Tag Archives: Blue Slide Park

[News] Mac Miller Says "Blue Slide Park" Criticism Made Him Turn To Drug Use

Posted on by

Mac Miller says that critics were focusing more on him as a person than his music.

Mac Miller may have made history with his breakout debut Blue Slide Park, which became the first independently distributed album to bow atop the charts since 1995. But despite the success of the project, the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania rapper couldn’t handle the criticism of the project, making him turn to drugs.

During an interview with Complex.com for its online cover story, the Rostrum Records signee explained that the harsh reviews made him become addicted to promethazine, better known as “lean.”

“I love lean; it’s great,” he said. “I was not happy and I was on lean very heavy. … I was so fucked up all the time it was bad. My friends couldn’t even look at me the same. I was lost.”

Mac, who was on his Macadelic tour that hit many colleges, said that reviews that branded him a “frat rapper” drove him to substance abuse. He said that critics weren’t focusing on his music but instead was blasting him as a person.

“A lot of the reviews were more on me as a person,” he said. “To be honest, that was even worse. You’re 19, you’re so excited to put out your first album, you put it out—and no one has any respect for you or for what you did.”

Drug abuse wasn’t the only problem that plagued Miller. Last year, Lord Finesse filed a $10 million lawsuit against him for copyright infringement, later settling out of court for an undisclosed sum.

Read the full interview over at Complex.com.

RELATED: Mac Miller Provides Update On Settlement With Lord Finesse

Is Macklemore Ready For A Major Label Deal?

Posted on by

Mac Miller made history when his indie album Blue Slide Park debuted at #1 last year, but Macklemore and his producer Ryan Lewis are grabbing the baton and sprinting even further ahead with The Heist.

After debuting at #2 with 78,000 copies sold, the Seattle-based duo is taking plenty of calls from major labels, but they’re not looking to sign just yet.

“We’ve talked to a lot of labels and we talked to some legends in the game in terms of labels,” Macklemore said. “I had some great conversations, but right now, we’re doing it ourselves and that’s what makes the most sense for this project.”

“With the next project, we’re open to discussion but we’re not open to a typical 360 deal where they’re gonna take a percentage of your merchandise and a percentage of your touring,” he continued. “That’s the way labels make money nowadays, they take all these other things because they can’t really make money off of CDs.”

Macklemore, who credits his success to remaining true to his own sound, has no plans to stray from the formula that elevated him. “We got it to this point doing it ourselves and we wanna keep that creative control, we wanna be able to move when we wanna move, we don’t wanna get caught up in label politics. So as long as we’re in control of our brand, maybe we can work with labels who can offer us some services. But in terms of signing a deal, not right now, no.”

Although he declined to drop names, Macklemore has fielded offers from the best in the game, and they’re still trying to pinpoint the key to his success. “There’s been a lot of flattering feedback in terms of what we’re doing. I think people are enticed by indie rap and every time you have a group going against the grain, they’re gonna be like, ‘Wow, you did it yourself in 2012, that’s impressive — how did you do it? What’re you doing that’s different? And how can I be a part of it?’

“It comes down to building a fan base for yourself and that takes time,” he said, sharing the formula. “If the people really mess with you, then over time the media has to come to you. And once the media comes to you and sees what you’re doing, then all of a sudden the flood gates open, but the work has already been done. It was something that happened organically. It wasn’t a co-sign outta nowhere, from someone trying to make money off of us, it was us building on a fan base that connected on a person level with our music.”

What do you think of Macklemore making it big? Give us your opinion in the comments!

Mac Miller Heads Home For ‘One Last Thing’ Video

Posted on by

For Mac Miller, Blue Slide Park, his childhood hang-out, is a sanctuary, an untainted place he can go to clear his head when the pressures of rap fame gets to be a bit much. So a year after the November 8 release of his #1 independent debut album Blue Slide Park, Miller revisits his old stomping grounds with a special commemorative video for “One Last Thing.” Read the full story at MTV News.

Tags

Mac Miller Recounts His Rise On ‘This Is How I Made It’

Posted on by

[ video unavailable on this device ]

Mac Miller‘s Blue Slide Park album landed at number one on the charts last year, becoming the first indie album to chart that high in more than 15 years, and on episode 2 of MTV‘s  This Is How I Made It,” Mac breaks down his rise to success.

“If I had three people anticipating a video, I would be like ‘So, who’s ready for this video? You guys ready?’ ” Mac Miller reveals in a preview of the upcoming episode. ” ‘I’m about to drop it any minute now!’ And it’s like three people. And most people would be like, ‘Ok, man, I hate myself. I have three fans. I suck.’ But to me, it was like, ‘Up! You guys ready?!’ “

Despite starting off with just three fans, Mac Millions built his loyal fanbase organically and saw the fruits of his labor pay off when his first album became the first indie debut LP to hit #1 since 1995′s Dogg Foodby Tha Dogg Pound.

