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“Everything Quiet But the Music:” Mac Miller’s Balloonerism Released 7 Years After the Rapper’s Passing

Isabela Rangel

BY: ISABELA RANGEL / CO-NEWS EDITOR


Album artwork by Alim Smith
Album artwork by Alim Smith

Mac Miller’s second posthumous album Balloonerism was released this past January, arriving like a final goodbye and testament to the world he left behind. Regarded as one of hip hop’s most introspective artists, Mac’s album feels like that of a dream: airy, haunting, and heartbreakingly out-of-reach. 


The project, released well after the late rapper’s overdose in 2018, was an album originally set to release in 2014 alongside Faces, a mixtape released independently the same year before being made available on streaming platforms in 2021. The two albums, though released at different times, supplement each other in revealing Mac’s innermost thoughts, intricacies, and his lifelong battle with drugs. 


The production of this album also plays a huge role in portraying this delicate tale, with a majority of the music being done by Mac Miller himself under the pseudonym “Larry Fisherman”. The instrumentals, differing in various psychedelic and hypnotic styles, are also aided by subtle sound effects and distorted whispers that correlate with each piece of the story. 


The sparse but significant features should also be taken into account when absorbing the album’s true meaning, with Thundercat’s aid in production and SZA’s ethereal vocals echoing through the album. 


For the record itself? It was clear just within the first listen: Mac Miller still has his piece to share with the world. The album details his inner thoughts in the form of a dreamy trip, using alternative sounds coupled with his haunting lyrics to reveal the untold insight and vulnerability of a person dependent on the use of drugs for solace.


The album opens with enticing and drawn-out instrumentals as if submerging listeners into Mac’s hazy headspace before the story can truly begin. It then dives into tracks such as “Do You Have a Destination?” and “Friendly Hallucinations,” songs that ring true to the rapper’s familiar flow and sound. 


As the album dives further into Mac’s psyche, the tracks begin to reflect the nostalgia and emotions that haunt him as he continues down this path. Songs like “Excelsior” and “Funny Papers” are riddled with nostalgia, lacing the rapper’s narrative with delirious music and sound effects to tie the story together.


 Another example of this standout technique was seen in “Stoned,” where Mac utilizes the track’s backing production to tell the tale of a troubled woman, such as the use of a door-slamming sound effect that’s layered over lyrics of isolation and escape. 


The transitions between each song are seamless, with every line carefully descending listeners into an exposed and distorted world where all and nothing makes sense. The ending of this trip sneaks up with the song  “Tomorrow Will Never Know,” the 11-minute closing to this unforgettable project. 


Mac wraps up his concluding thoughts, lamenting his decisions and existential questions while a muted phone dial plays repeatedly under the music. As the music slows, and the track fades, Mac’s call is ultimately never answered, leaving both him and listeners with a feeling that stays long after the album ends. 


Balloonerism is a project that reminds listeners of the key difference between a storyline and a mere tracklist. It’s kaleidoscopic and chaotic, while simultaneously being raw and hauntingly comforting. More than anything else, it’s personal. As an artist who was unafraid to bare his soul, Mac Miller leaves this album with the hope and sentiment that he always sought to convey through his work.


Nearly 7 years after his passing, Mac Miller’s album Balloonerism arrives in but a fragile and vulnerable state, a project that serves as both a goodbye and a testament to his life’s work of music. 

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