Learning from loss of Mac Miller

Death of 26-year-old rapper shows the dangers of drug use

Mac Miller knew he would die young.
On Sept. 7, the 26-year-old Pittsburgh rapper passed away from what is said to be an apparent overdose. Regardless of how his untimely death came, Malcolm James McCormick knew his life would not come with longevity, and he let his listeners know it time and time again.
Mac knew drugs would take his life.
On his song “Brand Name,” the rapper references the 27 Club — a list of names, predominantly of musicians, who all died at the age of 27. For the most part, these musicians passed away at the hands of drug abuse or suicide.
Mac raps, “To everyone who sell me drugs, don’t mix it with that [expletive], I’m hoping not to join the 27 Club.”
Mac understood the type of lifestyle he lived and the consequences it can have on its victims. Even though he showed fear in joining this infamous club, which he missed by about four months, he already knew he was headed in that direction.
One of the most glaring examples of this came in early July when he released his music video for “Self Care.”
In the video, Mac is seen inside a buried coffin where he carves a phrase into its wooden interior. Eventually, the carving is shown to be the Latin phrase “memento mori,” which translates to “know that you will die.”
On his most recent release, Swimming, Mac laid out 13 tracks fueled by heartbreak, disparity and an understanding of his own reality.
Within seconds of the album’s first song “Come Back to Earth,” listeners are made aware of Mac’s current mental state, and to some, it may even sound like a cry for help.
Mac sings, “I just need a way out of my head. I’ll do anything for a way out of my head.”
Were drugs Mac’s out? Absolutely.
For many users, the feeling one gets after taking drugs is an escape from the real world. After a public breakup with Ariana Grande, and who knows what other underlying issues, Mac turned to drugs to ease the pain and step away from his own reality. For him, drugs were a way out of his head, and consequently his way out of the physical world.
On what is easily the most telling song of Swimming, “2009,” Mac sings “and sometimes, sometimes I wish I took a simpler route, instead of havin’ demons that’s as big as my house.” And later on the same song he sings, “Isn’t it funny? We can make a lot of money, buy a lot of things just to feel a lot of ugly.”
Mac knew he had issues. And when your issues become so great that they cause you to use drugs to the point which they ultimately take your life, there isn’t enough money, fame and limelight in the world to take those issues and pain away.
This was the message Mac has spent the last few years telling his listeners. He knew he was destined for a short life, and his latest works were him warning listeners of the dangers of drug use and the hardship that comes with fighting inner battles.
My advice: be kind to people, be gentle and never undermine what may be bothering somebody. If you or someone you know is fighting inner demons, be there for them and seek help. These battles are hard to fight, and they’re even harder to fight alone.
He says it on the first song of Swimming, “I’m drifting, now I’m leaving forever. They tell me it only gets better.”
It does get better, and there is always a light at the end of the tunnel. Unfortunately for Mac Miller, though, he drifted a little too far.