Mac only has two albums, so only listing his albums would be boring. He came up with hot mixtapes, so they’re getting listed too, starting from his breakout project, K.I.D.S. And I remember he put out a tape in late 2011 called I Love Life, Thank You, but that mixtape flew under damn near everybody’s radar, including mine. I didn’t pay attention to it, and I don’t know anybody that did, so that’s not getting mentioned. Let’s go.
5th Place: Blue Slide Park
I was excited to hear his debut album, and when I heard it the excitement was mostly replaced with disappointment. This album wasn’t necessarily bad, but it was extremely average. The whole partying white boy thing just got old at this point. There was no real growth from the mixtapes. It felt like he was beating the dead horse with this one. Some joints were cool, like ‘Missed Calls’ (best song on BSP), ‘Man in the Hat, ‘Under the Weather’, ‘Diamonds and Gold’, and ‘One Last Thing’. Other than that, eh….no thanks.
4th Place: Best Day Ever
This tape was dope. It only got 4th place because I can name 3 Mac projects I like better than this. The production on here was better than what I heard on K.I.D.S., and the songs were entertaining. ‘Get Up’ and ‘In the Air’ were my two favorite songs on here. They were chill, and Mac came through with the lyrics and the flow. ‘I’ll Be There’ was a great song too. He showed love to his mom on it, which is always respectable, and it featured a soulful hook from Phonte. Can’t leave out that this featured his breakout track, ‘Donald Trump’. Overall, Best Day Ever was pretty well-rounded.
3rd Place: K.I.D.S.
This is what made alot of people pay attention to him. We didn’t really talk about anything world-changing, but this tape is just so chill and enjoyable to listen to. The laid-back production on here complimented Mac very well, who also had a very laid-back delivery. ‘Nikes on my Feet’ and ‘Kool-Aid and Frozen Pizza’ were those type of songs you could ride around and vibe to, and the song ‘Poppy’, which is dedicated to his deceased grandfather, was a heartfelt standout from the tape. Definitely one of my favorite tapes that have dropped in recent years.
2nd Place: Macadelic
When I first heard this tape, I was like ‘Fuck is this shit?’ then didn’t listen to it for some months. Back then, I just thought it was weird. A friend of mine was really heavy into it, so I decided to give it another try. I’m happy that I did. This tape was a departure from Mac’s earlier music that alot of people weren’t really taking seriously. I was tired of that type of music from him, and this showed that he was evolving. He had a dark, introspective feel to Macadelic. He was lyrically sharper than his previous music, like on ‘Desperado’. Also, alot of the topics that he covered were just very interesting, like his drug addiction, failing relationship, our purposes in life, and depression. I loved ‘The Morning After’, and ‘The Question’, and he still managed to make fun, upbeat songs like ‘Loud’ and ‘Lucky Ass Bitch’. It’s been said that artists make great work when in depressed, dark mindsets, and Macadelic is an example of that.
1st Place: Watching Movies with the Sound Off
His most recent album is the best thing he’s ever made. He still made introspective music, and balanced the album out with a bunch of different kinds of songs. It felt fresh and diverse. Some of his best material is featured on this album. ‘I Am Who Am’ is my favorite song of his, and I also loved joints like ‘REMember’, a song he dedicated to a friend of his that passed away, and ‘Objects in the Mirror’, a well-written singing song. The instrumentals were a step in the right direction, and it’s cool that he made some of the beats himself. Having Pharrell, Alchemist, Flying Lotus, and Clams handle some of the production definitely doesn’t hurt either. It’s evident that he’s grown even more past Macadelic, so hopefully his next album manages to top this.
EXPhits 