00:05:03,360 --> 00:05:06,520 Speaker 1: and the Beatles. Mac fucked with all those guys. He 75 00:05:06,560 --> 00:05:09,520 Speaker 1: fucked with John Lennon the most. That was John's face 76 00:05:09,600 --> 00:05:14,320 Speaker 1: right there, inked on Max's forearm. John was honest, raw, real. 77 00:05:14,839 --> 00:05:16,960 Speaker 1: John was just as real as Tribe or Wu Tang 78 00:05:17,040 --> 00:05:21,120 Speaker 1: or big L. Fuck Big L. Now that was Max. 79 00:05:21,240 --> 00:05:23,839 Speaker 1: Shit He could still remember the first time he heard 80 00:05:23,839 --> 00:05:28,240 Speaker 1: Big L's debut album What Was He fourteen fifteen. That 81 00:05:28,279 --> 00:05:31,359 Speaker 1: record inspired Mac to rap for the first time. But 82 00:05:31,440 --> 00:05:33,800 Speaker 1: Big L was from Harlem, and that was a long 83 00:05:33,839 --> 00:05:36,880 Speaker 1: way from Point Breeze. It was obvious that Mac had 84 00:05:36,920 --> 00:05:39,320 Speaker 1: talent from the jump, but rhyming like he was from 85 00:05:39,320 --> 00:05:41,520 Speaker 1: the projects in New York City and not some little 86 00:05:41,600 --> 00:05:43,560 Speaker 1: dude from a nice part of Pittsburgh got him a 87 00:05:43,560 --> 00:05:49,200 Speaker 1: lot of raised eyebrows. That was then over ten years ago. 88 00:05:50,160 --> 00:05:52,880 Speaker 1: These days, he wasn't trying to be someone else. He 89 00:05:53,040 --> 00:05:56,479 Speaker 1: was like his boy John Lennon's Circa Help, finally tapping 90 00:05:56,560 --> 00:06:00,000 Speaker 1: into his true self, into his deepest and darkest feelings, 91 00:06:00,560 --> 00:06:03,599 Speaker 1: just bearing it all. He wore his influences on his sleeve. 92 00:06:04,160 --> 00:06:07,760 Speaker 1: Not just outcast M F. Doom and Yea, but Elliot 93 00:06:07,760 --> 00:06:11,640 Speaker 1: Smith poured his head and modest mouse. Life was too 94 00:06:11,640 --> 00:06:15,880 Speaker 1: short to not sound like yourself. You must remember that 95 00:06:15,960 --> 00:06:20,359 Speaker 1: you have to die. He read somewhere that back in 96 00:06:20,400 --> 00:06:23,800 Speaker 1: ancient Rome, slaves used to whisper Momento Maury into the 97 00:06:23,880 --> 00:06:27,120 Speaker 1: years of the generals after a victory. You were mortal. 98 00:06:27,400 --> 00:06:31,960 Speaker 1: Don't get cocky, don't get consumed by Hubris. Hubris was 99 00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:35,360 Speaker 1: the least of max concerns. He was young and rich, 100 00:06:35,440 --> 00:06:37,680 Speaker 1: but he was humble. It was the other shit he 101 00:06:37,720 --> 00:06:40,080 Speaker 1: had to worry about, not just the molly and the 102 00:06:40,120 --> 00:06:42,919 Speaker 1: coke and the yellows and the blues. Drugs came and 103 00:06:43,040 --> 00:06:45,400 Speaker 1: drugs went. That he got fucked up, but he wasn't 104 00:06:45,440 --> 00:06:48,640 Speaker 1: fucked at least that's what he told himself. It was 105 00:06:48,680 --> 00:06:54,080 Speaker 1: the other stuff that consumed him, the real heavy shit rejection. First, 106 00:06:54,120 --> 00:06:56,359 Speaker 1: it was the distracts. They said he was whacked, they 107 00:06:56,360 --> 00:06:59,040 Speaker 1: said he was weak, long before Snoop Dogg called him 108 00:06:59,040 --> 00:07:02,120 Speaker 1: White Chocolate. Was just some pale, half Jewish, half Catholic 109 00:07:02,120 --> 00:07:07,040 Speaker 1: motherfucker from Point Breeze, Point Breeze. Who fucks with Pointbrees anyways, Nobody. 110 00:07:07,480 --> 00:07:09,560 Speaker 1: He had to prove to his peers that he was worthy, 111 00:07:09,920 --> 00:07:11,960 Speaker 1: that he had skills, and that he had his own 112 00:07:12,040 --> 00:07:14,400 Speaker 1: voice and he could hold his own on any stage. 113 00:07:14,880 --> 00:07:16,480 Speaker 1: But it wasn't just as peers. It gave him a 114 00:07:16,520 --> 00:07:19,800 Speaker 1: hard time. It was his critics too. He was twenty 115 00:07:19,880 --> 00:07:22,800 Speaker 1: years old when he released Blue Slide Park, his debut 116 00:07:22,800 --> 00:07:25,880 Speaker 1: full length album, in twenty eleven. It was a huge 117 00:07:25,920 --> 00:07:28,960 Speaker 1: moment for him. The culmination of hours and years of 118 00:07:29,000 --> 00:07:32,239 Speaker 1: hard work, a jump to legitimacy after years of releasing 119 00:07:32,320 --> 00:07:35,680 Speaker 1: mixtapes for free online. It debuted at number one on 120 00:07:35,720 --> 00:07:38,360 Speaker 1: the Billboard Charts, the first indie record to do that 121 00:07:38,440 --> 00:07:41,960 Speaker 1: in like fifteen years, but it got savaged in the press. 122 00:07:42,920 --> 00:07:46,120 Speaker 1: XXL magazine compared him not to Big L or Tribe, 123 00:07:46,200 --> 00:07:49,560 Speaker 1: or even his Pittsburgh homeboy Wiz Khalifa, to the fucking 124 00:07:49,760 --> 00:07:52,960 Speaker 1: Jonas brothers. The Spin magazine said it was as if 125 00:07:52,960 --> 00:07:55,160 Speaker 1: the cast of Glee tried to make a rap album 126 00:07:55,320 --> 00:07:57,320 Speaker 1: and Rolling Stone ad to go and compare him to 127 00:07:57,360 --> 00:08:01,000 Speaker 1: eminem because of course state how to do that. And Pitchfork, 128 00:08:01,240 --> 00:08:04,160 Speaker 1: the online hub for all things quote unquote hipster, gave 129 00:08:04,200 --> 00:08:06,440 Speaker 1: the record a one point zero rating on their notorious 130 00:08:06,440 --> 00:08:11,200 Speaker 1: ten point scale. He wasn't prepared for that shit. The 131 00:08:11,280 --> 00:08:14,480 Speaker 1: reviews destroyed him. He'd only just arrived and he was 132 00:08:14,520 --> 00:08:17,920 Speaker 1: already getting rejected. That was the first time he had 133 00:08:17,920 --> 00:08:20,560 Speaker 1: to get born again, dust himself off and proved them 134 00:08:20,560 --> 00:08:24,160 Speaker 1: all wrong. And he really shouldn't have complained. He knew 135 00:08:24,160 --> 00:08:26,840 Speaker 1: that deep down. He thought about it as he fumbled 136 00:08:26,880 --> 00:08:28,840 Speaker 1: around on the inside lid of the pine box with 137 00:08:28,880 --> 00:08:31,640 Speaker 1: his pocket knife. There were others who had gone through 138 00:08:31,640 --> 00:08:35,959 Speaker 1: worse like Arianna. She went through a waking nightmare the 139 00:08:36,040 --> 00:08:42,360 Speaker 1: year before, the likes of which he could hardly fathom. 