The title suggests that The Divine Feminine might be about feminism, but Miller has gone a different direction. The album covers a lot of sonic ground, but still feels cohesive, largely due to Miller’s strong work crafting a unifying theme. Some tracks even abandon rap altogether, with Miller singing in a raspy croon on the Ariana Grande featuring My Favourite Part and Soulmate. Dang! and We both fit into a g-funk mould, whereas Skin and Planet God Damn are more like a soul-infused hip-hop, not dissimilar to the chipmunk beats of early Kanye, or Tyler, the Creator’s tracks. Everything draws from a similar well, but explores remarkably different terrain. The rest of the album follows a similar theme, and tone, albeit through a variety of sounds. He seems more confident and relaxed than he ever has, and displays a series of alluring ticks, like the way he deliberately over-pronounces the syllables in “frustrated”. One moment he’ll be saying “I just eat pussy, other people need food”, but then pivot to something like “can’t concentrate, you’re always on my brain”. Miller himself really comes into his own on the track, with his verses sounding totally effortless, but being alternately sweet and funny. The track is just so smooth, and so funky, yet Paak’s “I can’t keep on losing you hook” has a real sadness to it. Paak just wanders around the hip-hop scene and helps rappers make the soul jams they were always meant to, because that’s what he’s done with lead single Dang!. His mumbly, laid-back style flow doesn’t lend itself to hard-hitting, crunchy beats, which is what makes The Divine Feminine so refreshing it finally sounds like Mac Miller is comfortable. Watching Movies with the Sound Off and GO:OD AM were both solid rap albums that got lost in banner years for the genre, but it was hard to escape the feeling that Miller was trying to be something that he’s not. The frat-rap of his debut Blue Slide Park was commercially successful, but critically maligned, and each of his successive releases have seen him push to create more serious, “authentic” rap (albeit with declining sales). He’s a solid, dextrous rapper with a chameleonic sense of style, but until The Divine Feminine, everything he’s released has felt somewhat like an apology. Mac Miller has always occupied an odd place in hip-hop.
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