At age 23, Mac Miller reinvents himself

Success came early to Mac Miller. In 2011 at the age of 19, his debut album “Blue Slide Park” hit the top of the Billboard 200 chart. The Pittsburgh rapper was featured on Maroon 5’s remix of “Moves Like Jagger,” and he added a key rap assist to Ariana Grande’s “The Way.”

Fellow Iron City rapper Wiz Khalifa raved about Miller. Fans flocked to Miller’s high-energy shows. His first two albums reflected his intense existence. Miller was a larger-than-life figure who reportedly had a problem with drugs.

It was getting out of control and, fortunately, Miller, 23, dealt with his problems. Miller lays it all out throughout his third album, “GO:OD AM,” particularly on the catchy cut “Brand Name”: “To everyone who sell me drugs/ /Don’t mix it with that (expletive)/ I’m hopin’ not to join the twenty-seven club.”

Miller is referring to that select group of rock icons, Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison and Jimi Hendrix, to name a few, who checked out at age 27.

“I just want to be able to do this for as long as I can,” Miller said. “I’ve done my share of drugs. You look at (music) history and you see where it leads you. But I will say that great music came from it (his experience).”

Miller will showcase “GO:OD AM,” which dropped last month, Friday at the Cotillion. The album is interesting and entertaining, which is a feat in its own right.

“There are a lot of things to write about,” Miller said. “It’s not all about having fun and getting high. If you look back to my first album, every song wasn’t about that.”

No, but much of it was. Miller reinvents himself at an age when most of his contemporaries have yet to figure out their paths in life.

“I’ve always known that I wanted to do this,” Miller said. “This is my passion. When I was 15, I knew I would throw myself into this. I was really into sports, but I stopped all of that and followed my desire to become a musician.”

Miller, who plays piano, guitar, drums and bass and has a troika of well-reviewed albums to his credit, still has much to achieve.

“I want to take this as far as I can,” Miller said. “I don’t want to just leave at this level. I’m still young. I haven’t even scraped the surface yet. I’m going to do much more than this. I can’t tell you how inspired I am.”

This story was originally published October 29, 2015 at 3:14 PM with the headline "At age 23, Mac Miller reinvents himself."