by Carley Litten
Mac Miller released “The Divine Feminine” on Sept. 16 and many are already raving about how this could be his best album yet. From beginning to end this album is slower, sensual, dreamy and jazzy. He works in a lot of piano and trumpet giving off an R&B/soul feel.
This isn’t your stereotypical rap album, it’s an expression of love. “The Divine Feminine” consists of 10 songs, and seven out of the 10 include features, one being with his new girlfriend, Ariana Grande. Some say it’s just a publicity stunt for the feature to have more hits, but it could be a rekindling affair from their recording of “The Way” in 2013. His other features include Cee-Lo Green, Anderson Paak, Ty Dolla $ign, Njomza, Bilal, and Kendrick Lamar.
The amount of features on the album peaked my interest because I was excited to hear how he worked all of these different artists into the mix; which must I say, he did in a pleasing way. Every single song on this album is about Mac’s romantic life and how he has learned from it. However, I am getting the hint this album could actually be about his longtime girlfriend Nomi Leasure, whom he met in eighth grade.
Mac uses this album as an outlet to not only show his passion, but his pain as well. When his album came out, he started answering questions from his fans directly on Twitter. He stated the inspiration for this album was simply “romance” and that he started working on this album a month after he dropped “GO:OD AM” in 2015. He has also claimed on Twitter making the track “Skin” was a “journey” when a fan asked which memory was his favorite from creating the album.
For me personally, his first track on the album “Congratulations” featuring Bilal resonated with me the most. Mac goes in detail about some deep feelings and memories with a girl and how she was there “before the fancy cars,” and when he was just a “starving artist.” This song has piano in the background the entire time, which is one of the main reasons I was so drawn in.
Secondly, his fifth track, “Cinderella” featuring Ty Dolla $ign is another song which really captured me. Ty Dolla $ign and Mac create a story with this song about an “angel,” and it once again, like every other song, is slow and starry-eyed.
There are more actual vocals involved in not only this song, but the entire album. This really broadens Mac’s diversity when it comes to making music. We see a little more singing from him and a different style of more soulful beats all together.
The album is about the divinity of love with a female including the highs and lows and his personal experience specifically.
Mac Miller didn’t just release a new album, he created significant art with this and took words directly from his soul to express his romantic life in a fervent way.
