By the 2010s, Mac Miller had become an artist synonymous with commercial success and a dedicated fanbase. His songs “Swimming“ (2018) and “Circles“ (2020) were both featured on the Billboard Top 100 list. He became famous at the age of 20 when he released his mixtape “K.I.D.S.” (2010) and his album “Blue Slide Park“ (2011) a year later, which is his highest charting album to date.

Despite finding success later, Miller’s earlier works were heavily criticized. 

Pitchfork’s Jordan Sargent gave “Blue Slide Park” a 1/10 in his review, calling Miller a “crushingly bland and intolerable version of Wiz Khalifa.” Similarly, Brandon Soderberg of INDY Week negatively reviewed Miller’s song “Donald Trump” off his mixtape “Best Day Ever”: “He tosses out in-the-pocket, middle-class, dude-bro boasting and sounds like the best rapper on your college dorm floor,” Soderberg wrote. 

Later in his career, he transitioned to creating albums like “Watching Movies with the Sound Off “(2013) and “The Divine Feminine“ (2016), tapping into jazzy R&B sounds. However, Miller steered from the rap genre and further defined his musical style before dying of a drug overdose in 2018.

His second posthumously-released album “Balloonerism,” which came out on Jan. 17 of this year, is the missing link between the two different phases of Mac Miller’s artistry: a young rapper who talked about drugs and women versus a more introspective musician who meditated on the side effects of drug addiction and fame. 

Miller began working on “Balloonerism” in 2014, but it was never released to the public. His fanbase somewhat mythologized it; people described it as a “lost album” and searched for online leaks wherever they could.

The beginning of the album is striking. It consists of a 33-second clip of a tambourine being played, a track that is aptly named “Tambourine Dream.” The instrument acts as a musical motif throughout the song.

The album features Miller’s classic rap verses, with lines like “Supermodel b****** hold auditions in my swimming pool.” But in between his braggadocio lies a more somber tone, as heard in the verse “Rich as f*** and miserable” — both of which are from “Do You Have A Destination?”

“Do You Have A Destination?” was produced by Miller’s producer Larry Fisherman and features SZA and Taylor Graves. 

The album marks a shift in Miller’s discography and resembles his later works like “The Divine Feminine,” “Macadelic“ (2012) and “Blue Slide Park.” Miller tries to push away from the rap genre and attempts to better utilize his voice outside of rapping, as seen in “5 Dollar Pony Rides.”

The album dives into darker topics such as pondering about one’s death, being lost in life and, of course, drugs — but it doesn’t end there. 

“If pills could turn to powder / Then this world could turn to ash / Everything seems so slow / But my past, I thought that it would last longer.” These lyrics from “Mrs. Deborah Downer” vividly describe the experience of taking drugs and the world feeling as if it’s ending. The song is set against a steady slow-paced drum beat, crashing cymbals and a background piano which contribute to the album’s hazy spirit.

The song then moves into less depressing territory. “Started smokin’ weed again, started tryna read again / Clean myself up, now would you be my friend? / Do I need to know the beginning to see the end?”

In “Friendly Hallucinations,” Miller describes a girl experiencing psychosis as a result of an acid trip, prompting her to question what is real versus what is in one’s head. Miller delivers the message that love can’t exist without imagination and that love is worth the risk of being in the middle of mental chaos. This introspective hip-hop sound became synonymous with Miller.

The song serves as a representation of what Miller was: an anomaly. An evolution that began with immaturity and shifted into a jaded musician that ultimately succumbed to his drug addiction. The lyrics “Still wide awake, I’m a stranger to the daytime” and “I know you miss the nighttime” from “Friendly Hallucinations” refer to his unhealthy lifestyle which involved not leaving the studio when recording his previous album “Faces.”

In songs like “Excelsior,” Miller looks back to a happier time when the world wasn’t as large and people focused on the simpler, more meaningful aspects of life. Nostalgia weighs on the listener, as Miller features the sounds of children on a playground. The song maintains a comedic silver lining as Miller shouts abracadabra while a tambourine plays in the background.

