Mac Miller

Malcolm James McCormick (January 19, 1992 – September 7, 2018), known professionally as Mac Miller, was an American rapper, singer-songwriter, and record producer.

Malcolm James McCormick was born on January 19, 1992 in the Point Breeze neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

He was a son of Karen Meyers, a photographer, and Mark McCormick, an architect, and had an older brother, Miller.

His mother is Jewish, and his father is Christian.

While he and his brother were raised Jewish, he attended a Catholic grade school to "ensure a good education and a chance to play football and lacrosse."

He attended Winchester Thurston School for a time but graduated from Taylor Allderdice High School.

A self-taught musician, Miller played piano, guitar, drums, and bass by the age of six.

He first started rapping at the age of 14.

Before that, he wanted to be a singer.

In high school, he decided to focus on his rap career, later noting, "Once I hit 15, I got real serious about it and it changed my life completely ... I used to be into sports, play all the sports, go to all the high school parties. But once I found out hip-hop is almost like a job, that's all I did."

With 144,000 first week sales, it debuted atop the Billboard 200, the first independently distributed debut album to do so since Tha Dogg Pound's Dogg Food in 1995.

Three songs from the album, "Smile Back", "Frick Park Market", and "Party on Fifth Ave." charted on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 55, 60, and 64, respectively.

Miller began his career in Pittsburgh's local hip hop scene in 2007, at the age of fifteen.

He originally went by the name Easy Mac (often stylized as EZ Mac) and released his first mixtape But My Mackin' Ain't Easy in 2007 at the age of 15.

In 2008, Easy Mac and fellow Pittsburgh-based rapper Beedie formed a rap duo by the name of The Ill Mind, and released a mixtape titled How High.

Shortly after the mixtape's release, the two decided to part ways in order to focus on their solo careers.

By 2009, he established himself as Mac Miller, and released two mixtapes: The Jukebox: Prelude to Class Clown and The High Life.

In 2010, he signed a record deal with independent label Rostrum Records and released his breakthrough mixtapes K.I.D.S. (2010) and Best Day Ever (2011).

At the 2010 Pittsburgh Hip Hop Awards, Miller won 21 & Under of the Year, and Best Hip Hop Video for "Live Free".

Miller signed with the independent Pittsburgh-based label Rostrum Records in July 2010, in the lead-up to his mixtape K.I.D.S. Rostrum president Benjy Grinberg met Miller while recording with Wiz Khalifa at ID Labs.

Although Grinberg started giving Miller advice, he did not show interest in getting involved with his career until Miller began work on K.I.D.S., when he "noticed a maturation in his sound and approach to his music".

By that point, Miller had started attracting interest from other record companies, but chose Rostrum due to its location in his hometown and association with Wiz Khalifa.

K.I.D.S. was released by Rostrum in August 2010.

During this time, Miller broke through with a focus on social media engagement, digital sales, and persistent touring, due to a lack of radio airplay or mainstream features.

Miller's debut studio album, Blue Slide Park (2011), became the first independently distributed debut album to top the US Billboard 200 since 1995.

XXL featured Miller in its annual "Freshman Class" list of 2011, alongside 10 other rappers including Kendrick Lamar and Meek Mill.

Miller released his fifth mixtape, Best Day Ever, in March 2011.

Its single "Donald Trump" became his first song to chart on the US Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 75, and received a platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

Also in March 2011, he released a six-track EP, On and On and Beyond.

Intended to target a new audience, four of its tracks were previously included on his mixtapes.

The EP was his first entry into the US Billboard 200 albums chart at number 55.

Leading up to the release of his debut studio album, and to celebrate reaching one million followers on Twitter, Miller released his sixth mixtape, I Love Life, Thank You, on October 14, 2011.

Miller's debut studio album, Blue Slide Park, released on November 8, 2011.

In 2013, he founded the record label imprint REMember Music.

After his second studio album, Watching Movies with the Sound Off (2013), he left Rostrum and signed with the major label Warner Bros. Records in 2014.

With them, he released four studio albums: GO:OD AM (2015), The Divine Feminine (2016), Swimming (2018), and the posthumous Circles (2020).

For Swimming, he was posthumously nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rap Album.

Along with recording, he also served as a record producer for himself and other artists under the pseudonym Larry Fisherman.

Miller struggled with addiction and substance abuse, which was often referenced in his lyrics.

After a relapse, he died from an accidental drug overdose of cocaine, fentanyl, and alcohol at his home at the age of 26.