Mac Miller, Dang! | Track Review 🎵

Mac Miller delivers a gem with soulful, introspective single “Dang!”, the promo single for Miller’s fourth studio album, The Divine Feminine.

Mac Miller delivered an overall well-rounded album in 2015 with GO:OD AM.  The title was clearly a clever means of censoring the curse word, god damn. Unfortunately, the album wasn’t a commercial success, and none of the singles caught on beyond hip-hop circles. That said, even with more money behind him, Mac still has a lot of underground, alternative rap qualities.  His latest single, “Dang!” falls in line with “going against the grain” – embracing nonconformity.

Mac Miller brings along a friend for the ride – the continually up-and-coming Anderson .Paak.  Paak is perfectly suited for this track, which features a soulful groove, reminiscent of Philly soul and danceable.  Paak lays down the hook, which has a case for the best part of “Dang!”

“I can’t keep on losing you
Over complications
Gone too soon
Wait, we was just hangin’
I guess I need to hold onto, dang
The people that know me best
The key that I won’t forget, too soon
I can’t keep on losing you.”

Mac Miller doesn’t let Paak outdo him.  His flow is sound over the retro-soul production and his rhymes ripe. The premise of “Dang!” is true love – struggling with settling into a relationship with someone as opposed to empty, meaningless hook-ups.  Referencing sex in one instance, Miller can’t resist a Kendrick Lamar reference: “Yeah, the dick ain’t free, I don’t give no fucks.” In addition to the golden “dick ain’t free” lyric, Mac delivers a number of fierce lines such as,  (1) “You can drive my car, don’t drive me crazy” (2) “Won’t get hall of fame dick from a minor league dude / I just eat pussy, other people need food” and (3) “Can’t concentrate, you always on my brain / If it’s love then why the fuck it come with pain.”

Final Thoughts

Ultimately, “Dang!” is quite soulful to be a rap single. It Brilliantly depicts love, sex, and relationship issues, in fresh fashion. The production work is “da bomb.” So is Anderson .Paak for that matter. Mac’s flow is beastly, in the most introspective, soulful way possible.

Mac Miller • The Divine Feminine • Warner Bros. • Release: 9.16.16

Photo Credit: Warner Bros.