Faces

He did it all without a Drake feature.

This review was a long time coming. 10 months ago, my ears have been graced by the music of Mac Miller. Over the course of my listening journey, I have heard all the difference sounds that he has done throughout the years, and how it evolves through every release. Around his 2010 was the start of his rise as an artist. KIDS is byfar the best project he has released during this era. Around this time, his music sounded like what people call “frat rap”. Personally, I agree with this sentiment when it comes to his works in 2011, but there seemed to be a shift in direction once he got to Macadelic. From this to Watching Movies, he has incorporated elements of a more cloud rap and softer sound juxtaposed to his earlier works. His lyricism also became much more nuanced. He started moving into more abstract hiphop territory. And when I listened to his live album (Live from Space), he started incorporating elements of jazz rap. All of this culminated in this mixtape, Faces.

Now, Faces — despite being released in 2014 — was not in any usual streaming platforms until 2021 due to some issues in sample clearance (as far as I know), and when it did release, the world was introduced to a piece of art. Now, I myself wasn’t there for that, but it’s a bit funny how so much people missed out on this album 7 years since it released. As for the content itself, it is a staggering one and a half hour long. That’s the length of a double album basically. Now with this length, there ought to be some duds scattered across this long runtime. I mean, it’s much longer than the deluxe of Watching Movies. Now, I have to be honest, that’s the major reason I have put off this album for half a year. Other than the other albums that I reviewed at the time and my other interests, — I never really found the time to properly review this album in full and give my own take on it. After listening to it over and over during my summer break, I definitely regret putting it off for that long. Much more than Watching Movies.

Faces is such a beautiful project. It has elements of jazz, lofi, and cloud rap, and it meshes all together into a neat basket. In terms of production, it just gives that dreamy and introspective feeling throughout, and it feels so psychedelic and hypnotic. It moves from very jazzy instrumentals and beats, to chill lofi productions, to energetic tracks like Therapy and Insomniak. With all these different sounds, this album still finds it way to be cohesive. The jazz sound can be most heard in the two opening tracks: Inside Outside and Here We Go, The brass instruments in the sound emulate a certain feel that is y’know… jazzy. This album utilizes some wobbly piano loops that kinda stood out to me. Notable songs with this quality are Malibu, What Do You Do, It Just Doesn’t Matter, Polo Jeans, and New Faces v2. I don’t know what there is about it but it just scratches a certain part of my brain as these tracks play. Aside from that, the jazz piano loops such as in Friends, Angel Dust, and most especially Diablo, are memorable. Songs like Wedding, Ave Maria and Rain reminds me a bit of how early 2000s R&B production kinda sounded like. There’s also some energetic tracks here like Therapy, Insomniak, and in a way Thumbalina. They all give me different types of feelings though. Therapy is such a great track. It’s just such a vibe. Two songs here stood out for me here because both had something unique to offer. Grand Finale’s guitar makes this song so much better. In the context of this album, it really does sound like a Grand Finale. Colors and Shapes is such a unique song. It just sounds so ethereal and spacey that it gives a very unique listening experience in this album. I have to say, it took some getting into, but after a few listens it grew on me and became one of my more favored songs in the album.

Mac Miller always had artistic potential from the start. His words have a level of nuance which continues to evolve through each passing project. This mixtape felt very emotional, introspective, and a bit heartbreaking too. The way he words out his experiences and challenges can have a profound impact to many people. One of the songs that I really felt for was Funeral. The way he paints a picture on the mortality of man, and how anyone can just go without a second thought. Like damn.

Overall, this album is the best Mac Miller album I’ve listened to so far. It displays his creativity and artistry, and its place in the world of hiphop — and how it’s so unfortunate that we won’t be able to see him make any more of it. He was just something else man. This mixtape is art. Amazing album.

Fav track: Funeral
Least fav: Apparition