{"id":174,"date":"2018-09-12T18:00:27","date_gmt":"2018-09-12T22:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jordanstovka.com\/steepedinsound\/?p=174"},"modified":"2020-08-09T14:42:13","modified_gmt":"2020-08-09T18:42:13","slug":"mac-miller","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.jordanstovka.com\/steepedinsound\/mac-miller\/","title":{"rendered":"come back to earth"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Unlike Mac Miller, I\u2019m from the <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/track\/6ulzLZnp6Y2TVLh1inckeJ?si=vJKjFt4BSi6aDAtetHJ45w\">burbs<\/a>, not the Burgh.<\/p>\n<p>However, whenever anyone asks where home is, I\u2019d much sooner say Pittsburgh than Beaver, Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n<p>I have a lot of Pittsburgh pride\u2014 interestingly more now that I live 300 miles away than when only 30 miles of highway separated me from the City of Bridges.<\/p>\n<p>I solely use Heinz condiments, defiantly defend \u201cpop\u201d over \u201csoda,\u201d reserve Yuengling (okay okay the brewery is based in Pottsville, sue me) as my favorite beer and Primanti\u2019s my favorite sandwich.<\/p>\n<p>I inherently know that all 446 of our bridges are colored not yellow but Aztec Gold, Andy Warhol documentaries make me emotional and my pediatrician\u2019s office featured a detailed mural of Mr. Rogers&#8217; Neighborhood.<\/p>\n<p><center><\/center>\u00a0So as a 20-something college student I figured it was about time to like Mac Miller, someone whose Pittsburgh pride puts even mine to shame\u2014 namely due to his Pirate\u2019s P tattoo on the top of his hand, not to mention his numerous Burgh references in his musical discography.<\/p>\n<p>The 412 dial tone in the middle of &#8220;Godspeed \/ Perfect Circle&#8221; in particular, I highly identify.<br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"padding-left: 10px; float: right;\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/track\/01z2fBGB8Hl3Jd3zXe4IXR\" width=\"300\" height=\"380\" frameborder=\"0\"><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><br \/>\nFor that reason I\u2019d say Mac inspired me to appreciate my roots, no matter how far away I may stray. That reason, I think, explains how a distant celebrity death hit me so close to home these past few days.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m embarrassed to admit that I hadn\u2019t previously followed Mac Miller\u2019s entire career. I didn\u2019t listen to \u201cSenior Skip Day\u201d in high school or see him co-headline First Niagara Pavilion with Wiz Khalifa for the Under The Influence of Music 2012 tour.<\/p>\n<p>But I need not feel guilty.<\/p>\n<p>What\u2019s important is that I would later come to love him,\u00a0and now in his absence feel this numbness, an unquantifiable emptiness, an odd homesickness that will be difficult to refill, if at all.<\/p>\n<p>He hoped not to join the <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/track\/6ulzLZnp6Y2TVLh1inckeJ?si=vJKjFt4BSi6aDAtetHJ45w\">twenty seven<\/a> club, so I guess in an odd sense, I should believe he\u2019s at peace having gotten his wish. But God, if only he would\u2019ve been on the other end of that timeline.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>28. 29. 30. 40. 50. 60.<\/p>\n<p>What\u2019s unique about this situation is that he didn\u2019t leave us empty handed.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>While to our knowledge there&#8217;s no handwritten note, Mac left us\u00a0<i>Swimming, <\/i>which is not just a musical masterpiece, but a gift.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s a bluntly honest narrative of his being <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/track\/6ABAUBmOyfPtAUU0IpEKJf?si=wljUBk_NTb6T1dMh1YhKGA\">hostage<\/a> to his own world, a portal into the very thoughts that became his enemy. Every lyric, rhythm and melody paints a beautifully melancholy portrait of his discontent and dissatisfaction with life, fame and success:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI just need a way out of my head \/ I\u2019ll do anything for a way out of my head\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t feel so good right now, but it all comes falling down\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m treading water \/ I swear, if I drown I don\u2019t care\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOn the surface I look so fine \/ but really I\u2019m buggin\u2019 buggin\u2019 makin\u2019 something out of nothing\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The words remain the same as they were when released the third of August, but now being contextualized with their recent circumstances, they\u2019ve written a different story, an eerily retrospective prophesy of his own death.<\/p>\n<p>One of the first clues being the opening track \u201cCome Back To Earth\u201d which implies that he would soon be leaving it. Another is the haunting line in \u201cSelf Care\u201d: Like September I fall.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Maybe that was his intention\u2014his genius\u2014all along. We never really will know.<\/p>\n<p>Successful musicians work hard to both entertain and empathize with their audiences. They unknowingly gain their listeners\u2019 trust at a rapid rate. Wearing their hearts on their sleeves they build community and bask in the appreciation of their newfound loyalty.