140 00:08:42,600 --> 00:08:45,200 Speaker 1: Over fourteen thousand, I had just watched her finish her 141 00:08:45,320 --> 00:08:49,160 Speaker 1: encore at the Manchester Arena. The pink balloons dropped from 142 00:08:49,200 --> 00:08:52,400 Speaker 1: the rafters. They were everywhere on the floor, in the 143 00:08:52,400 --> 00:08:55,320 Speaker 1: hands of teenagers, giddy with that indescribable feeling you get 144 00:08:55,320 --> 00:08:58,640 Speaker 1: from your first real concert. The house lights came up. 145 00:08:59,240 --> 00:09:02,480 Speaker 1: Those fourteenth people begin to bottleneck, shuffle from their seats 146 00:09:02,520 --> 00:09:07,920 Speaker 1: to the exit, and then time stopped. An explosion erupted 147 00:09:07,920 --> 00:09:10,880 Speaker 1: from just beyond the exit doors in the arena. It 148 00:09:11,000 --> 00:09:14,640 Speaker 1: actually shook A rush of wind shot inside, followed by 149 00:09:14,640 --> 00:09:17,640 Speaker 1: thick white smoke and the smell of something rotten. The 150 00:09:17,679 --> 00:09:20,680 Speaker 1: pink balloons were suddenly swept away and some of them popped. 151 00:09:21,760 --> 00:09:25,560 Speaker 1: Hannick set in. Teenage girls were shrieking just beyond those 152 00:09:25,600 --> 00:09:29,120 Speaker 1: exit doors. Bodies were on the floor, blood and confusion. 153 00:09:29,800 --> 00:09:33,040 Speaker 1: Ariana Grande and her crew were insulated backstage, but from 154 00:09:33,080 --> 00:09:35,160 Speaker 1: back there it sounded like the world as they knew 155 00:09:35,200 --> 00:09:40,240 Speaker 1: it was coming to an end. Arianna struggled in the 156 00:09:40,280 --> 00:09:43,520 Speaker 1: aftermath of that tragedy that left twenty three dead, including 157 00:09:43,520 --> 00:09:47,000 Speaker 1: the suicide bomber, and more than a thousand injured, but 158 00:09:47,120 --> 00:09:50,000 Speaker 1: she didn't let it stop her. She mourned the victims, 159 00:09:50,200 --> 00:09:53,800 Speaker 1: she grieved, and then she moved forward. She started playing 160 00:09:53,880 --> 00:09:56,600 Speaker 1: shows again, and those shows became a style for those 161 00:09:56,640 --> 00:09:59,679 Speaker 1: who needed the most. Ariana was a great role model, 162 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:02,800 Speaker 1: seacon of strength and support, and one hell of a 163 00:10:02,840 --> 00:10:08,960 Speaker 1: best friend and lover. But Mac didn't have Arianna anymore. 164 00:10:09,520 --> 00:10:11,800 Speaker 1: She took to Twitter to say their two year relationship 165 00:10:11,840 --> 00:10:15,000 Speaker 1: was quote unquote toxic, that she had been the glue 166 00:10:15,080 --> 00:10:17,320 Speaker 1: keeping the two of them together, and then over time 167 00:10:17,440 --> 00:10:20,800 Speaker 1: she simply became less and less sticky, and now Mack 168 00:10:20,880 --> 00:10:23,480 Speaker 1: felt like he was coming unstuck. It was like the 169 00:10:23,559 --> 00:10:26,960 Speaker 1: bad reviews all over again. But losing Ariana was far 170 00:10:27,000 --> 00:10:29,920 Speaker 1: worse than any barb's pitchfork could lob at him. Love 171 00:10:30,080 --> 00:10:34,680 Speaker 1: fucking hurt. Even more painful was having to watch Ariana 172 00:10:34,920 --> 00:10:38,280 Speaker 1: arm in arm with Pete Davidson. Mack pulled his social 173 00:10:38,320 --> 00:10:42,320 Speaker 1: media accounts, he went dark. People worried, not just the fans, 174 00:10:42,320 --> 00:10:44,959 Speaker 1: but his friends and his family. Good news, man, that's 175 00:10:44,960 --> 00:10:46,760 Speaker 1: all they wanted to hear. Just the good news, but 176 00:10:47,120 --> 00:10:50,280 Speaker 1: going dark. That was just his honest reaction. It was 177 00:10:50,320 --> 00:10:53,000 Speaker 1: the truth, even if it didn't sound like the truth. 178 00:10:55,200 --> 00:10:57,960 Speaker 1: Mac Miller broke his silence with a video for Self Care, 179 00:10:58,440 --> 00:11:01,160 Speaker 1: released just months after as much to publicize split with 180 00:11:01,200 --> 00:11:04,560 Speaker 1: Ariana Grande. In it, he punches his way out of 181 00:11:04,559 --> 00:11:08,000 Speaker 1: that coffin, climbs through layers of dirt, and emerges triumphant 182 00:11:08,040 --> 00:11:11,240 Speaker 1: on the other side. He literally dusts himself off while 183 00:11:11,280 --> 00:11:14,960 Speaker 1: explosions are upped around him. Mac Miller was ready to 184 00:11:15,000 --> 00:11:20,320 Speaker 1: live again. But just like love, living was hard. Living 185 00:11:20,679 --> 00:11:23,800 Speaker 1: was putting yourself through that ringer over and over and 186 00:11:23,880 --> 00:11:27,000 Speaker 1: coming out on the other side forever changed to once 187 00:11:27,040 --> 00:11:31,640 Speaker 1: again paraphrase that dope motherfucker, Arthur Lee. Because everybody's gonna live, 188 00:11:33,040 --> 00:11:58,600 Speaker 1: then everybody's gonna die. He was seated in his studio 189 00:11:59,120 --> 00:12:03,120 Speaker 1: surrounded by face and they were everywhere. They're in the 190 00:12:03,160 --> 00:12:06,520 Speaker 1: console and on the