By Mick Dillon The Jambar
Fans of Mac Miller, known personally as Malcolm McCormick, celebrated 10 years of his beloved album, “The Divine Feminine,” on Sept. 16. For the album’s 10th anniversary, Miller’s estate selected three of the album’s unreleased tracks to put on the deluxe version, which releases Oct. 2.
In a 2016 interview with Billboard, Miller said the album is not only an ode to the “sturdy” women in his life, but a love letter to Earth.
“A lot of this record is about the energy surrounding this planet. It’s a feminine one — Mother Earth. We need to hold that up as something sacred,” Miller said.
With a runtime of under an hour, the 10-track album fills every second of space and doesn’t leave a note wasted.
The album starts with “Congratulations,” which features angelic vocals from the uncredited vocalist Ariana Grande before transitioning into a stripped-down piano track with Miller softly rapping a couple of verses layered in. The lack of other instruments provides listeners with a delicate introduction to a tender album.
Up until the release of “The Divine Feminine,” Miller’s discography was limited to almost exclusively rap music. This record takes a turn towards R&B, which Miller said was a conscious decision in the same interview.
“I really just finished that last record and wanted to get into exploring the emotion of love and everything that comes with it, so I just set out to make a little side project,” Miller said. “But once I kind of got in there, I was like, ‘Whoa. There’s a lot here.’ So, I just kind of kept going.”
Track two signifies the album’s biggest commercial hit, “Dang!” featuring rapper Anderson .Paak. .Paak initially wrote the song about grief and dealing with loss, but Miller proposed turning it into a love song, and .Paak agreed. The groovy bassline and catchy hook are what keep this track in listeners’ ears more than a decade later.
The middle portion of the record flows seamlessly, with Miller showing off his musical ability. The leading instruments used in these tracks span from trumpet to piano, but the cohesion still feels effortless.
Thematically, this is Miller’s strongest album. Everything goes back to his adoration for the women in his life, and the melodies are easily digestible from front to back.
“Divine Feminine” is capped off by the eight-minute outro track, “God Is Fair, Sexy Nasty,” featuring Kendrick Lamar. Though this is not the first time the two artists have collaborated, it is their most artistic endeavor as a duo.
In an interview with DJ Zane Lowe, Miller described recording the song as a “journey,” and stressed the importance of the song belonging to both Miller and Lamar.
“I don’t want to go do a song with Kendrick and make a Kendrick song. ‘What does our song look like?’” Miller said. “It sounds like being in the ocean — relaxing, calm, floating, and just like there and comfortable in your thoughts, and that’s how the record ends, which is so awesome.”