Image Source: IMDb, Abrams Books
Mac Miller would have turned 30 on January 19th, 2022 but sadly Mac passed away in September 2018 as a result of an accidental drug overdose.
A book on Mac Miller’s life titled, ‘Most Dope: The Extraordinary Life of Mac Miller’ was released on Tuesday which is going to explore Pittsburgh-born rapper’s life, music, challenges, and struggles with substance abuse which led to his tragic passing away. The author of the book, Paul Cantor who is a music journalist stated during his chat with USA Today, “This book felt like a celebration of Mac’s life and what he accomplished. There was always the goal that the book was done right and respectfully and honestly. Around the time I was finishing it, the publisher decided they wanted to release it around the time of his birthday. They felt it was a tribute to him and I agreed.”
Mac Miller whose real name is Malcolm McCormick started making music at the age of 14 and with his debut ‘Blue Slide Park’ which came out in 2011, a lot of people believed that his career was meant to take off and the album topped Billboard 200 and thus, Mac Miller was introduced to the world of rap audience.
While writing the book, Paul Cantor shared that he traveled to Pittsburgh, California, and New York among the places where Mac Miller lived, and added, “If you listen to his music, he was a profound songwriter and thinker, a really genuine and deep human. I wanted to get into his head a bit to learn about that, what made him who he was.”
The book was released a day before Mac Miller's 30th birthday. Image Source: USA Today
Mac Miller’s relationship with singer Ariana Grande was one of the major highlights of his life as the relationship became one of the highly publicized relationships at that time. While talking about what had surprised the most during the research for the book, Paul said, “I was really surprised that a lot of what was discussed after his passing with regard to his relationship with Ariana. I thought there would be a lot more salaciousness there and there was not. That relationship was very positive and loving between them. Sometimes you talk to people and you think they’re going to tell you crazy stuff. But everything (I was told) was that she was this really positive influence.”
Paul also shared that he tried to reach out to Ariana Grande but he didn’t get too far and he completely understand why she won’t talk about what she had with him because it was traumatic for her. Mac Miller and Ariana Grande started dating in 2016 and appeared together in the video for Mac’s song ‘My Favourite Part’ and the couple split up in May 2018. After Ariana Grande heard the news of his passing away, she wrote on Instagram, “I’m so mad, I’m so sad I don’t know what to do. you were my dearest friend…I’m so sorry I couldn’t fix or take your pain away.” She later referred to him as ‘an angel’ in her song ‘thank u, next.
During the conversation, Paul was asked about mentioning an incident that included a negative comment that really got in Mac’s head and will people be surprised to read that he was sensitive about such things? Paul answered, "Artists are very sensitive and he was an artist in the truest sense. He was committed to creating. Some of his longtime fans will be a little surprised. I think some of his newer fans might be unearthing part of his life and career they weren’t exposed to because they may have discovered him after his passing, either through “Swimming” right before he died or “Circles,” his posthumous album which presents an artist completely in command of what he was doing. Criticism is very important in any art form, but that review was a little bit of an attack on him personally. I’m not sure if it was intentional, but it was an example of early cancel culture. The degree to which it affected him should give some people pause as to how their words are affecting people. Whether an artist is playing to 10,000 fans a night or one fan, that is still his life on his records and (that criticism) was hard for a 19-year-old kid.”
Paul Cantor has included Mac Miller’s race and his place in hip-hop and when he was asked why was including that important in the book, he said, “Race in music and the music industry is an uncomfortable subject. Where is the line between homage and thievery? Mac is a person who was in that space and wrestled with it a lot. Some of those things are uncomfortable to read, but think about how uncomfortable it was for him to live in it. I think toward the end he made peace with it.”
According to reports, Mac Miller’s family is not happy with the release of the book a day before his birthday and has expressed their ‘discomfort’ with the project and feel, that the release is “painfully disrespectful and an exploitative marketing tactic.” According to The Daily Beast, ‘Most Dope’ by Paul Cantor is ‘unequivocally not authorized or supported by them'. The family said in a statement “The estate declined to participate when first approached, adamantly requested that author and publisher discontinue the creation of the book and had no involvement in the author’s research.”
“MOST DOPE: The Extraordinary Life of Mac Miller”, is going to feature interviews with Mac Miller’s closest friends, producers, business partners, best friends, roommates, and collaborators. In May 2021, Paul Cantor in a statement to Page Six had clarified that Mac’s family was made aware that the book about him is in the process. He said, “They were made aware of the book at its inception with the utmost best intentions, and they chose to not participate — which I respected. This book was approached with love and care. And [Miller]’s friends and other people close to him, as well as numerous people in the music industry, did willingly speak to me. I sat through countless hours of long interviews, many of them emotional and revealing.”
The music journalist also said, “I’m a journalist with nearly twenty years of experience, having been fair and honest in my reporting on the biggest celebrities to people in the smallest corners of everyday life. My credibility is unimpeachable and I don’t take his family’s claims lightly. It’s unfortunate that they feel this way.” But Malcolm’s family still believes that a book on their son’s life is written by someone who does not know him and this is what makes them uncomfortable.
