Welcome to the second ever Transmission Music Review by none other than mediocre poet, cynical teen-ager, and all around sub-par guy Nick Morrissey. After beginning with some zany glam rock a few weeks ago, let us switch gears and hit up this new release from Mac Miller, white rapper extraordinaire.

I cannot say I got into Mac’s stuff when he first blew up a few years ago, but I had listened to a few tracks of of his previous record Faces, and I did certainly enjoy what I heard, along with his feature on Earl Sweatshirt’s album Doris. What I had come to understand about his sound was that it was jazzy in terms of instrumentals and his lyricism was about rather stereotypical topics for an average rapper, but he talked about them in well crafted lines with decent wordplay and structure. He did not totally blow me out of the water, but I did respect what he was doing, and so my general impression with GO:OD AM was similar.

Listeners’ ears will be greeted with a dreamy/jazzy introductory track, featuring some of Mac’s singing leading up to a well-placed sample of a girl saying “Good morning, baby,” and this voice will whisk listeners further into the dream as it melds into the following track, “Brand Name.” The song definitely feels full, especially with the gorgeous sax parts, and there is not really any moments on the entire album that feel like something is missing. If there is one thing in which Mac Miller deserves credit, it is his ability to musically build a track, and for any kind of track too. He is not just all jazz. Songs such as: “When In Rome” reveal his more aggressive trap side, and the second to last number, “Jump” will certainly come at listeners out of left field with its intense, synth driven, arguably EDM style production. Miller has numerous sounds up his sleeve, but what about his verses?

This is around the time most Mac Miller fans will click off, if anyone besides editors ever read this, that is. Honestly, Mac Miller’s lyrics can end up being a turn off at many points during the album. They are really not bad at all, and are often times quite clever. Lines like “I killed the game like Jeffery Dahmer did the ’80s,” and “I don’t know who I am; I’m so good at doing impressions though,” definitely result in a grin.  Mac has a great concept of alliteration and consonance and what not, but he finds himself in a “rapper rut.” This is somewhat common for mainstream hip hop artists, but Mac does the whole “sex-drugs-money” thing and then runs short. I do not have any problems with these topics or anything, but when you stick to them for most material artists end up running out of ways to talk about them. He does play the tortured genius role sometimes, and definitely acknowledges his climb to where he is, but I wish he would branch out a little more. I wish there were also more tracks like “ROS,” a track that focuses on a girl Mac is seriously into and builds solely on the topic of this girl while still being interesting. It is things like that which keep a 17 track album from feeling like it should have been closer to 11. This is also a bit of a personal thing, however, because an average mainstream hip hop fan probably would not mind, and it is not like he is writing trash or anything. He is good, but he could do better.

GO:OD AM is definitely a solid listen, but unless ready to dissect the whole thing, I’ advise listening to about 3/4 of it. Some really killer tracks exist, and the album will be more enjoyable if looking for some bangers or do not mind a bit of repetition, but I personally could have done with a little less on this one. Mac Miller definitely deserves a good listen for fans of rap, and especially those that like a good mix of old school boom bap and newer trappy-er stuff. His beats and instrumentation will not disappoint, and his lyrics may end up a little mundane, but do not ever think that Mac cannot spit with the best.

JAZZY INSTRUMENTALS WITH TRAPPY/BOOM BAP BEATS, NONCHALANT BUT QUALITY FLOW, FULL SOUND

TOP TRACK: 100 GRANDKIDS

LAME TRACK: IN THE BAG

TRACK TO TRY: 100 GRANDKIDS

SCORE: 7.5+/10

Image courtesy of: Google Images