After announcing his fifth studio album, ‘Swimming,’ Pittsburgh rapper Mac Miller drops the first official single from the project, “Self Care.”  

“I switched the time zone, but what do I know? / Spending nights hitchhikin’, where will I go?” After releasing three singles initially unattached to a project – “Programs”, “Buttons”, and “Small Worlds” – Pittsburgh rapper Mac Miller finally announced a new album.  Swimming marks his fifth studio album, arriving two years after the good, if uncharacteristic The Divine Feminine (2016). So far, 2018 has been turbulent for the rapper formerly known as Easy Mac.  He endured a break-up with Ariana Grande (now engaged to Pete Davidson of SNL), not to mention an arrest for a DUI and hit and run in California.  Perhaps some of his life experiences of fueled his first official single from Swimming, “Self Care.”

Following the moody instrumental intro, he delivers the sung chorus, excerpted above.  It’s mysterious and definitely quirky, partially because of the imperfect pitch.  For half of the first verse, he drops straight, un-pitched bars, though the pitch returns, somewhat to the ear’s chagrin.  While his singing isn’t as strong as his rapping, the reason why he chooses to do so makes sense. By ‘sing-rapping’ – more pronounced than pop-rapping – Mac Miller adds to the vulnerability that characterizes this particular song, which is seems to partially reference a break-up.  On the second verse, he references his DUI, singing, “That Mercedes drove me crazy, I was speedin’.” Prior to the third verse, there’s a beat switch, which is a smart move given the length of this record.  The tempo slows down as Miller speaks on his state of oblivion (“I was, thinking too much, got stuck in oblivion”).

Final Thoughts

To be relatively simple lyrically, “Self Care” is complex at the same time.  In evaluating this particularly single, I found it necessary to re-listen and reexamine the lyrical contents a couple of times.  All in all, this is an emotional record that successfully captures Miller’s current headspace and status in the rap game.  Something like “100 Grandkids” (GO:OD AM) is much catchier, but this is definitely interesting, particularly the music video…

Mac Miller • Swimming • Warner Bros. • Release: 8.3.18

Photo Credit: Warner Bros.