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Weekly updates


RU - Mac Miller makes more marvelous moves

Looks like ya boy Young Teen Wolf is still making more power moves in the wake of becoming the first independent rapper dude to top the Billboard chart since Snoop Dogg’s debut in 1994, deciding not to renew his deal with Rostrum Records. Clearly he’s figured out that he can just start his own label at this point. Based on how well known he currently is, Miller has no need for that major label promotion push (if that’s even still a thing), so why not just cut out the middlemen and pocket all the money on his own REMember Music label? His MTV reality show, Mac Miller and the Most Dope Family (which follows the exploits of Mac and his weed carriers) has been renewed for a second season this year. Meanwhile you’d be hard-pressed to find a rapper with a bad word to say about the kid. Hell, even notorious curmudgeon Sean Price has co-signed the fella after recording a song with him for the last Statik Selektah LP!

If I were a betting man, I’d wager that Miller will also develop a line of signature flannel shirts, since he’s repped them harder than the entire population of Seattle in the grunge era. Just imagine if Courtney Love had gotten off the gear long enough to shill Nirvana brand flannels after Cobain opted out? Based on his current momentum – what with being named Complex’s Man of Next Year in 2012, trolling Donald Trump and making more money from record sales than Kanye and J. Cole last year – it’s only a matter of time until this rapping stoner is running for governor of California.

Meanwhile, traditional record labels are continuing to suffer. Despite being made VP of A&R in 2012, The-Dream decided to bounce from Def Jam last week for “undisclosed reasons.” I’m going to take a wild stab in the dark and assume that he’s joined the growing ranks of musicians who’ve realised that they don’t need record labels anymore! Back when you could sell millions of CDs in the US, making $3 per unit wasn’t such a bad deal, but considering that 2013’s biggest selling LP (Bruno Mars’ Unorthodox Jukebox) only shifted four million copies worldwide, that shit isn’t going to cut it anymore. Once you’re well-established enough, you may as well start your own label and just tour your ass off, since the labels started dipping into concert and merchandise sales in recent years anyway.

But back to Mac. I’ve been less than kind towards the guy in the past, citing him as an example of White Rap Privilege and scolding him for his behaviour in the dispute with Lord Finesse, but based on the fact that he’s probably a future president of the United States, I thought I better give him a second chance. I even attempted to listen to his Watching Movies With The Sound Off album, which didn’t turn out well as you might imagine. At least his rapping seems to have improved since his Blue Slide Park days. Why do I have slightly less hate for this furry rapping saltine than I did in 2012? I think a lot of it can be attributed to the rise of Macklemore, who is currently the reigning Annoying White Guy Rapper. As a result, Mac Miller seems like the pale-faced Treach from Naughty By Nature by comparison. (Actually, make that Vin Rock.) So while we wait for the America’s Most Beloved Rapper Not Named Snoop Dogg to begin his journey to the Oval Office, or at least a late-night talk show host role, let’s be thankful that he hasn’t made a song as preachy and condescending as Same Love and keep our fingers crossed for Teen Wolf 2K14 to hit cinemas soon.

Keep up with Robbie’s weekly ‘No Country for Old (Rap) Men’ here.