Swimming - Mac Miller - Album Review

Juan Hernandez
Sep 8, 2018
3 min read

Mac Miller displays himself in a different light on Swimming. From topics of drug abuse, relationship struggles, and depression, Swimming is Mac Miller's most intimate record to date. Mac Millers final record is a beautifully composed piece of art by a man confined to the inner trappings of Hollywood life.

Mac Miller's reputation spans almost a decade at this point, since he's released his breakout hit "Knock Knock" he has not lost his momentum. Mac Miller transitioned from a corny rapper who spoke about parties and skipping school to something more dejected and lonesome. Mac Miller has garnered significant attention from critics and fans for his more mature albums like Watching Movies With The Sound Off and GO:OD AM, and his music has improved with each following record. With the events such as the Ariana Grande break-up and DUI incident, people wanted to know how Mac has been nowadays. With Swimming he tackles personal moments that thus point to his recent state of mind. Swimming finds Mac at his most vulnerable while also submerging him in sparse production that's both hypnotic and off-putting at times.

With the intro "Come Back To Earth", Mac sets the tone of the album as one that floods you in depression and regret. Mac essentially tries to pick himself up after hard times, and throughout the album he tackles battles of isolation and worry. The albums lead single "Self Care", comments on the break up from Ariana Grande and the recent DUI. Mac Miller questions how others see him in the media, and he goes on to comment about past relationship "You keep on sayin' you in love so / Tell me are you really down?". The project this time has no bangin-bops as he did with on The Divine Feminine or GO:OD AM, everything for the most part is pretty restricted to the emotions of Mac's state of mind.

There are charming moments on the record, such as "Small Worlds" with amazing guitar work from guitar virtuoso John Mayer. Many joints like "2009", "Small Worlds", and "What's The Use?" find Mac using amazing beat samples from soul records, and not to mention a killer bass line from Thundercat. Despite all the depressing subjects, Mac Miller shows quite a bit of endearing lines such as "Staring at the wall and the wall's full of posters / Lookin' at my dreams, who I wanna be / I guess you gotta see it to believe". While there are many beautiful moments, Mac does pull up with some slight inconsistencies, and all at the hands of his own melodies and production.

Slight dull moments keep the album from reaching its full potential. At points it feels as if Mac just rides a beat without making any melodic progress, thus just sort staying on top of a boring layer of work. The album closer, "So It Goes" does not necessarily leave anything memorable behind, and it just feels abrupt as a finisher to the album. Other than these less entertaining moments, the album almost reaches the heights of GO:OD AM.

Swimming is one of the more thoughtful projects Mac Miller has laid out. The album comes to show how the once corny dude who dropped "Donald Trump" came to mature through his run in the music industry. It's been quite the ride, and I'm glad I have gotten to have witnessed Mac's journey through his discography...Rest easy Mac.