“Life is fantasy and somersaults then / Before the world tear apart imagination / Before there were rules, before there were limits / Your only enemies were (Want some Brussels sprouts and spinach?) / Me, I used to want to be a wizard, when did life get so serious?”

The tone of the album changes drastically with “Transformations,” which features Delusional Thomas, another Miller alias who brings out a darker, more twisted side of his music. Thomas raises up Miller’s pitch and the song becomes profane and absurd. The song almost doesn’t fit with the rest of the album’s tracks. It isn’t jazzy in the slightest, with the piano and crashing beat producing a musical dissonance. When listening, you get the impression that something is uncomfortable or off, which is fitting for the delirious persona that was Delusional Thomas.

Yet this song simply represents how Miller’s voice was still changing. “Transformations” illustrates the rapper’s ‘transformation’ from a more upbeat sound into a more gruesome, contemplative one.

Miller switches into “Manakins,” transitioning back to the self-reflecting rap sound that the album is known for. The chorus enhances Miller’s discussion about what it means to experience change, which is another prevalent theme of the album.

“Scared you gonna wake up as someone who isn’t you / We’ve all been down that road before, poured alcohol on open sores / Nobody can hurt me if I go inside and close the door.”

The second to last song on the album is “Rick’s Piano,” which features a guitar, maracas, Miller’s echoing voice and, of course, piano. Miller tells the listener “the best is yet to come.” A sort of acceptance emerges in the song as Miller asks, “What does, what does death feel like? (Oh) Yeah / Why does death steal life?”

“Rick’s Piano” is a hopeful song which makes sense in the context of who Rick Rubin — Miller’s mentor and music producer who has never drank or done drugs — is. 

“Shangri-La,” an earlier song in the album, was the name of Rubin’s retreat in Malibu, Calif. Rubin’s focus on mindfulness and mental health clearly affected Miller. The lyrics “I was drivin’ up to Shangri-La to get my meditation on” and “If I die young, promise to smile at my funeral” exemplify this zen nature.

Miller’s obsession with death continues in the last song, “Tomorrow Will Never Know.” It is a track that belongs on his album “Circles” equally as much as it does on “Balloonerism.” It’s an 11-minute song with a heavy reverb and beat in the background. Miller asks, “Do they dream just like we do? / Do they love just like we do?” This is an eerie song, considering Miller’s death occurred only four years later, but Miller thinks about his death in almost every song on this album and it has become a recurring motif throughout his music.

Probably the most reflective song of the album is “Funny Papers.” The soft piano playing in the background is smoothly joined by a boom bap drum beat and a melodic vocal harmony. Miller continues his use of a backing track in this song, blending his voice with the music to give the album a fuller, wondrous feeling. 

Miller raps about reading both an obituary and a birth announcement in a newspaper. Musically and lyrically, “Funny Papers” is Miller’s best song. It captures overarching themes about the cycle of life.

The lyrics, “Yeah, somebody died today, I / I saw his picture in the funny papers / Didn’t think anybody died on a Friday,” perfectly contrast with the ending of the song. Miller sings, “Somebody gave birth to a baby boy / I saw his picture in the funny papers / Eleven pounds, named after his uncle Gabriel.” Later, he questions, “Why’d she bring these bright eyes into this dark place?”

Compared to his other musical works, “Balloonerism” is an album that vastly represents the changes he underwent as an artist. It represents his best work in the middle of his music transition. The jazzy, R&B sound he explored in this album is more evident in his later work, but is not as pronounced in his earlier albums such as “Circles” and “The Divine Feminine.” However, Miller’s background as a young rapper who was thrust into fame and loves the hip-hop genre can still be seen clearly in “Balloonerism.”

Miller confronts personal issues such as his drug addiction and thoughts of death in his music; rather than succumbing to these struggles, however, he reflects on them. In “Funny Papers,” he says, “I wonder if He’ll take me to the other side.” 

Miller’s life was one spelled by trouble. He became famous at only 19 years old and spiraled downward, embracing the often drug-ridden celebrity lifestyle. Despite all the problems Miller faced, “Balloonerism” does not feel weighed down by his struggles. This album brings fans comfort and solace in knowing that even if Miller didn’t find peace during his life, he may find it afterwards.