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Mac Miller

(1992 - 2018)

Malcolm James McCormick (born January 19, 1992), best known by his stage name Mac Miller, was an American rapper, singer, and record producer from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was also a noted record producer under the pseudonym Larry Fisherman. Miller was also known for taking on multiple alter-egos, under the aliases Delusional Thomas, Larry Lovestein and The Velvet Revival.

Miller's Jewish mother was a photographer, and his Christian father was an architect.  Miller was raised Jewish, had a Bar Mitzvah, and observed the Jewish High Holy Days. He described himself as “the coolest Jewish rapper,” in a rival response to Drake's own claim to be “the best Jew in the Rap game".  Miller attended Winchester Thurston School and Taylor Allderdice High School, where he was classmates with fellow rapper Wiz Khalifa. In high school, Miller decided to focus on his hip hop career, later noting, "Once I hit 15, I got real serious about it and it changed my life completely ... I used to be into sports, play all the sports, go to all the high school parties. But once I found out hip-hop is almost like a job, that's all I did." Miller, a self-taught musician, played piano, guitar, drums, and bass.

In early 2010, Miller signed a record deal with Pittsburgh-based indie record label Rostrum Records. He subsequently began recording his debut studio album Blue Slide Park, and released it on November 8, 2011. The album went on to debut at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart, making it the first independently distributed debut album to top the chart since Tha Dogg Pound's 1995 album, Dogg Food.

In early 2013 Miller launched REMember Music, his own record label imprint. Miller's second album, Watching Movies with the Sound Off, was released on June 18, 2013. In January 2014, Miller announced he was no longer signed to Rostrum Records. In October 2014 Miller signed a $10 million record deal for him and his label REMember with Warner Bros. Records.

Miller tragically died of an accidental drug overdose on September 7, 2018.  He was 26 years old.  


Sources: Wikipedia;
Omar Burgess.  Mac Miller talks Jewish heritage, HipHopDX, (March 9, 2011);
Eric, Jeff Rosenthal.  The 8 Jews of Rap: Mac Miller, Complex, (November 30, 2013).