<\/p>\n<p>Mac Miller is no exception.<\/p>\n<p>His fan base spanned further than the Pittsburgh tristate area. Most if not all stood by him when he transitioned from Easy Mac with the Cheesy Raps to Mac Miller, when the goofy lyricism of <i>KIDS<\/i> matured into the highly introspective <i>Watching Movies With The Sound Off<\/i>.<\/p>\n<p>We being the loyal fans we are naturally interpret any artist&#8217;s past work ethic as their promise for a colorful future filled with tours, singles and albums. We blindly believe that our love for them alone will power their morale, and we\u2019ll all live happily ever after the end.<\/p>\n<p>It takes instances like that of September 7 to remind us that we cannot be so ignorant to life\u2019s uncertainty by maintaining such unrealistic expectations of reality.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.jordanstovka.com\/steepedinsound\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/DSC_0049.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-191 size-large\" src=\"http:\/\/www.jordanstovka.com\/steepedinsound\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/DSC_0049-1024x701.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"438\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.jordanstovka.com\/steepedinsound\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/DSC_0049-1024x701.jpg 1024w, http:\/\/www.jordanstovka.com\/steepedinsound\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/DSC_0049-300x206.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.jordanstovka.com\/steepedinsound\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/DSC_0049-768x526.jpg 768w, http:\/\/www.jordanstovka.com\/steepedinsound\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/DSC_0049-10x7.jpg 10w, http:\/\/www.jordanstovka.com\/steepedinsound\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/DSC_0049-432x296.jpg 432w, http:\/\/www.jordanstovka.com\/steepedinsound\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/DSC_0049-396x271.jpg 396w, http:\/\/www.jordanstovka.com\/steepedinsound\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/DSC_0049-1120x767.jpg 1120w, http:\/\/www.jordanstovka.com\/steepedinsound\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/DSC_0049-660x452.jpg 660w, http:\/\/www.jordanstovka.com\/steepedinsound\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/DSC_0049-321x220.jpg 321w, http:\/\/www.jordanstovka.com\/steepedinsound\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/DSC_0049.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>However, one thing I do know for certain is that instead of excitedly awaiting for doors to open on November 19 for the Swimming tour, I\u2019ll be anxiously waiting for the moment of mourning and sorrow that will likely feel like a punch in the gut.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ll try for Mac\u2019s sake to re-infuse the happiness I once felt from his music back through the cords of my headphones. I\u2019ll still try to blow out my car\u2019s speakers with \u201cOutside\u201d while driving on a sunny day, stupidly dance around to \u201cThe Spins\u201d when I\u2019m home alone and sing along to \u201cThe Weekend\u201d in the shower.<\/p>\n<p>All of this because anyone who impacted so many lives so positively deserves that optimistic of a legacy\u2014even if he himself never felt the bliss and empathy that his music evoked from his eager listeners.<\/p>\n<p><em>All photos (sans the cover) were taken at Mac Miller&#8217;s vigil held at Pittsburgh&#8217;s Blue Slide Park September 11.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Feature photo taken by Me.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Unlike Mac Miller, I\u2019m from the burbs, not the Burgh. However, whenever anyone asks where home is, I\u2019d much sooner say Pittsburgh than Beaver, Pennsylvania. I have a lot of Pittsburgh pride\u2014 interestingly more now that I live 300 miles away than when only 30 miles of highway separated me from the City of Bridges. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":806,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[49],"tags":[12,14,13,15],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jordanstovka.com\/steepedinsound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jordanstovka.com\/steepedinsound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jordanstovka.com\/steepedinsound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jordanstovka.com\/steepedinsound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jordanstovka.com\/steepedinsound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=174"}],"version-history":[{"count":30,"href":"http:\/\/www.jordanstovka.com\/steepedinsound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":861,"href":"http:\/\/www.jordanstovka.com\/steepedinsound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174\/revisions\/861"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jordanstovka.com\/steepedinsound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/806"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jordanstovka.com\/steepedinsound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jordanstovka.com\/steepedinsound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jordanstovka.com\/steepedinsound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}