"Watching Movies With Sound Off Review"

Before I start and jump into this review I want to inform you that I wasn't a Mac Miller fan before this album dropped. Mac Miller while being one of the most successful indie hip hop artists ever, lyrically he just didn't do it for me. He just kind of reminded me of everything I wasn't really feeling about mainstream hip hop these days. Then about a month or so before the release of his sophomore effort “Watching Movies With the Sound Off” he released a couple joints before that. My ears didn't really perk up to listen until I heard “The End Is Near” first because Ab-Soul is on it, second Mac produced the joint and thirdly lyrically Mac Miller had stepped his game up. I wasn't entirely sold but I was intrigued. Next day the video for “S.D.S” came out produced by FlyLo. Mac Miller once again came correct. Lastly I saw the tracklisting and guest features on this album and I knew I had to cop it. Let's see if “WMWTSO” was enough to transform me into a fan As I stated before I wasn't too keen on Mac Miller's catalog before this, however once this album starts it immediately grabbed my attention from the beat and the dark lyrics. “The Star Room” is the first track on the album and it's filled with a Mac reflecting on his life and how it's changing. His new found success isn't all glory, glamour and fun times and it's evident this is causing him frustration. Everything from love, to drugs is covered in this song and it's a breathe of fresh air to hear from him A couple tracks later we get “I Am Not Real” which features Earl Sweatshirt (unfortunately only in the form of a hook) but the darkness continues on this joint. Like in “The Star Room” Mac Miller talks about more specifically about the all the bad sides about the fame that he's garnered over the years. Gold diggers, fake friends considered acquaintances, pain, drugs and more. Hearing Mac take us into the other not so glamorous side of the music business. Mac is searching for answers to a lot of questions in this album in general and he's bringing us along for his journey through life “I Am Who I Am (Killing Time)” has Mac Miller questioning being famous but this also questioning God and religion. He feels like God has blessed by becoming famous however at the same time he wonders why God gave it to him if he's sinning. He questions those who judge him for buying material things with the money that he's making now. He feels that he almost wasting away in the studio because he spends so much time in there. The second verse takes an even darker turn with the content Forfeit in the war, he lays a sword down and walks away Grabs a 40 from the corner store and begins to contemplate Dealing with death like you work in the morgue aborsving the souls Forgotten, he lost his way Starring down that barrel, thinking not today Now I'll be honest the middle of the album kind of falls off a little bit for me because he seemingly goes back to the old Mac Miller that I wasn't a fan off. With songs like “Red Dot Music” (with Action Bronson), “Gees” (with ScHoolboy Q) and “Watching Movies” old fans of Mac will be pleased to see that he is in original form here and I think that's a good thing for fans to see. There's definitely maturity on this album but he sticks to his roots too “REMember” is one of my favorite songs on the record where Mac Miller is paying homage to a fallen friend. The first verse has him talking to his friend wishing he would come back. A strong line has Mac wishing his friend had a kid so Mac could tell him/her stories about their would be father. The second first has Mac Miller telling people not to take life for granted because it can be taken from you at any moment so cherish it The questioning of all of life's most difficult questions continues with “Aquarium”. The first verse mostly is about religion and his wanting to search for a deeper purpose in his life than what he's managing now: "I'll always wonder what happened 3000 years ago I like to toy with the idea that we really know Is what I do important in the grand scheme of things? In my head these dreams are dreamt, trust me we are kings” The second verse is the continued questioning on life's purpose and even brings the idea that in America it almost seems like our purpose is to make money and gaining knowledge. Throughout the entire record we're witnessing a 21 year old man question the world around him from everything he's given, to everything he's earned over the years “WMWTSO” is easily Mac Miller's best effort. One part that I skipped on the album was its production which was extremely solid. One part that I see being overlooked is how well Larry Fisherman's (aka Mac Miller) beats were on this album. This album shows that he's really put in the work on the production side of his game. Even as a whole the guest producers on the album were solid and created a cohesive sounding album (the only beat I thought that didn't really fit in was “S.D.S” but even that doesn't matter because the beat was straight fire). Lyrically Mac Miller puts everything on the line, he's questioning a lot of things and dealing with a lot of pain too For fans of Mac Miller you might not like the change his underwent as of late, but assuming that you're fans of anyone that's featured on the project you should enjoy what Mac Miller is offering with “WMWTSO”. All the features are on point and the diversity on this project whether it be production or lyrics is good to hear from him. I am officially a Mac Miller fan, “Born Sinner” and “Yeezus” may have come out on the same day but don't sleep on this album. What ever box you had Mac Miller in before this release I can guarantee you that he breaks that box wide open during this entire album