Alex Markow / Miami New Times
Audio By Carbonatix
Mac Miller, the rapper that gained an intense following thanks to provocative personal songs and mixtapes, has died. His body was found by police at his home in Studio City, California. He was 26. According to TMZ, the rapper, whose real name is Malcolm James McCormick, died of an apparent drug overdose. Miller has long been candid about his drug use in songs such as “Objects in the Mirror” and on his 2014 mixtape Faces, which has been described as autobiographical. Hailing from Pittsburgh, Miller rose to fame in the early 2010s through internet-distributed mixtapes and albums such as Blue Slide Park and Best Day Ever, which featured the Sufjan Stevens-sampling single “Donald Trump.” Before his election as president, Trump himself threatened the rapper on Twitter, demanding royalties.
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Miller had been in a long-term relationship with pop star Ariana Grande, which ended in May. Around the same time, he was involved in a car crash that led to a DUI arrest. Grande, who is now engaged to comedian Pete Davidson, tweeted at the time “pls take care of yourself.”
Fellow Pittsburgh rapper Wiz Khalifa wrote on Twitter “Praying for Mac’s family and that he rest easy.”