From Blue Slide Park to Swimming: Read these stories spanning Mac Miller’s career

The Pittsburgh-born rapper has died at 26, TMZ and Variety report.

Jasmine Goldband / The Incline

Sep. 07, 2018, 6:14 p.m.

Pittsburgh-born rapper Mac Miller has died, TMZ and Variety report. He was 26 years old.

Miller, a graduate of Taylor Allderdice High School, signed his first major-label deal at 18. His latest album, Swimming, was released last month. Miller, real name Malcolm James McCormick, was set to tour in support of the new record. This included a scheduled homecoming gig at the Petersen Events Center in November.

Miller’s career included numerous albums, mixtapes, a short-lived MTV reality show and spawned countless media profiles over the years. Here we’ve compiled a few examples of those, detailing the trajectory of his career.

Pittsburgh rapper Mac Miller, 18, debuts recording, signs with label

He began gaining exposure around Pittsburgh by performing at small bars, which he says wouldn’t have been possible in a bigger city.

“In Pittsburgh, everybody gets a chance,” he says. “If you’re in New York, they might tell you, maybe could audition to open for an opening act.”

— TribLive, Aug. 12, 2010

25 Things You Didn’t Know About Mac Miller

Despite scoring the No. 1 spot on Billboard with his debut album, Blue Slide Park, Mac still considers himself an “underground rapper.” Considering that he’s an independent artist who gets little to no radio play, he’s kind of got a point. Even though the term “underground” has become somewhat obsolete in this Internet-driven era of music, having 3 million Facebook fans is no joke.

— Complex, Jan. 29, 2013

Donald Trump Threatens Mac Miller With Lawsuit, Calls Him an “Ungrateful Dog”

“When he started running for president I was like, ‘Oh, fuck—this is horrible, I have a fucking song with this dude’s name and now he’s being such a douchebag.'” Mac says.

— Complex, Jan. 31, 2013

Pittsburgh’s Mac Miller makes major label debut with ambitious ‘GO:OD AM’

The rap star, once known to his teachers at Allderdice High School as Malcolm McCormick from Point Breeze, has a big, full bucket. He’s toured around the world. Played major festivals like Coachella and Bonnaroo. Topped the album charts with “Blue Slide Park” (2011). Starred in his own MTV2 reality show. And, of course, he’s made millions of dollars. Last year, he signed a $10 million major label contract with Warner Bros Records.

— Post-Gazette, Sept. 17, 2015

How Mac Miller Went From Frat-Rap Bro To Critical Darling

His sophomore album, Watching Movies With the Sound Off, was the first indication that Mac was intent on redefining his artistic identity. Mac moved out to Los Angeles in 2012 and holed up in a home studio that ended up attracting a number of rappers. “I just moved out to LA to make music, because I had money and I wanted to try and have some adventure, and I ended up hanging around all these people and we ended up making music together,” he told The Come-Up Show in 2013.

— Complex, Nov. 8, 2016

Mac Miller Wants You to Know He’s OK

Despite the soul-baring, Miller insists he’s in a great headspace these days. He’s been working out every morning (“It’s good for the chemicals in your brain. It puts my mind in the proper place to start the day”) and in the run-up to his new album, he’s returned — albeit cautiously — to social media. Much to his surprise, Miller says he’s found most people to be generally complimentary of his new music. “Though you can still find any narrative about yourself if you want on there,” he says of occasionally scrolling through Twitter or Instagram. “I can find people that say they like my old shit better. I can find people that say they wish I would just rap and not sing. I can find people that say they wish I would sing and not rap. All that shit is confusing. You might as well just figure out yourself what you wanna do.”

— Rolling Stone, Aug. 3. 2018

Every Mac Miller Music Video From 2011 to Today: Watch His Evolution

— Billboard, Aug. 15, 2018

Mac Miller perseveres: The rapper and musician knows you think he’s had a bad year, but it’s more complicated than that.

“And I don’t want just sadness either. I don’t want to be depressed. I want to be able to have good days and bad days … I can’t imagine not waking up sometimes and being like, ‘I don’t feel like doing shit.’ And then having days where you wake up and you feel on top of the world.”

— Vulture, Sept. 6, 2018