October 15, 2021

Warner

3xLP (Canary Yellow Vinyl)

After being written-off by critics as a novelty party rapper in the wake of his debut Blue Slide Park, Mac Miller showed the kind of depth he is capable of on 2014’s 90-minute opus Faces where he battles addiction, fame, paranoia and his own mortality in what proved to be the most expansive and defining statement of his career. Camped out in his Los Angeles mansion and welcoming a revolving door of guests that include everyone from Thundercat to Earl Sweatshirt to Schoolboy Q to Vince Staples to Rick Ross, Faces shows Miller as a playful wordsmith, a confused soul-searcher and an unfettered hedonist at different times. With help from his supporting cast, Miller makes something that can recall the communalism and debauchery of a Laurel Canyon singer-songwriter album while also capturing a moment in time where the hip-hop world seemed to centre on Mac Miller’s home recording studio and who happened to be hanging out there at any given moment.