How Mac Miller’s Death Has Affected Me and How It Should Affect You

Mac Miller’s death is something that I have been having a hard time comprehending, I loved his music, I loved his style, and I loved his energy. If you were a fan of his music or not, his death should be something that you have a hard time comprehending as well. When someone dies as tragically as Mac did, it’s important to not rationalize it. His death was no one’s fault, not even his own. His death wasn’t a consequence of his recent break up with pop singer, Ariana Grande. His death wasn’t simply overdosing, his death was a result of his continuous battle with addiction and mental health issues.

One of the qualities that I admired the most about Mac was that he was honest, through his songs he shared his struggle to handle his emotions when it came to his life, his relationships, and his addiction. Unfortunately, his messages may have been lost in translation due to the music industry’s ability to romanticize the three principles that fuel it- sex, drugs, and alcohol. Mac’s song “Weekend” featuring Miguel on his third album, GO:OD AM reminds me of this, “Wondering, well, wonderin’ how I got this high/ fell asleep and forgot to die, God damn/ I’m poppin’ them downers/ And drinking them powders, faded…” When I was in high school, I remember blasting this song when I wanted a bad day or a bad week to just end. My seventeen year old self had no idea about the extent of Mac’s message, I had no idea that what he was rapping about would eventually lead him to his death- to me, it was simply a good song.

I grew up listening to his first album Blue Slide Park and any other song by him that my sister downloaded on our joint itunes account. When I was younger, my family spent a lot of time in Northern Michigan and I would only listen to his songs during the car rides because my thirteen year old self thought it would be really cool to know all his songs by heart. On a less innocent note, Mac was someone who also meant alot to my sister. When I was a mere teenager and my sister was in her early twenties, I just thought my sister was obsessed with him. I had no idea until after his death, that her “obsession” with him was so much more than that. When my sister lived in Chicago, she suffered from depression and Mac’s songs such as “Thoughts on a Balcony” and “Another Night”, allowed her to feel less alone. Mac had helped her through some hard times, but he was also there during happier times. My sister explained to me that he was also the root to the most important relationships she’s created and has countless memories to his songs, “Kool Aid and Frozen Pizza”, and “Senior Skip Day”, “Whenever I’m in a funk, even today, Blue Slide Park and K.I.D.S always puts me in a better mood. He (Mac Miller) was just so relatable, I loved how in his music he would talk about the good and bad stuff that happens in life…he was just a regular kid from Pittsburgh.” Celebrities are often put on pedestals, which means that people begin to perceive them as something more than who they actually are. With that being said, when musicians talk about something like doing drugs the audience may become desensitized to it because their rational might be if they can do it, it must be okay.

When we remember the death of not only Mac Miller, but the countless other people who have suffered similarly, it’s important to understand that their “decision” to become a drug addict or an alcoholic was not a decision at all. Anyone who is suffering from addiction is sick and in need of treatment. Similarly to physical illnesses such as cancer, diseases such as addiction can be terminal if they are not treated. Right after I had heard about Mac Miller’s death, I was venting to someone about how upset I was and they replied with, “Well maybe he shouldn’t have taken so many drugs.” If you or a friend happen to bring up Mac Miller’s death, I encourage you all to choose your words carefully. How you speak and what you say, may completely change someone’s life. Typically if we choose to address misunderstood or sometimes complicated situations with love and compassion, the results can be life changing.