Day 18

New Faces V2 by Mac Miller

“I was not on planet earth when I made faces. Nowhere close.” – Mac Miller (2014).

My best friend who’s the music nerd showed me this mixtape in a Subway in high school. One of the best summers of my life – nothing but riding bikes, jailbreaking phones (cause that was the cool thing to do back in the day), and sports on sports. A perfect summer encapsulated by a perfect mixtape.

It’s chilling knowing some of the best times of my life up to date were written while Mac was at his most desperate.

Actually looking back on it this was a mixtape era riddled with drug fused genius. Mac with Faces, Chance with Acid Rap, Vic Mensa with Innanetape. Each rapper had a story, and each drug served a purpose.

This song in particular is special because it had Earl. A young Earl, too. One that was hungry, like they all wanted to outdo the other. The whole song sounds like one big buildup, only for Mac to steal the show by the end.

I hadn’t given a whole listen of the mixtape since I heard it was getting released on Apple Music back in October of ’21 during my last semester of college. My sister was getting married that weekend so I was going to drive home from Ohio on Thursday.

I had gone out the night before driving 6 hours (smart man) and woke up in an absolute blender. I ran over to the gas station, bought a tin, coffee, yellow Gatorade, popped on Faces and made the trek home. I was catching up with a girl that night I had gone to college with and was couch surfing my roommates new apartment who had moved into the city alongside some friends home for another birthday.

I don’t know why I remember this so well. I think it’s because the core memory of this mixtape being played on my hungover ride home is intertwined with the memory of my sister embarking on a new path in life. One that necessarily didn’t involve me. On the same side of the coin, I was visiting my best friends who were once my roommates months prior. I had taken a fifth year to play one last semester of football while they decided to graduate.

The memory of this album being played while I went to visit friends and family starting new paths back home always sticks with me. I was on one path, some of the closest people I have to me were on another. Mac was there to bridge the gap between us as I drove home severely hungover that day. Almost like it was all going to workout somehow. I’ll always be thankful for that.