Twenty-four-year-old Pittsburgh rapper Malcom McCormick finally achieves serenity within himself through his new album “The Divine Feminine.”
McCormick, known as Mac Miller, Larry Fisherman and Delusional Thomas, changes up his typical musical style with this new album, released on Sept. 16.
In contrast to “Blue Slide Park,” “Macadellic” and “Faces,” Miller takes on a new persona in which he tries to understand the relationship of two lovers within one universe.
Miller’s growth as an artist is clearly visible to his fans. Watching a 15-year-old boy who raps about nothing but doing drugs and drinking evolve into a man who questions the realities of life through his music is a spectacle of its own.
In his younger years, Miller’s music was not relatable in terms of the experiences he portrayed. Through the use of multiple aliases, Miller has grown to become a versatile artist who can take on many different personas and make his music more accessible.
In his new album Miller does not define the Divine Feminine or even attempt to examine feminism. The title is not crass or insensitive towards women; nor does he try to interpret what being a woman is like through “The Divine Feminine.”
This work explicitly focuses on love and how it relates to the female form, containing subtopics that reference romance — being in a romantic relationship, the end of romantic relationships and every stage between. Through this lens, Miller tries to understand romance in its entirety and its role in the universe.
In his attempt to decipher love on an ideological level, Miller plays with space and intimacy, and growing apart and being in unison. Creating his most captivating album yet by combining jazzy feels, featured artists and new conceptualized ideas, Miller’s most popular songs off the album include “Dang!,” “God is Fair, Sexy Nasty” and “Cinderella.” Featuring Kendrick Lamar, Ty Dolla $ign and his new significant other Ariana Grande, Miller was able to successfully merge multiple talents and still illustrate this magnified lens of relationships.
Through “Dang!” and “Stay,” played back-to-back on the album, Miller focuses on the loss of love through a magnified lens that allows listeners to perceive it through their own personal experience.
In “Dang!” he sings, “God, the devil, who is who? Tryna get through to you because I can’t keep on losing you,” Miller brings attention to why we fight to stay in relationships. When we have seen all the good and bad in someone, we seek the truth behind the two extremes.
Whereas in “Stay,” Miller expresses what the loss feels like. He sings, “I am her, she is I. She had to come, see her freaky side, leavin’ me behind,” where he examines the connection created within a relationship.
The experiences two people have created with one another often form a bond and intertwine their personalities. When he loses her, he feels like he is losing a part of himself.
“The Divine Feminine” succeeds because he lets the listeners embody their own experiences. His lyrics and instrumentals evoke emotions but never force an experience, letting the listeners relate through their own experiences.
In the closing the album, a widow recalls her love affair with her husband. In her narration, she explains the importance of love and what thrives at the core of it: “How important it is to love, respect, and care for each other.”
This bond is something Miller seems to be striving for in “The Divine Feminine.” He isn’t chasing or changing how we perceive love; he is capturing the very essence of love itself within every song.