faders, they're in the speakers and 191 00:12:06,559 --> 00:12:09,000 Speaker 1: in the back of his chair. They're all over the 192 00:12:09,040 --> 00:12:14,079 Speaker 1: red walls, big eyes, wide smiles, crows, feet and dimples 193 00:12:14,080 --> 00:12:18,520 Speaker 1: and uneven teeth, faces inside the half empty bottles of Jamison, 194 00:12:19,080 --> 00:12:22,840 Speaker 1: faces lurking in the styrofoam cups waiting to pounce from 195 00:12:22,920 --> 00:12:25,360 Speaker 1: underneath the rolled up dollar bills, and the lines of 196 00:12:25,440 --> 00:12:29,040 Speaker 1: powder in the baggies of weed. Seemed like Mac Miller 197 00:12:29,040 --> 00:12:31,480 Speaker 1: had done half the drugs in this California valley town. 198 00:12:32,080 --> 00:12:34,600 Speaker 1: Just look around. He only needed a pair of eyes 199 00:12:34,600 --> 00:12:37,800 Speaker 1: to see the place was a denivalicit activity. But the 200 00:12:37,880 --> 00:12:41,439 Speaker 1: studio was dimly lit and Mac's eyes were half closed. 201 00:12:42,160 --> 00:12:45,760 Speaker 1: The faces oozed out just the same, and they freaked 202 00:12:45,760 --> 00:12:49,959 Speaker 1: in the fuck out. He buried his head in a blanket, 203 00:12:50,000 --> 00:12:52,440 Speaker 1: but the faces were there too, like the face of 204 00:12:52,480 --> 00:12:55,440 Speaker 1: Easy Mac, a rapper from Alberta who had beef with 205 00:12:55,520 --> 00:12:59,520 Speaker 1: Mac years back. The beef was over that name, Easy Mac, 206 00:13:00,040 --> 00:13:02,480 Speaker 1: because that was the name Mac Miller himself was also 207 00:13:02,640 --> 00:13:06,080 Speaker 1: using that. This is early in Max's career, and the 208 00:13:06,120 --> 00:13:09,600 Speaker 1: beef didn't last long. Easy Mack was a juvenile name. 209 00:13:10,120 --> 00:13:13,640 Speaker 1: Mack was flexing beyond his years. As a kid, he 210 00:13:13,679 --> 00:13:16,040 Speaker 1: hung out with the older crowd. He grew up fast. 211 00:13:16,640 --> 00:13:19,560 Speaker 1: Easy Mac wasn't gonna work, and neither was his given name, 212 00:13:19,600 --> 00:13:23,199 Speaker 1: Malcolm McCormick. So he took his brother's first name, Miller, 213 00:13:23,440 --> 00:13:26,360 Speaker 1: and fashioned himself a new name that sounded both grown 214 00:13:26,440 --> 00:13:29,560 Speaker 1: up and not hokey. Then there were the faces of 215 00:13:29,559 --> 00:13:32,720 Speaker 1: his so called friends on MySpace, and not just Tom, 216 00:13:32,760 --> 00:13:36,160 Speaker 1: that creepy back half turned motherfucker, but all those blog posts, avatars, 217 00:13:36,160 --> 00:13:39,000 Speaker 1: and Twitter handles and Facebook profiles, the ones that got 218 00:13:39,000 --> 00:13:42,680 Speaker 1: his YouTube hits up into the millions. Those faces morphed 219 00:13:42,679 --> 00:13:45,480 Speaker 1: into the faces of all those actors, or maybe they 220 00:13:45,480 --> 00:13:48,920 Speaker 1: weren't real actors. Mac couldn't tell. That was supposed to 221 00:13:48,920 --> 00:13:52,160 Speaker 1: be the point. Kids from Kids, the Larry Clark movie 222 00:13:52,200 --> 00:13:56,040 Speaker 1: that inspired Max's first real release, the twenty ten mixtape 223 00:13:56,120 --> 00:14:00,720 Speaker 1: Kids Kids. Telly Casper, Jenny Gumma, Waite Gumma wasn't in 224 00:14:00,760 --> 00:14:02,400 Speaker 1: that movie. He was in his own movie. But why 225 00:14:02,400 --> 00:14:06,360 Speaker 1: the hell was his face here? Now? Mac was fucked up. 226 00:14:06,679 --> 00:14:09,480 Speaker 1: He wasn't on planet Earth anymore. He was all alone, 227 00:14:09,840 --> 00:14:12,800 Speaker 1: constantly working, nodding his head to the beads coming out 228 00:14:12,840 --> 00:14:17,040 Speaker 1: of the monitors, writing and rewriting non stop round the clock, 229 00:14:17,440 --> 00:14:21,280 Speaker 1: like he had something to prove, which he did. He 230 00:14:21,360 --> 00:14:23,480 Speaker 1: wasn't some frat wrap fuckle like they said he was. 231 00:14:23,520 --> 00:14:25,640 Speaker 1: He wasn't a wanna bee, just another white kid trying 232 00:14:25,680 --> 00:14:27,520 Speaker 1: to co opt black culture or stand up to the 233 00:14:27,560 --> 00:14:31,680 Speaker 1: real slim shady. He knew that not everyone did. Some 234 00:14:31,760 --> 00:14:34,680 Speaker 1: said he was a little too positive, too smiley, that 235 00:14:34,760 --> 00:14:37,080 Speaker 1: he had won too many rhymes about smoking weed, eating 236 00:14:37,160 --> 00:14:39,960 Speaker 1: yogurt and going to parties. He hadn't paid his dues, 237 00:14:40,320 --> 00:14:43,160 Speaker 1: wasn't a hood dude, lived a kush life. Son of 238 00:14:43,160 --> 00:14:46,840 Speaker 1: an architect and a photographer. Not exactly the origin story 239 00:14:46,880 --> 00:14:52,760 Speaker 1: for a formidable MC from the jump. Mac Miller's journey 240 00:14:52,800 --> 00:14:56,160 Speaker 1: to respectability and acceptance was a hard one. He figured 241 00:14:56,200 --> 00:14:58,320 Speaker 1: he could use his charm to turn any hater into 242 00:14:58,360 --> 00:15:01,240 Speaker 1: a fan, but the backlash received after the release of 243 00:15:01,280 --> 00:15:04,400 Speaker 1: Blue Slide Park was so overwhelming it sent him into 244 00:15:04,440 --> 00:15:07,080 Speaker 1: a tail span. All the work he put into making 245 00:15:07,080 --> 00:15:09,240 Speaker 1: that record, and not just the nuts and bolts of 246 00:15:09,280 --> 00:15:11,880 Speaker 1: the record itself, but everything that led up to it, 247 00:15:12,040 --> 00:15:14,160 Speaker 1: the long hours he put it in as a teenager, 248 00:15:14,440 --> 00:15:18,160 Speaker 1: uplated his folks plays, teaching himself piano, guitar, bass, drums, 249 00:15:18,240 --> 00:15:21,520 Speaker 1: writing verses, getting the flow right, leaning into his marbled 250 00:15:21,520 --> 00:15:25,280 Speaker 1: mouth delivery, then spreading the word online, the mixtapes, the 251 00:15:25,360 --> 00:15:27,920 Speaker 1: U streams, and then touring playing to whoever showed up, 252 00:15:28,120 --> 00:15:31,880 Speaker 1: getting nervous and puking backstage, maintaining his every man image 253 00:15:31,880 --> 00:15:34,840 Speaker 1: by crowdsourcing for parties or couches to crash via Twitter. 