Watching Movies with the Sound Off: Two Years After Mac Miller's Tragic Death
Grace Krieger
Published
Two years removed from his death to the day, there has been few as ingenious and
tangled as Mac Miller. His growth as an artist and a man are well-documented through
his discography's metamorphosis. As I sit here and listen to "REMember" from his 2013
album Watching Movies with the Sound Off, I am reminded of the demons Miller
struggled with and how they perpetually made his music special. Such as the toxic and
complicated relationship Miller had with drugs, I find my own toxicity in the way I
appreciate, even need, how he let his demons weave their way into his playful yet
somber melodies that pepper Watching Movies.
To revisit this album is to understand that while his more recent albums (including the
posthumous release of the incredibly raw Circles) show a different side to the once frat-
rapper Miller, Watching Movies encompasses his explicit ability to expand beyond any
box that is attempted upon him. The album is a departure from college-party anthems
into an exploration of his inner-sadness mixed with his take on the zeitgeist sound of
hip-hop at the time.
In hindsight, the tracks are a dark delve into how heavy Miller's reality (fame, finding
his music footing, substance abuse, women) weighed on him -- especially at such a
formative age. His soul-searching on his ego flips between songs, from the line "if God
was a human He'd be yours truly" on "Star Room" to the striking counterpart "I'm no
God" on "S.D.S". This also plays into his examination of his conflicting feelings about
money and how others treat him; Miller is relentlessly mulling over whether or not his
newfound wealth is too influential on his relationships. The lovably confident Mac
Miller we love -- solidified in the 2015 release of GO:OD AM -- does not fail to make it
to the party with his classic hip-hop production on songs such as "Bird Call" and
"Watching Movies". Yet even those tracks cannot escape Miller's murky introspection in
their eerie melodies and thrown-in dark catches. Moreover, tracks such as "Youforia"
noticeably define the album, feeling like the treasure of an underwater shipwreck:
dreamy, distant, and brilliant.
A testament to his issues and how he is navigating them, Watching Movies this far
removed from its release reveals a reflection on his transitions in his production at the
time (trance-inducing, explorative, smoky, skilled) and his inevitably fatal demons
(substance abuse, money, fame). Despite the weight the album now holds in reference to
its' dark and ruminative lyrics, it doesn't lose its Mac Miller-esque wonder. Poignant in
his line in the adoringly familiar, and frankly dirty feature with Tyler the Creator "O.K",
"Album filled with all sad songs/But this the one that I can laugh on" is his playfulness
that keeps him afloat, and his confusion with how it fits into the dichotomous yet
charming mix that is his track list.
While it would be in his next album that he seems to find solid footing in who he is, this
album is an important and commanding note to the journey that we all got to live in
through his album progression. It is a reminder of the levels of production Miller
achieved and the fluidity of his talent throughout his life. Miller sought out to
understand himself with and through his music and we were fortunate enough to reap
the benefits. Revisiting Watching Movies (a must-listen) is a testament to his genius
even in (possibly, especially) his most confusing times.