“I thought the ticket to making it was being signed to a record label, you know?” Mac said. “There was just no kinda way that was going to happen. I couldn’t figure out how to do it. That’s when I took to like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to try and build a following. So, I always just wanted to flood the Internet with material and content and character and personality. I wanted people to know who I was to know what I was about — kind of let people into my life a little bit.”

In the episode, Mac reveals one of the first rhymes he ever spit: “First name Mac, last name Miller/ From Pittsburgh, so I rep them Steelers.”

“You kind of pretend you’re bigger than you are,” Mac explained. “It sounds weird, but you want to make it seem like you were established.”

Mac is currently busy completing his second official album, Watching Movies With the Sound Off, but before the sophomore project is released, he’ll be dropping a collaborative Pink Slime EP with Pharrell Williams before the year is out. Mac took to Twitter two months ago to drop the first single, “Glow,” from the EP.

Mac Miller’s “This Is How I Made It,” episode airs Saturday at 12 p.m. ET on MTV.

Tags

Mac Miller’s ‘Three Fans’ Didn’t Stop Him From Making It Big

Posted on by

Mac Miller made history last year when his independently released album, Blue Slide Park, debuted at #1 on the Billboard albums chart with sales of more than 144,000. On the second installment of MTV‘s “This Is How I Made It,” the Pittsburgh rapper explains how he went from having just three fans to becoming one of the most popular rappers in the game.

“If I had three people anticipating a video, I would be like ‘So, who’s ready for this video? You guys ready?’ ” Mac Miller reveals in a preview of the upcoming episode. ” ‘I’m about to drop it any minute now!’ And it’s like three people. And most people would be like, ‘Ok, man, I hate myself. I have three fans. I suck.’ But to me, it was like, ‘Up! You guys ready?!’ “

Despite starting off with just three fans, Mac Millions built his loyal fanbase organically and saw the fruits of his labor pay off when his first album became the first indie debut LP to hit #1 since 1995′s Dogg Food by Tha Dogg Pound.

“I thought the ticket to making it was being signed to a record label, you know?” Mac said. “There was just no kinda way that was going to happen. I couldn’t figure out how to do it. That’s when I took to like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to try and build a following. So, I always just wanted to flood the Internet with material and content and character and personality. I wanted people to know who I was to know what I was about — kind of let people into my life a little bit.”

In the episode, Mac reveals one of the first rhymes he ever spit: “First name Mac, last name Miller/ From Pittsburgh, so I rep them Steelers.”

“You kind of pretend you’re bigger than you are,” Mac explained. “It sounds weird, but you want to make it seem like you were established.”

Mac is currently busy completing his second official album, Watching Movies With the Sound Off, but before the sophomore project is released, he’ll be dropping a collaborative Pink Slime EP with Pharrell Williams before the year is out. Mac took to Twitter two months ago to drop the first single, “Glow,” from the EP.

Mac Miller’s “This Is How I Made It,” episode airs Saturday at 12 p.m. ET on MTV.

Mac Miller Titles Sophomore LP Watching Movies With The Sound Off

Posted on by

Given advances in technology, most folks prefer to watch their favorite movies with the full audio/visual experience, but Mac Miller isn’t like most people. Since the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, spitter made Billboard history with his 2011 debut Blue Slide Park, fans have been wondering what Mac will do next.

“My Sophomore Album Title Is: Watching Movies With The Sound Off,” Miller tweeted on Sunday. “Feels good to have that title out.”

Mac has yet to release any music from the LP, which is due out next year, but during a show in Los Angeles earlier this month, Miller performed the Diplo-produced “Goosebumps,” which is slated to be on Watching Movies. The ramped-up first single finds Mac speed-rapping over a frantic, riot-starting instrumental.

In addition to dropping the album title, Miller revealed that he will not only be doing work in the booth, but he will also be jumping behind the boards on the upcoming album. “i’m doing a lot of production on Watching Movies,” he tweeted, also giving credit to his frequent collaborator Big Jerm from ID Labs. “i want to show love to @bigjerm412 it is because of the music we made together that i thought of Watching Movies With The Sound Off.”

Before Mac drops his second official album, he and Pharrell Williams will be dropping their collaborative Pink Slime EP before the year is out. “We have like 10 or 11 records done, but I can’t finish it yet, I can’t say it’s finished,” Mac told MTV News back in August. “Schedules are so crazy.”

When Watching Movies does drop, Mac says he isn’t looking to duplicate BSP‘s success. “Making history was awesome; I don’t care about that with this album. I don’t care if we go #1, I don’t care about selling records,” he said. “That sh– is awesome, but this album, I just need to do something different.”

Are you hyped up for Mac Miller’s Watching Movies With the Sound Off? Let us know in the comments!

Wiz Khalifa, Amber Rose Announce Pregnancy: Mac Miller Buying ‘Gucci Diapers’

Posted on by

[ video unavailable on this device ]

By Rob Markman

Last night Wiz Khalifa and Amber Rose confirmed that they’re expecting their first child during the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards pre-show and their buddy Mac Miller is already picking out baby gifts.Maybe Mac missed it, but the whole world tuned in as the engaged couple announced to MTV News correspondent Sway Calloway that Amber is pregnant during the pre-show.

