For Pittsburgh’s Mac Miller, the independent game has been kind, even allowing him to travel overseas to sold out shows, like a recent date he had in London. While there, Miller spoke with DJ Semtex about a variety of topics including his goals for going platinum independently. Miller also talked about how much Big L and A Tribe Called Quest influenced his rhyme style and gave some more information regarding his upcoming album,Blue Slide Park.
“Right now, we’re doing things that no independent artist has ever done before,” Miller shared. “It’s wild that I even said that sentence but, I want to see how far we can take it, man. What if? What if we build it to a point where we sell a platinum record? Not this album, but what if one of my albums goes platinum independently? That would be ridiculous and I would be hella cakin’ off of that (Laughs).”
When the conversation switched to one about his influences, Miller was quick to give credit to a Harlem legend, Big L.
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“When I got to be 14, all I did was freestyle…Then, 15, I started listening to a lot of Big L’s Lifestylez ov da Poor & Dangerous. That inspired me to really want to be an emcee, and what it meant to be an emcee, not just be able to rhyme. That really got me to the point where, I didn’t only want to rhyme but I wanted to master the craft of putting together words.”
According to Mac, the shout out to Big L is one that comes with a motive attached. His goal when mentioning an artist liek Big L, is also to school younger generations about the culture’s history and how important other artists have been to his work.
“Part of the thing I like to do is put kids onto artists that inspired me that they might not know about, like people like A Tribe Called Quest and Big L and that golden era of Hip Hop in the 90’s. I want to help connect kids younger than me, or my age, to make sure that they appreciate it.”
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Giving more credit to the 90’s, Miller said he will always be inspired by the flows of that era. However, he also said he wants fans who appreciate that about him to also appreciate it when he explores other avenues.
“I’ll always have that flow, that straight 90’s flow, what I listened to and what inspired me to rap. I will always do boom-bap and I will always spit on some Hip Hop stuff but it’s ridiculous when, a song like Donald Trump for instance, that’s not boom-bap. That’s not anything like that. It’s just me loving all music and all forms of Hip Hop.”
As it pertains to Blue Slide Park, Miller said he would not have too many famous guests but that it is the best work he’s ever created.
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“This is definitely, without a doubt, the best thing I’ve ever done. I can say that. At this point, that’s good enough for me.”
For more from the interview, check the DJ Semtex video below.
MAC MILLER – BEST DAYS EVER from DJ SEMTEX on Vimeo.
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RELATED: Mac Miller Explains The Origin Of His Debut’s Title, “Blue Slude Park”
