Music has always been able to invoke emotion inside of me. One artist who I’ve always felt connected to is Pittsburgh rapper and producer Mac Miller.
Since middle school, I’ve filled my ears with the sounds of many of Miller’s albums after his passing in September 2018. While I didn’t start listening until after his passing, Miller’s music became a mainstay in my playlists because of his lyricism and production.
Balloonerism, released Jan. 17, 2025, is the second posthumous album released by Miller’s estate. Five years ago, Circles was released, just two years after Miller’s death. However, most of the album was done in 2014 while Miller was recording his album Watching Movies with the Sound Off.
The album features 14 songs and totals 58 minutes in length with features from SZA, Dylan Reynolds and Delusional Thomas, one of Miller’s many alter-egos, who raps with a higher-pitched filter.
In Balloonerism, Miller discusses his struggles with mental health and substance abuse, with many lyrics conveying the young rappers’ thoughts on death and other inner conflicts that he was struggling with during the time of writing. One song where Miller highlights these themes is “Shangri-La” where Miller sings, “If I die young, promise to smile at my funeral.”
Another song that stuck out for its dark themes was “Funny Papers,” where Miller sings about reading the newspaper and questioning how anyone could die on a Friday, becoming tragically ironic, given Miller’s own passing was on a Friday.
“Tambourine Dream’’ opens the album. It doesn’t feature any lyrics, just the consist bang of tambourine hits. While only an interlude, this track does a great job at bringing new listeners into the world of Mac Miller through his use of various instruments.
A personal favorite is “DJs Cord Organ (feat. SZA).” This track has the pair on top of mesmerizing notes played on the namesake organ throughout the song’s five-minute runtime. SZA makes the track with her background vocals.
The most upbeat song on the album, “5 Dollar Pony Rides,” stands out as the most positive on the record, going back to Millers earlier works such as K.I.D.S and Blue Slide Park.
The album’s stand-out song is its last, “Tomorrow will never know,” which features the haunting ringing of a phone throughout most of the track’s almost 12-minute time frame.
When stacked up against the rest of Miller’s catalogue, Balloonerism isn’t his best work. However, considering how it remained unreleased for over a decade, it’s a great addition to the somewhat large collection Miller created in his unfortunately short eight years career.