Mac Miller - The Divine Feminine

Mac Miller
The Divine Feminine
2016
Spotify

The title of this album is probably not the greatest of choices for 2016. When someone claims to evoke "The Divine Feminine" we prepare ourselves for some heavy topics about what being a woman means, and how that relates to the greater world. The Divine Feminine however is not that, instead it is perhaps the Mac Miller version of that. He wants to portray a lighter, softer side of his style and that is what He considers the "Feminine". "Dang!" which is yet another stellar feature from Anderson .paak is perhaps the best song on the entire record and really does convey that lighter side of things rather than banging trap beats. Miller's lyrical content is also different here. Instead of a exploration of Hip Hop history and future with the sprinkling of his frat boy style we get what most would consider love songs. It is a real contrast from last years GO:OD AM but not an entirely bad one. Do not let this fool you however Miller is still going to sprinkle in how he is "fucking pussy" and only eats "pussy" even though He is rap singing it a bit more sweetly than usual. You really expect a great deal of pandering with the title of the record but Mac does not really drift from His usual style besides slowing things down and throwing in a few horns here an there. On this album though mac Miller seems the most himself, no longer trying to prove that He deserves to be a rapper, but instead just going out there and rapping.

Between "Stay" and "Skin" is where we get the real force of the record. This is where Mac really reveals that this album is about physical connection, spanning those gaps that literally exist in between us, in his own overly sexualized way. His ideas are good, but they lack a real intelligence and depth of knowledge on the things He is trying to say. I'm sure He knows a lot of this stuff inherently but trying to put those emotions and long held beliefs into a song is not easy. The real elephant in the room however is what in the fuck is in Mac Miller's mouth. The entire record, THE ENTIRE RECORD, it sounds like He is crewing some dip or has some gum in the side of his mouth. If you can get past this more power to you, but it is so god damn annoying almost anything He says is lost. Lil Wayne and Young Thug mumble, which is their style, but they do not sound like they constantly have something in their mouth. If honoring the divine feminine in the universe was his aim, the Mac missed the mark by making almost everything begin and end with sex. This is Mac Miller's most ambitious and direct album to date and shows that He is evolving. Whether or not you can stick around for that evolution however is up to you.

6.9 out of 10