Even for the most energetic of morning people, getting out of bed to the high-pitched shrieking of the alarm clock is a difficult experience. With Pittsburg rapper Mac Miller’s newest album, “GO:OD AM,” mornings might be a little better.
In his third studio album, Mac Miller isn’t playing around. He’s shaking his listeners awake and holding their attention. No more thrown together party-house rap: it’s a brand new day for Mac Miller. His No. 4 spot on Billboard’s Top 200 proves his awakening is for the better.
From the very first track, “Doors,” it’s obvious this album was well thought out. It’s groggy, almost indecipherable, and it’s slow. Get it? It’s just like you feel when you wake up in the morning.
The first half of the album has a kind of jazzy, auto-tuned feel to it. Think early morning in a sleepy brownstone neighborhood. Maybe at times the rhythm takes over, drowning out Mac’s lyrics behind synthesized jazz trumpets, but some way or another, he always manages to pull the listener back through almost calculated vocals.
Track by track, it is beyond clear Mac Miller is waking up: the vocals get stronger, the rhythms more complex and the beats more lively. “GO:OD AM” is not an album you can just throw on shuffle— it’s too well thought out for that.
“Weekend feat. Miguel” is definitely the most perfectly placed song on the track list— the noon of the day, if you will. It acts as almost a bridge, connecting the beginning of the album, which starts off slow but gradually builds up momentum, to the latter half, which carefully maintains the energy before it is gently released. Every now and again, with tracks such as “Perfect Circle/God Speed” and “ROS,” there are little rests in the building momentum. They almost jerk a listener backwards, but give Mac the opportunity to really show off his verses and his music rather than just blabbering as quickly as possible track after track.
Not that Mac Miller is singing anyone to sleep. The high-energy tracks, like “Weekend,” are strong enough to stand alone. You can add a few to your pregame playlist. As a matter of fact, go ahead and add “In the Bag,” “Break the Law” and “When in Rome.”
Do so carefully: “GO:OD AM” isn’t just meant to be blasted at parties while people crush beer cans against their heads and scream at the moon. This is music, people.
During the ‘afternoon’ of the album, Mac Miller sounds like a real rapper. His beats and his vocals are completely in sync, and his lyrics are clear and clever. “Break the Law,” in particular, is a glowing example of Mac Miller delivering rhymes that we can take seriously.
Listeners should be able to catch little bits here and there of the producers Mac Miller worked with, such as Tyler, the Creator, ID Labs and Thundercat, woven seamlessly into his sound.
Overall, “GO:OD AM” is an album we should all take seriously. It has a sound that feels carefully assembled, professional and artistic. The rhythm and beats are layered and complicated, not just the same few chords over and over with periodic dramatic pauses, but carefully arranged. Mac Miller isn’t spitting up watery stoner-garbage singles, he’s producing the kind of album you listen to all the way through. Each song has its own distinct feel, its own role, but the album as a whole is an interesting and complex entity, like a walk through a day in the life of Mac Miller himself.
As a side note, we should all get a little excited, since Mac Miller is bringing his release tour to our beloved Oxford Monday, October 26 at The Lyric. Tickets are on sale now.
