It’s like an ascension
What follows is a candid look at the Pittsburgh native’s past six years, starting with his ascent, when he was 19, as a popular but critically panned rapper. “I was an easy target. I admit that,” he says now. “It became one of those things where I got so much negativity that it almost became, like, ‘There’s no point to overly hate on this dude, let me look in and see what he’s doing.’ And when you look in, there’s some good music there.” Following his 2011 debut album, Billboard's first independently released No.1 in over a decade, Mac moved to Los Angeles, where it seemed to many he was thriving. That’s where Andrew Nosnitsky met him for Mac Miller's 2013 The FADER cover story, and where he played an endearing role in Earl Sweatshirt’s cover too.
Rob Semmer
Director
Mac Miller
Quentin Cuff
Jimmy Murton
Garrett Uddin
Clockwork
88-Keys
French Montana
LA Originals69%
Shawn Mendes: In Wonder81%
Tupac: Resurrection79%
Nobody Speak: Trials of the Free Press60%
Untold: Jake Paul the Problem Child58%
Struggle: The Life and Lost Art of Szukalski75%
Gilbert67%
Night Will Fall76%
McQueen74%
Something from Nothing: The Art of Rap67%
Anna Nicole Smith: You Don't Know Me60%
Fuck64%
I Am Chris Farley71%
Ginny & Georgia - The Afterparty71%
Biggie & Tupac64%
ReMastered: The Two Killings of Sam Cooke68%
Dig!67%
The Rachel Divide62%
Nail Bomber: Manhunt65%
Matangi / Maya / M.I.A.77%