254 00:15:35,320 --> 00:15:38,680 Speaker 1: Even XXL magazines coveted in Freshman cover, which was a 255 00:15:38,760 --> 00:15:41,680 Speaker 1: huge get for an outsider like Mac Miller, which found 256 00:15:41,760 --> 00:15:44,360 Speaker 1: him photographed next to other up and comers like Meek Mill, 257 00:15:44,520 --> 00:15:48,520 Speaker 1: Big krit And Kendrick and Hindsight. Even that felt like 258 00:15:48,560 --> 00:15:51,600 Speaker 1: he'd just controlled. The same publication that hailed him as 259 00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:55,480 Speaker 1: a rising star soon tore him down with a humiliating review. 260 00:15:56,720 --> 00:15:59,320 Speaker 1: Everyone talked shit in the hip hop game, from run 261 00:15:59,400 --> 00:16:03,160 Speaker 1: DMC Beasties to Jay Lil Wayne, but Mac wasn't prepared 262 00:16:03,160 --> 00:16:04,880 Speaker 1: for all the shit talk that came his way as 263 00:16:04,880 --> 00:16:07,920 Speaker 1: he became more well known. He needed to get tougher 264 00:16:08,240 --> 00:16:13,600 Speaker 1: to give less of a fuck, So he dabbled and 265 00:16:13,680 --> 00:16:17,800 Speaker 1: give less of a fuck extracurriculars Mollie Benzo's oxy coke. 266 00:16:17,880 --> 00:16:20,360 Speaker 1: The bigger the cup of Lean, the better, the syrupy 267 00:16:20,400 --> 00:16:25,000 Speaker 1: coating laced liquid melodon, the fuck out. The drugs transformed him. 268 00:16:25,320 --> 00:16:28,760 Speaker 1: That infectious smile and gregarious demeanor that won over so 269 00:16:28,840 --> 00:16:31,520 Speaker 1: many early fans was replaced with the thick skin of 270 00:16:31,560 --> 00:16:34,480 Speaker 1: a missing throat. He drank Lean not just to get 271 00:16:34,520 --> 00:16:36,720 Speaker 1: fucked up, but to prove a point that he wasn't 272 00:16:36,720 --> 00:16:39,800 Speaker 1: what they said he was. He could change, he was 273 00:16:39,840 --> 00:16:42,480 Speaker 1: being made to change, and he wasn't gonna let anyone 274 00:16:42,480 --> 00:16:45,440 Speaker 1: look away. He pissed off his boss at his Any label, 275 00:16:45,560 --> 00:16:48,160 Speaker 1: roasting records by drinking lean in his car against the 276 00:16:48,200 --> 00:16:51,520 Speaker 1: boss's wishes. How when he drank a backstage, it shows 277 00:16:51,720 --> 00:16:54,120 Speaker 1: his mom watched helplessly from the other side of a 278 00:16:54,160 --> 00:17:01,320 Speaker 1: security guard. Macadelic, his twenty twelve mixtape, was a drug record. 279 00:17:01,440 --> 00:17:05,080 Speaker 1: Through and through. The references were all there to lean 280 00:17:05,240 --> 00:17:08,119 Speaker 1: to cocaine, to molly, and the aptly named under the 281 00:17:08,119 --> 00:17:11,240 Speaker 1: Influence tour that followed doubled down on all of that, 282 00:17:11,920 --> 00:17:14,520 Speaker 1: and now he was going even further down the rabbit 283 00:17:14,560 --> 00:17:17,639 Speaker 1: hole he was going to call his latest mixtape Faces. 284 00:17:18,200 --> 00:17:21,359 Speaker 1: It laid bare his anxieties, his depression, his self doubt, 285 00:17:21,359 --> 00:17:24,719 Speaker 1: his drug use, even to suicidal thoughts, and it was 286 00:17:24,760 --> 00:17:27,919 Speaker 1: inspired by all the hallucinations that followed him around the 287 00:17:27,920 --> 00:17:31,680 Speaker 1: studio and wouldn't leave him alone. The lovers and the fans, yes, 288 00:17:31,720 --> 00:17:34,480 Speaker 1: but also the shit talkers, the doubters, the haters, and 289 00:17:34,520 --> 00:17:38,199 Speaker 1: the critics, even his loudest critic, one who began as 290 00:17:38,240 --> 00:17:40,919 Speaker 1: a fan a fan Mac never wanted, and one who 291 00:17:41,000 --> 00:17:48,119 Speaker 1: eventually revealed as true colors. Donald Trump was an abstraction, 292 00:17:48,800 --> 00:17:51,560 Speaker 1: at least that's what Mac Miller thought. It was like 293 00:17:51,680 --> 00:17:55,280 Speaker 1: John Lennon's song about God. Donald Trump is a concept, 294 00:17:55,400 --> 00:17:58,840 Speaker 1: or should I say Donald Trump was a concept by 295 00:17:58,920 --> 00:18:02,600 Speaker 1: which many measures their baller status, and this, of course 296 00:18:02,720 --> 00:18:05,600 Speaker 1: was years before Trump ever contemplated running for president of 297 00:18:05,640 --> 00:18:09,000 Speaker 1: the United States. He was as filthy riche dude, a 298 00:18:09,000 --> 00:18:11,600 Speaker 1: status symbol, and in the world of hip hop, being 299 00:18:11,680 --> 00:18:14,639 Speaker 1: rich and powerful like Trump was a status who aspired 300 00:18:14,680 --> 00:18:18,080 Speaker 1: to like Bruce Wayne or Tony Montana, an unfuck with 301 00:18:18,119 --> 00:18:21,400 Speaker 1: the bule archetype. So when Mac dropped his mixtape Best 302 00:18:21,480 --> 00:18:24,719 Speaker 1: Day Ever in early twenty eleven, it included a banger 303 00:18:24,760 --> 00:18:27,240 Speaker 1: of a track about living large, taking over the world, 304 00:18:27,280 --> 00:18:31,040 Speaker 1: and leaving haters in the dust. Naturally, he called the 305 00:18:31,119 --> 00:18:35,399 Speaker 1: song Donald Trump. The video racked up sixteen million views 306 00:18:35,400 --> 00:18:38,840 Speaker 1: on YouTube and counting the popularity, the clip offered an 307 00:18:38,960 --> 00:18:41,280 Speaker 1: organic and viral boost ahead of the fall release of 308 00:18:41,320 --> 00:18:44,159 Speaker 1: the Blue Slide Park album, and the views kept coming 309 00:18:44,640 --> 00:18:48,440 Speaker 1: seventeen million, eighteen million. It seemed that everyone was jumping 310 00:18:48,480 --> 00:18:54,720 Speaker 1: on the Mac Miller bandwagon, including the song's namesake. By 311 00:18:54,720 --> 00:18:57,720 Speaker 1: the time the video hit twenty million views, Donald Trump 312 00:18:57,800 --> 00:19:00,240 Speaker 1: took to the Internet in a video praising Mac and 313 00:19:00,520 --> 00:19:04,240 Speaker 1: naturally basking in the attention because, in Donald Trump's size, 314 00:19:04,359 --> 00:19:07,560 Speaker 1: he was the true reason for the song's runaway success. 