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Mac Miller is nervous.
Wardrobe deliberations go on longer than youd expect; and the room is making everyone loopy.
The Pittsburgh rapper normally relaxed and easy-going is growing wiry from anticipation.
It becomes clear that Mac isnt anxious about playing the room.
Hes anxious about winning it.
I have a tendency to kinda brood about stuff and cook in it, he says.
Ill wake up and just sit here and think about it for hours.
Its not preciousness so much as a studio rats high bar for professionalism.
That attention to detail isnt limited to the studio.
Paparazzi were waiting for him outsideColbertthe night before, and this looked to be more of the same.
A steady trickle of excited rap fans stop him to say hello.
Mac is cordial and patient with people even when he appears to smell a pitch coming.
The most striking fan interaction happened when two deaf girls asked for autographs outside the hotel.
Mac was quietly floored by this.
Most rap careers open big and crumble over time, but this one is a long game.
That stormy middle-August stretch marked the eighth anniversary of Mac MillersK.I.D.S.
There was this time when I was the most Googled thing on the internet.
It was like diet, carrots, and Mac Miller.
With attention came withering criticism.
Mac Miller grew up playing music, and he listens to more than he lets on.
His earliest experience playing an instrument came from piano lessons at 6.
Later, he picked up guitar, bass, and drums.
Macs voice is the instrument hes most keen on improving.
Hes still thinking about a vocal coach.
The chief drawback of blowing up young is the lack of room for error.
There are people who think hes a round-the-clock reckless, depressive party animal.
Thats fine, thats good, thats life.
It should be all the emotions.
You grow up in the public eye when you become famous in your teens.
Your mistakes get more scrutiny than the normal persons.
You slip up, and it could end up in a newspaper.
Is that unnerving?Theres pressure.
Theyre like Yo, man, are you okay?
Im like Yeah, Im fucking at the grocery store.
This is what I signed up for.
So, you just have to not.
You have to have your own reality and that has to be the driving force of your life.
Do I wish that every single thing I did when I was 19 wasnt a discussion?
I feel like the public sense of who you are differs from the reality.
What does that do to your thinking?You know whats funny?
I feel like the public perception of me varies on who you ask.
It actually makes me less stressed about how my actions are perceived.
Its out of my control.
I mean, to a degree …
I could control it.
I could live this squeaky clean life and everything.
I could give a shot to control the media.
But Ive been finding freedom in just living and letting people say whatever the fuck they want.
Like, do I really care what Hollywood Life is saying?
So a bunch of kids now think that.
Is it not worth it to do that?Maybe Im wrong.
Maybe thats just a game that I havent gotten into playing.
Youre never going to be able to get anything across.
Its never gonna be the real … No ones gonna ever really know me.
You know what I mean?
But people reading too much into your music can also create its own misconceptions.
If people hear sad songs, they think, This guys fucked up.
And it leads to Are you okay?
But … Ive also not talked about what songs mean, whats this or whats that.
Ive just kind of left it up to interpretation.
You dont have control over them once you release them.Yeah.
But heres the thing: I probably do.
I probably do more than I realize.
I probably could do more to control the perception of me.
What would that look like?I have no idea.
And thats what I like.
I like different responses.
Everyones not being like, This song is obviously aboutthis…
That mentality is out there.For sure.
Swimmingalso gets its character from its collaborators.
I called him, and I was like, Yo, were down to the final week.
This is kinda where the album ended up going.
Just come to the studio.
He brought a semi-truck of instruments and filled all of Conway up.
We went through the record, and he started playing things on every song.
The album title came from a running gag between the two.
Brion would tease the rapper for constantly asking for water sounds.
On his last birthday, Miller woke up and resolved to call his water albumSwimming.
3 on the Billboard 200 in a week stacked with quality rap releases.
(It mightve been No.
2 if not for the surprise drop of Travis ScottsAstroworld, which surged pastSwimmingand DrakesScorpionto No.
The patient evolution of his art will keep him in the conversation as long as hes careful.
