Album of the Day

Born Malcolm James McCormick, Mac Miller was poised for great things before his untimely death on this day in 2018. The Pittsburgh rapper was gearing up for a tour in support of his acclaimed SWIMMING album and was in the middle of sessions for a follow-up, which was released posthumously. Mac had intended CIRCLES as a companion piece to the preceding set and producer Jon Brion brought the project to remarkable fruition. Singing as well as rapping, Miller brings a broad musical vision to the collection (which includes an Arthur Lee cover, of all things), and if his lyrics are frank about his substance abuse struggles, they are also touched with hard-won wisdom. Singles “Good News” and “Blue World” were both Top 40 hits and CIRCLES reached #3 on the Billboard 200, the performer's highest album chart debut.