315 00:19:08,080 --> 00:19:11,240 Speaker 1: That irked Mack. It was his song, his art, It 316 00:19:11,320 --> 00:19:13,720 Speaker 1: was his idea to take an uplifting melody from Soufion 317 00:19:13,800 --> 00:19:17,199 Speaker 1: Stevens slow and dreamy song Vesuvius im bended into the 318 00:19:17,200 --> 00:19:21,040 Speaker 1: irrepressible hook of an up tempo party track. And then 319 00:19:21,119 --> 00:19:26,800 Speaker 1: something happened, something that irked Mac even more. Within a 320 00:19:26,840 --> 00:19:29,919 Speaker 1: few years, Trump was no longer simply a metaphor for 321 00:19:29,920 --> 00:19:33,760 Speaker 1: filthy rich ballers. He began publicly doubting the citizenship of 322 00:19:33,840 --> 00:19:37,879 Speaker 1: President Barack Obama. He demanded to see Obama's birth certificate 323 00:19:38,119 --> 00:19:40,400 Speaker 1: like there was some grand secret known only to him 324 00:19:40,600 --> 00:19:44,080 Speaker 1: that he was about to expose. In reality, Trump was 325 00:19:44,119 --> 00:19:47,800 Speaker 1: exposing himself as a mouthpiece for bullshit. And the fucked 326 00:19:47,880 --> 00:19:50,600 Speaker 1: up thing was that other people were actually listening to this. 327 00:19:51,640 --> 00:19:54,919 Speaker 1: Mac didn't fuck with bullshit. Mac didn't fuck with Bertha 328 00:19:55,080 --> 00:19:57,359 Speaker 1: radicals either, and he didn't fuck with someone who didn't 329 00:19:57,359 --> 00:20:00,480 Speaker 1: fuck with Obama. And in two thousand and thirty, when 330 00:20:00,480 --> 00:20:03,440 Speaker 1: Mac was named Man of the Year by Complex magazine, 331 00:20:03,840 --> 00:20:07,040 Speaker 1: he used the platform to distance himself from any unnecessary 332 00:20:07,080 --> 00:20:10,680 Speaker 1: association with Donald Trump. Quote I have a fucking song 333 00:20:10,720 --> 00:20:13,959 Speaker 1: with this dude's name, Max said during the interview. Quote 334 00:20:14,200 --> 00:20:18,600 Speaker 1: and now he's just being such a fucking douchebag. Complex 335 00:20:18,680 --> 00:20:21,359 Speaker 1: smelled a beef for the ages. They made sure they 336 00:20:21,400 --> 00:20:23,639 Speaker 1: tagged Trump on Twitter when spreading the word about the 337 00:20:23,720 --> 00:20:27,320 Speaker 1: article in Max Shit Talk. Trump didn't way long to respond, 338 00:20:27,760 --> 00:20:32,040 Speaker 1: of course, he didn't. Little at mac Miller, you illegally 339 00:20:32,119 --> 00:20:34,640 Speaker 1: use my name for your song, Donald Trump, which now 340 00:20:34,680 --> 00:20:38,360 Speaker 1: has over seventy five million hits. Trump tweeted, Little at 341 00:20:38,400 --> 00:20:40,680 Speaker 1: mac Miller, I'm now going to teach you a big 342 00:20:40,680 --> 00:20:48,199 Speaker 1: boy lesson about lawsuits and finance, you ungrateful dog. At first, 343 00:20:48,359 --> 00:20:52,640 Speaker 1: Mac panicked, thinking about a man with seemingly unlimited resources 344 00:20:52,640 --> 00:20:56,040 Speaker 1: and a burgeoning army of online trolls coming after him, 345 00:20:56,400 --> 00:20:58,639 Speaker 1: But then he looked at it from another angle. He 346 00:20:58,720 --> 00:21:01,159 Speaker 1: must have done something right. Pass off a guy is 347 00:21:01,160 --> 00:21:04,360 Speaker 1: famous and devisive ast Donald fucking Trump, a guy who 348 00:21:04,400 --> 00:21:07,000 Speaker 1: now had beef with two people, and two people only, 349 00:21:07,560 --> 00:21:11,680 Speaker 1: Barack Obama and Mac Miller, and aroundabout kind of way. 350 00:21:12,280 --> 00:21:18,879 Speaker 1: Mac Miller knew that he had finally arrived. We'll be 351 00:21:19,040 --> 00:21:30,480 Speaker 1: right back after this word word word, May seventeenth, twenty eighteen, 352 00:21:31,080 --> 00:21:36,199 Speaker 1: one am, Los Angeles. The Mercedes g wagon rounded a corner. 353 00:21:36,840 --> 00:21:39,960 Speaker 1: Mac Miller clung tight to the steering wheel. He tried 354 00:21:40,000 --> 00:21:45,000 Speaker 1: to focus, but focusing was hard because Mack was drunk. 355 00:21:46,040 --> 00:21:48,560 Speaker 1: He knew this was a bad idea, getting behind the 356 00:21:48,560 --> 00:21:52,239 Speaker 1: wheel and driving himself home. Even worse, some friends were 357 00:21:52,280 --> 00:21:55,760 Speaker 1: in the ride with him, but his place was super close, 358 00:21:55,920 --> 00:21:58,359 Speaker 1: just around the corner. Not the corner that just got 359 00:21:58,440 --> 00:22:01,520 Speaker 1: hugged by the rooms of his white gas another corner 360 00:22:02,040 --> 00:22:05,639 Speaker 1: up the streetaways. He squinted and tried to visualize it. 361 00:22:06,160 --> 00:22:10,480 Speaker 1: LA's neon fought back, and then something told him the floor, 362 00:22:11,119 --> 00:22:14,320 Speaker 1: a voice, a thought, a memory. Was it someone in 363 00:22:14,359 --> 00:22:17,240 Speaker 1: the car or something in the air, something in his head. 364 00:22:17,720 --> 00:22:21,119 Speaker 1: He