“Well, Sway, you know you my brother man, so we had to do it with you first, and we had to do it with the whole world, and just let everybody know that we’re expecting a beautiful young baby,” Khalifa said, before screaming, “We’re having a baby!”

“They announced it? Are you f—in’ with me?” Miller asked while he walked the red carpet, not wanting to spoil the surprise. “I just found out now,” the Blue Slide Park MC said, continuing to play dumb.

So what do you get for the child whose parents could provide just about anything for him or her? “Diapers and sh–,” Mac said. But not just any diapers: “Some Gucci diapers, yo.”

Photos: The 2012 VMA Red Carpet

When the Taylor Gang captain and his sweetheart walked the MTV VMA carpet last year, they were just starting to plan their future together. “We discuss it all the time. Like he said, we’re very much in love,” Amber told us then. “But, ya know, we’re just going to take our time and just enjoy each other right now. We’re both really busy and we work really hard, and when the time comes, it’s gonna come.”

Now, not only is the happy couple engaged to be married, they’re getting set to be parents as well.

Tags ,

Vans Classic for Mac Miller by Brush Footwear

Posted on by

Ben Smith of Brush Footwear is back on his custom tip, as his latest creation has been outfitted for Pittsburgh rapper Mac Miller. The Vans package sees two iterations, each highlighting inspiration from Miller’s musical work. The first delivery is a white pair, featuring design details from his debut album, Blue Slide Park, while the second drop notes his Most Dope logo on the toe. Leave us your thoughts on the pair of clean kicks by Brush Footwear. [via Sole Collector]


Tags: vans, vans-classic, mac-miller, brush-footwear, authentic, vans-authentic

Mac Miller Loses Love In ‘Missed Calls’ Video

Posted on by

By Rob Markman

Not even fame and worldwide acclaim can stop the heart from breaking and in his new video for “Missed Calls” Mac Miller has to learn the hard way.

On Friday (June 22) the Pittsburgh spitter dropped the long-awaited video from his 2011 #1 album Blue Slide Park. In December, while on his BSP Tour Mac told MTV News that “Missed Calls” was his favorite track to perform and now the clip may go down as his best video as well.

The Rex Arrow-directed clip starts out lovely. Miller and the object of his affection (played by Hennely Jimenez) seem to have the perfect relationship: kissing on the beach, frolicking on the couch and making love in the shower. Things begin to take a turn as Miller’s rap career takes him further away from home. World tours, late-night and studio sessions cause the rift between Mac and his hunny to grow wider. “Baby I got missed calls and emails/ All going into detail ‘bout how you just not happy and you think you gotta leave, so go,” Mac sings on the track’s hook.

Eventually Jimenez’s character falls into the arms of another man, who noticeably has way less swag than Mac, but that’s neither here nor there. While Miller’s love slips through his fingers, the swagless wonder proposes to Jimenez and now it is up to Mac to race and recapture his love. Can he do it before it is too late?

What do you think of Mac Miller’s “Missed Calls”? Let us know in the comments

Tags , , ,

Mac Miller Reunites, Shares Secrets With His ‘First Date’

Posted on by

Bonnaroo, you seem so far away already. Earlier this month, I caught some amazing performances — Battles, Feist and Ludacris were just some of my favorites. But between sets, I found myself fighting to maintain my composure as I encountered something many men and women face daily: bumping into an ex.

Granted, they were rapper and rocker exes of the fictionalized “First Date” variety, but still: We’d gone on a date. And yes, there were cameras involved and I’m very much in a real-life relationship (which is to say nothing of the statuses of the many artists I’ve gone out with), but still — connections were made.

So, on a plot of land somewhere between Nashville and Chattanooga, Tennessee, I ran into upwards of seven “exes.” Over a fairly wide expanse, I had chance run-ins with the likes of Kendrick Lamar, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. and Young the Giant.

And then there was Mac Miller.

A perennial fave around the MTV newsroom (and a favorite “First Date” episode among rabid followers of the series such as my mother and father), Mac and I caught up with each other to talk about what he’s been up to since we first went out late last year for a kosher lunch at New York’s Katz’s Deli.

“I made history,” he deadpanned, referring to his debut, Blue Slide Park, which became the first independent album to hit #1 in well over a decade. In addition to that small feat, Mac toured the world and dropped an acclaimed mixtape, Macadelic. A follow-up mixtape with Pharrell is on deck, and there’s even more music to be heard.

“I’ve been making my own beats, which I’ve done forever but, like, I’m really gonna start taking it seriously now,” Mac told me. “I’ve been making beats forever, but no one had known … I kept it secret.”

Hopefully, we won’t have to wait until a third date — which Mac suggested we do at a NASCAR race — to hear them.

Who should go on the next “First Date”? Share your suggestions in the comments!