didn't know. He wasn't sure where the instruction came from, 365 00:22:21,119 --> 00:22:23,960 Speaker 1: but it is an ebriated condition, reeling from the state 366 00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:25,560 Speaker 1: of the world, in the state of his life. The 367 00:22:25,600 --> 00:22:29,560 Speaker 1: simple instruction made sense. Step on it, full speed ahead, 368 00:22:29,880 --> 00:22:33,760 Speaker 1: walking now. Maybe it was the alcohol talking, or maybe 369 00:22:33,760 --> 00:22:37,040 Speaker 1: the voice just gave him confidence. Whatever, it was he 370 00:22:37,119 --> 00:22:43,160 Speaker 1: did what the voice said. Petal meat Metal was Mac okay, 371 00:22:43,840 --> 00:22:47,159 Speaker 1: nah man, He was pretty fucking far from okay. The 372 00:22:47,200 --> 00:22:52,200 Speaker 1: whole world was upside down. Donald Trump was now unbelievably 373 00:22:52,280 --> 00:22:54,800 Speaker 1: the leader of the free world, and mac knew he'd 374 00:22:54,800 --> 00:22:57,720 Speaker 1: be eternally embarrassed to be associated with this guy. Not 375 00:22:57,800 --> 00:23:00,399 Speaker 1: that he hadn't tried to warn the American people. Quote 376 00:23:00,440 --> 00:23:03,000 Speaker 1: just please don't elect this motherfucker man, he tweeted all 377 00:23:03,040 --> 00:23:05,800 Speaker 1: the way back in twenty fifteen. He even appeared on 378 00:23:05,840 --> 00:23:08,439 Speaker 1: Comedy Central's The Nightly Showed to deliver a no holds 379 00:23:08,480 --> 00:23:12,520 Speaker 1: barred SmackDown against New York's most infamous billionaire, a SmackDown 380 00:23:12,520 --> 00:23:14,720 Speaker 1: that opened with the line, I only have one thing 381 00:23:14,760 --> 00:23:19,960 Speaker 1: to say. I fucking hate you Donald Trump. And though 382 00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:23,160 Speaker 1: Trump got mac Miller's blood pressure up, it was Ariana 383 00:23:23,200 --> 00:23:25,639 Speaker 1: Grande who had stolen his heart and then left it 384 00:23:25,720 --> 00:23:28,159 Speaker 1: bleeding on the side of the road. The love of 385 00:23:28,200 --> 00:23:32,240 Speaker 1: Max's life, the great stabilizing force. She was gone. And 386 00:23:32,320 --> 00:23:34,760 Speaker 1: if the photos of matching tattoos she in her rebound 387 00:23:34,800 --> 00:23:38,000 Speaker 1: boy toy Pete Davidson posted on Instagram, or any indication 388 00:23:38,400 --> 00:23:42,000 Speaker 1: she was never coming back, And if some online rumors 389 00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:44,879 Speaker 1: were to be believed. Pete Davidson was pouring salt on 390 00:23:44,920 --> 00:23:48,320 Speaker 1: the open wound by texting explicit photos of Ariana to Mac, 391 00:23:48,960 --> 00:23:51,200 Speaker 1: and that would be enough to drive anyone off the road. 392 00:23:54,720 --> 00:23:56,720 Speaker 1: Mack knew he had so many reasons to feel better 393 00:23:56,760 --> 00:24:00,840 Speaker 1: than this. Creatively and professionally, he was on the right track. 394 00:24:01,520 --> 00:24:03,679 Speaker 1: Just a few years earlier, he'd been reborn again with 395 00:24:03,720 --> 00:24:06,720 Speaker 1: a ten million dollar deal with Warner Brothers. His major 396 00:24:06,800 --> 00:24:11,240 Speaker 1: label debut, good Am recaptured the playfulness of his earlier music, 397 00:24:11,320 --> 00:24:14,800 Speaker 1: but filtered it through a more mature lens. Good Am 398 00:24:14,880 --> 00:24:18,080 Speaker 1: entered the charts at number four. Than The reviews were positive. 399 00:24:18,480 --> 00:24:22,520 Speaker 1: Even Pitchfork got behind it. Max's newfound momentum continued with 400 00:24:22,600 --> 00:24:25,359 Speaker 1: The Full Detox at the guesthouse of Rick Rubin, the 401 00:24:25,440 --> 00:24:28,560 Speaker 1: legendary record producer with an equally legendary beard and zen 402 00:24:28,640 --> 00:24:32,560 Speaker 1: outlook on life. Mac followed that with another resounding critical 403 00:24:32,560 --> 00:24:36,399 Speaker 1: and commercial success, a twenty sixteen album, The Divine Feminine. 404 00:24:36,600 --> 00:24:39,320 Speaker 1: In a tour where he stayed clean and sober for months, 405 00:24:39,960 --> 00:24:42,960 Speaker 1: Max's new album, Swimming was going to be his best yet. 406 00:24:43,440 --> 00:24:45,679 Speaker 1: He could feel it. It was a hip hop record, 407 00:24:45,680 --> 00:24:48,320 Speaker 1: a soul record, a singer songwriter record. It was all 408 00:24:48,359 --> 00:24:51,720 Speaker 1: of Mac rolled up into one. Mack was going full 409 00:24:51,840 --> 00:24:53,919 Speaker 1: John Lennon, and he made it with the help of 410 00:24:53,920 --> 00:24:57,679 Speaker 1: friends including Snoop Dogg, Thundercat, j Cole, John Bryan, and 411 00:24:57,760 --> 00:25:00,280 Speaker 1: so many others. But even better than and all this 412 00:25:00,400 --> 00:25:03,919 Speaker 1: success was the acceptance of his peers, and not just 413 00:25:04,080 --> 00:25:09,199 Speaker 1: any peer, but the pier the Goatjova. Motherfucking jay Z 414 00:25:09,680 --> 00:25:15,000 Speaker 1: actually gave Mac Miller a shout out on Twitter tonight, 415 00:25:15,080 --> 00:25:18,800 Speaker 1: though none of that mattered. Tonight. Behind the wheel of 416 00:25:18,840 --> 00:25:24,000 Speaker 1: his g wagon, Mac wasn't sure what was coming over him. Grief, regret, 417 00:25:24,520 --> 00:25:29,520 Speaker 1: drunken waves of nausea. He sunk his foot deeper into 418 00:25:29,520 --> 00:25:32,639 Speaker 1: the floor and the car roared to life. It picked 419 00:25:32,680 --> 00:25:36,640 Speaker 1: up speed fast. The boulevard rushed past the window, one 420 00:25:36,640 --> 00:25:41,040 Speaker 1: blurred memory after another. The engine hummed. Maack's mind raced 421 00:25:41,359 --> 00:25:45,440 Speaker 1: ariana Trump jay Z. He kept his foot planted. The 422 00:25:45,560 --> 00:25:48,960 Speaker 1: rush was reversed, intoxicating, It almost made him feel sober, 423 00:25:49,520 --> 00:25:51,960 Speaker 1: And then it came at him. He couldn't say it 424 00:25:52,000 --> 00:25:53,879 Speaker 1: came out of nowhere, because it was there all along. 425 00:25:53,920 --> 00:25:57,560 Speaker 1: It just got closer and closer with unprecedented speed. Until 426 00:25:57,560 --> 00:25:59,520 Speaker 1: it was right in front of him, right on top 427 00:25:59,600 --> 00:26:03,560 Speaker 1: of them, and then the car jumped the curb and 428 00:26:03,600 --> 00:26:07,560 Speaker 1: crashed head on into a telephone pole. The front end crumpled, 429 00:26:07,960 --> 00:26:11,680 Speaker 1: the airbags deployed. Max's head was tossed like a rag doll, 430 00:26:12,000 --> 00:26:15,240 Speaker 1: and the telephone pole cracked and split. The g wagon 431 00:26:15,280 --> 00:26:18,040 Speaker 1: sounded like it was frying under the hood. Mac opened 432 00:26:18,080 --> 00:26:20,960 Speaker 1: the driver's door and stumbled out onto the sidewalk. He 433 00:26:21,000 --> 00:26:23,000 Speaker 1: didn't even think about what he did next. There was 434 00:26:23,040 --> 00:26:25,520 Speaker 1: a break in a nearby fence. He slipped through it 435 00:26:25,680 --> 00:26:29,160 Speaker 1: off into the night, and the g wagon smoldered behind him. 436 00:26:29,440 --> 00:26:31,359 Speaker 1: He found his way back to his house on foot, 437 00:26:31,400 --> 00:26:35,199 Speaker 1: where hours later LAPD knocked on the door, put him 438 00:26:35,240 --> 00:26:38,359 Speaker 1: in cuffs and charged him with driving under the influence 439 00:26:38,800 --> 00:26:43,600 Speaker 1: and got hit and run. He posted bail the next day, 440 00:26:44,200 --> 00:26:50,720 Speaker 1: fifteen grand, and then he went back to work. Swimming 441 00:26:50,960 --> 00:26:54,160 Speaker 1: was nearly finished, but for many a Max entourage, things 442 00:26:54,200 --> 00:26:57,720 Speaker 1: were far from business as usual. Max longtime toward DJ 443 00:26:57,840 --> 00:27:01,800 Speaker 1: clockwork gast him point blank. What happened? What happened with 444 00:27:01,880 --> 00:27:05,359 Speaker 1: the accident? Mac thought about it for a minute, thought 445 00:27:05,440 --> 00:27:07,800 Speaker 1: back to that feeling he got that night, the feeling 446 00:27:07,800 --> 00:27:10,399 Speaker 1: that came over him. The voice told him to step 447 00:27:10,400 --> 00:27:14,080 Speaker 1: on it. Do you ever feel invincible? Mac asked, clockwork, 448 00:27:14,720 --> 00:27:43,640 Speaker 1: I just felt invincible. In August of twenty eighteen, Mac 449 00:27:43,720 --> 00:27:47,480 Speaker 1: Miller dropped Swimming, his fifth studio album and third for 450 00:27:47,520 --> 00:27:50,359 Speaker 1: Warner Brothers. It was released on the heels of the 451 00:27:50,440 --> 00:27:52,840 Speaker 1: music video for Self Care, the one on which he 452 00:27:52,920 --> 00:27:55,720 Speaker 1: carves Memento Mori into the ceiling of a coffin before 453 00:27:55,800 --> 00:28:00,680 Speaker 1: dramatically breaking out and transcending death. The album was universally 454 00:28:00,720 --> 00:28:04,560 Speaker 1: hailed as his best yet. Critics called it patient, dreamy, 455 00:28:04,800 --> 00:28:08,520 Speaker 1: air tight, and irresistible. It entered the Billboard two hundred 456 00:28:08,560 --> 00:28:12,159 Speaker 1: at number three, behind new albums by Travis Scott and Drake. 457 00:28:13,119 --> 00:28:15,560 Speaker 1: It was easy to assume that Mac was processing his 458 00:28:15,640 --> 00:28:18,080 Speaker 1: life through his art. It had been three months since 459 00:28:18,080 --> 00:28:21,159 Speaker 1: his breakup with Ariana Grande and his drunken car crash 460 00:28:21,200 --> 00:28:25,800 Speaker 1: in la But despite the brave face he wore on 461 00:28:25,840 --> 00:28:30,520 Speaker 1: the record, in reality, Max's trauma wasn't resolved. He was 462 00:28:30,560 --> 00:28:33,000 Speaker 1: still relying on bad habits to get him through the night. 463 00:28:35,359 --> 00:28:38,840 Speaker 1: One month later, on the evening of September fourth, Swimming 464 00:28:38,960 --> 00:28:42,720 Speaker 1: was still on the charts. It was around eleven pm. 465 00:28:43,160 --> 00:28:46,280 Speaker 1: Mac typed a message into his phone. Did you hear 466 00:28:46,320 --> 00:28:52,840 Speaker 1: backed about Addie? He waited impatiently for a response. Finally 467 00:28:52,880 --> 00:28:57,480 Speaker 1: it came, Nah, I couldn't find any shit. He typed 468 00:28:57,520 --> 00:29:00,960 Speaker 1: some more. All good, you don't have a lean perks. 469 00:29:01,800 --> 00:29:04,920 Speaker 1: The response came quickly this time We've got some dial 470 00:29:05,000 --> 00:29:07,560 Speaker 1: It did toos, but that's about it. I could get 471 00:29:07,640 --> 00:29:11,400 Speaker 1: yellows and blues. Though Mac got excited. He typed again 472 00:29:12,040 --> 00:29:16,240 Speaker 1: blues as far as perks, when can you get him? 473 00:29:16,480 --> 00:29:19,640 Speaker 1: Mac watched the ellipses and the chap Bubble Pul says. 474 00:29:19,640 --> 00:29:23,480 Speaker 1: His dealer composed his response, probably in an hour or two, 475 00:29:26,080 --> 00:29:29,320 Speaker 1: Cameron Pettit didn't have exactly what mac Miller was looking for. 476 00:29:29,720 --> 00:29:35,080 Speaker 1: What he had was close enough oxy xanax cocaine. Mac 477 00:29:35,120 --> 00:29:41,440 Speaker 1: texted his address and waited and waited. After nearly two hours, 478 00:29:41,440 --> 00:29:43,760 Speaker 1: he was tired of waiting. He was now around one 479 00:29:43,760 --> 00:29:47,560 Speaker 1: in the morning. Mac composed another text message, this one 480 00:29:47,600 --> 00:29:50,360 Speaker 1: to another dealer, Slash Madam, the one who introduced into 481 00:29:50,360 --> 00:29:53,080 Speaker 1: Petit in the first place. Cam is supposed to be 482 00:29:53,160 --> 00:29:56,640 Speaker 1: pulling up and he ain't answering. Mac got her attention 483 00:29:56,840 --> 00:29:59,920 Speaker 1: quick She took his order five oxies, ten out of 484 00:30:00,600 --> 00:30:03,840 Speaker 1: five Norco pills and two grams of coke. She told 485 00:30:03,880 --> 00:30:05,720 Speaker 1: Mac the coke was on the house if he booked 486 00:30:05,720 --> 00:30:11,120 Speaker 1: a girl too deal. Mac waited some more, this time 487 00:30:11,160 --> 00:30:13,200 Speaker 1: for a sex worker to show up in the studio 488 00:30:13,280 --> 00:30:17,200 Speaker 1: with the shit, but before she did, Pettitt finally responded. 489 00:30:17,640 --> 00:30:21,280 Speaker 1: He apologized he got sidetracked. He arrived at Mac's studio 490 00:30:21,360 --> 00:30:23,440 Speaker 1: around two thirty that morning, which is around the same 491 00:30:23,440 --> 00:30:26,480 Speaker 1: time that the sex worker also showed up. There were 492 00:30:26,480 --> 00:30:29,760 Speaker 1: worse things than a redundant drug delivery, but one of 493 00:30:29,800 --> 00:30:35,120 Speaker 1: those two drug deliveries was not like the other. Two 494 00:30:35,200 --> 00:30:38,640 Speaker 1: days later, on the morning of September seventh, Max's assistant 495 00:30:38,640 --> 00:30:41,760 Speaker 1: found Mac on his bed. His skin was turning blue, 496 00:30:42,200 --> 00:30:45,640 Speaker 1: liquid was oozing from his mouth. The assistant called nine 497 00:30:45,640 --> 00:30:47,800 Speaker 1: to one one and tried to revive Mac with CPR, 498 00:30:47,920 --> 00:30:51,440 Speaker 1: but it was too late. Some of the drugs delivered 499 00:30:51,440 --> 00:30:53,560 Speaker 1: to mac Miller a few nights earlier did not come 500 00:30:53,600 --> 00:30:57,800 Speaker 1: as advertised. The oxy Coton pills, the blues or thirties 501 00:30:57,880 --> 00:31:00,880 Speaker 1: aka generic thirty milligram pills that he bought off Cameron 502 00:31:00,880 --> 00:31:04,760 Speaker 1: Pettit were actually counterfeit. Cops found those pills, along with 503 00:31:04,840 --> 00:31:08,520 Speaker 1: legit oxy pills, adderall norco xanax and cocaine, and max 504 00:31:08,600 --> 00:31:12,920 Speaker 1: cot Hanging in his closet. The counterfeit OxyS tested positive 505 00:31:12,960 --> 00:31:16,520 Speaker 1: for a lethal dose of fentanyl. Judging by the paraphernalia 506 00:31:16,600 --> 00:31:19,160 Speaker 1: they also found on site, Mac had crushed up and 507 00:31:19,200 --> 00:31:22,080 Speaker 1: snorted the fentanyl, completely unaware of what he was taking. 508 00:31:22,960 --> 00:31:25,360 Speaker 1: He died of an accidental overdose due to the mixed 509 00:31:25,400 --> 00:31:32,200 Speaker 1: drug toxicity in his system fentanyl, cocaine, and alcohol. Following 510 00:31:32,200 --> 00:31:35,360 Speaker 1: his death, streams of Max music jumped a wopping nine 511 00:31:35,440 --> 00:31:39,040 Speaker 1: hundred and seventy percent. Swimming re entered the Billboard Top ten, 512 00:31:39,080 --> 00:31:42,360 Speaker 1: and hit number one on Apple Music Streaming Chair. His 513 00:31:42,440 --> 00:31:47,360 Speaker 1: final album, Circles, was released posthumously in January of twenty twenty, 514 00:31:47,400 --> 00:31:50,320 Speaker 1: further cementing the laid back hybrid style that had come 515 00:31:50,400 --> 00:31:53,240 Speaker 1: to define his music. It also moved one hundred and 516 00:31:53,280 --> 00:31:56,160 Speaker 1: sixty four thousand album equivalent units in its first week, 517 00:31:56,640 --> 00:32:00,840 Speaker 1: Max's biggest sales week ever. Mac Miller had finally punched 518 00:32:00,840 --> 00:32:04,520 Speaker 1: his way through the rejection. The only injustice was that 519 00:32:04,560 --> 00:32:08,120 Speaker 1: he wasn't alive to enjoy it. There was some justice 520 00:32:08,120 --> 00:32:10,920 Speaker 1: in the world. Two men who were involved in the 521 00:32:10,960 --> 00:32:13,959 Speaker 1: sale of the fentanyl, and mac Miller received prison sentences. 522 00:32:14,520 --> 00:32:17,840 Speaker 1: Ryan Revis, who supplied the bogus pills to Cameron Pettit, 523 00:32:18,240 --> 00:32:21,720 Speaker 1: was sentenced to just under eleven years in prison. Revs, 524 00:32:21,720 --> 00:32:24,040 Speaker 1: in turn at the pills from a guy named Stephen Walter, 525 00:32:24,080 --> 00:32:27,000 Speaker 1: who is now doing just over seventeen years for his part. 526 00:32:27,520 --> 00:32:31,480 Speaker 1: Cameron Pettit meanwhile was charged with distribution of the controlled substance, 527 00:32:31,480 --> 00:32:35,040 Speaker 1: which comes with a twenty year maximum prison sentence. As 528 00:32:35,040 --> 00:32:38,000 Speaker 1: of this episode, the case against Pettit is still pending, 529 00:32:38,480 --> 00:32:41,480 Speaker 1: but putting drug dealers behind bars wasn't the only justice 530 00:32:41,560 --> 00:32:47,120 Speaker 1: carried out in the name of macmiller. On January nineteenth, 531 00:32:47,120 --> 00:32:50,600 Speaker 1: twenty twenty one, Donald Trump took one last walk across 532 00:32:50,600 --> 00:32:53,360 Speaker 1: the White House lawn and climbed aboard the Marine I 533 00:32:53,560 --> 00:32:58,680 Speaker 1: helicopter and flew away. Donald Trump's last day as president 534 00:32:58,720 --> 00:33:01,440 Speaker 1: of the United States was the very same day on 535 00:33:01,480 --> 00:33:06,160 Speaker 1: which macmillan would have celebrated this twenty ninth birthday. 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