by Sam Wolstenholm
The Divine Feminine, Mac Miller's fourth album, was released on September 16th 2016. It was a clear love album for his girlfriend of the time, Ariana Grande. I'm not going to go into their relationship or how the media handled it. That is nor was none of my business. It seemed to be a period of time where Mac Miller was genuinely happy. At least, it appeared that way. The sound of this project reflects that happiness (or his desire to portray it).
I think it'd be inappropriate of me to neglect to mention Miller's untimely death. To me personally, he meant a lot. I remember listening to Blue Slide Park on Pandora when I was riding the bus every morning in fifth grade. The summer before I went off to college, his album Swimming helped me climb out of the dark mental place I was in, even if it was just for moments at a time. Almost exactly a month later, I remember my friend Kellen texting me about his passing away before I saw any news or posts about it. I didn't believe him, so I looked it up. I cried for a while. When his posthumous album Circles was released, I cried again. I related to what he was saying a lot, almost too much. However, this time, it was more tears of celebration. I was happy that he was able to impact me and many others as much as he did in the short amount of time that he was here. To many, I know that The Divine Feminine was that impactful project. Don't let anything I say change that.
The only reason this track works at all is because it's the intro to the album. If it were the third, fourth, or fifth track of the project, I probably would be hating on it a lot more. However, it is too long even as an intro. Both the music and lyrics set up the obvious theme of love and intimacy, but could've done so in under two minutes (and in a more clever way, in my opinion). The instrumental is alright with some cool piano notes (that sound like they're from a Pixar movie) and some tonal shifts with strings. The very start of the track has some interesting vocals from Ariana Grande & others (Kilo Kish, Paige Montgomery, & Chloe Clancy). It also closes with some nice but out-of-place voclas from the featured artist, Bilal. Again, there are great elements of this track, but it also sets up the unintentional theme of the album: being unnecessarily long and dragged out.
This is possibily the best song on the album. The groovy beat is perfect for Anderson .Paak's voice as well as Mac's smooth flow and melodic delivery. The drums are lowkey but effective. The horns are a great compliment to the amazing bass line. There are other synth sounds that are subtle but great. Super catchy lyrics delivered with enthusiasm. It is such a fun listening experience, and I wish these two had the oppurtunity to work together more.
3. "Stay"
Kicking off with an amazing trumpet intro, this song isn't exactly the most energetic like "Dang!" is, but it is intimate in a way that peaks your interest. However, it does kind of get old by the end of the track. It has a great chorus, but it kind of clashes with the verses, mostly because the drums. If the song ended around the three minute mark, I would love it. Unfortunately, it is double that length. I do love the horns and the vocals, though. With that, I'd like to make clear that I don't include the actual lyrics when I say "vocals". With lines like "I swear that pussy Grammy nominated. Let's make some music", I cannot exactly stand by the pen game here. Also, you thought I wasn't going to mention the sex noises. Yea, this track has completely unnecessary and uncomfortable sex noises for the last 30 seconds that make it impossible to play in whole for friends or family....or yourself.
4. "Skin"
The sex noises would be more tolerable if they led into something that made it make sense, but this song is not that. Granted, the theme of the track is sex, but the transition between the songs was not smooth. This track, however, actually sounds sexy. It is really smooth and consistent from front to back. The guitar is entrancing and the saxophone, my favorite instrument ever, sounds dope. I appreciate the sentiment Mac was aiming for on this track, but he isn't exactly subtle with what he's going for here. "All I do is make these fuckin' songs, so finally I made a fuckin' song." "I open up your legs and go straight for youe heart." I will admit, these are kind of funny lines, but I don't think they are supposed to be. Sonically though, this is one of the most complete and intimate tracks. It works as a "fuckin' song" for sure.
The feature king, Ty Dolla $ign, delivers here yet again. His voice is just always so good and he kills it on this song too. He sounds great over this production. The guitar loop that plays throughout the entire first part of the track is repetitive but hypnotizing. The bass is amazing (as it seems to be across the entire album). I personally love the production, but I can see how it could be too much (or not enough) for audiences. As far as the lyrics go, there doesn't seem to be much that stands out (for better or for worse). The main thing holding this song back to me is again the length. It is sooooooooooooooooooooo long. I like a good long song if executed well, but to cover 8 minutes, there's got to be some incredible stuff going on. There is a guitar solo around the five minute mark that closes out the first part of the song, and I wish the track would've ended there. I lilke the rest of the song too, but it could have (and should have) been its own track. There is a nice composition of piano, guitar, strings, and vocals, but it contrasts heavily with the first part of the song. "Cinderalla" has so much potential, but I think Mac just tried to do too much with this one.
Dark horse song right here. The beat is so unique and smooth. Njomza's chorus is just beautiful, even if it is short-lived. At this point though, I'm appreciating anything that isn't long-winded. Mac does drop some classic The Divine Feminine bars here like "Put in work. Turn that pussy to the office", "Your pussy a ride better than Six Flags", and "Girl what's on your brain, 'cause that head is stupid". I'm literally shaking my head as I'm typing those, but this track is kind of obviously supposed to be fairly lighthearted. At that, it is executed really well.
7. "Soulmate"
This song is alright. It gives me the most basic vibes on the whole album. It's airy, has a cool synth loops the whole time. The drums are pretty simple, but don't mesh very well with the rest of the sounds (including his vocals). I hate to say it, but I think this song is kind of boring and forgettable. When I went to review this project, I could pretty much remember what every track sounded like, except for this one, and there is a reason for that. It isn't terribly catchy. It doesn't switch up a whole lot. It ends abruptly. It just sounds like he didn't put a whole lot of time into making this one the same quality as the others. This one is a skip...sorry not sorry.
"'We' sounds better than 'you' or 'me'" is a simple but very effective line. This song is sensual, sexy, smooth, and probably other adjectives that start with 'S'. The beat is in the same vein as "Cinderella" as it isn't overstated. It does exactly what it needs to do. The drum sounds are fucking awesome too. CeeLo Green destroys every single part he is on, as expected. His voice works perfectly over this production, especially when he comes in singing in the second half of the track. This is honestly an epic love song, and it might be my favorite of the project. I don't think I have anything negative to say about it. Even the length doesn't bother me with this one. It is about five and a half minutes long but engaging the entire time. I just close my eyes and nod my head slowly from start to finish. The little skit thing at the end is hilarious too. I just find myself smiling a lot. What more could you ask for?
Oh man...here we go. It's the woman of the hour: Ariana Grande. So, is it any good? Well, kind of. I have been pretty back and forth with this track. First of all, I want to put it out there that I don't think their voices go together very well. Individually, they both do just fine as far as their performances go. However, they shouldn't have truly duetted here. I like the other song they did, "The Way", more because they stayed in their lanes. I do like the production of this track, but I don't love it. It's good but not great. It seems like something Mac Miller could have made in his sleep. The chorus is catchy and I find myself having fun listening to it for the most part. There's just something about this track that is missing for me. It almost sounds like something is being held back. I can't exactly put my finger on it, but I accept it for what it is: a love song made for radio. It's fine.
I like the music part of this track, so I'll just talk about that as if it's its own thing. First of all, Kendrick Lamar actually sounds really good singing on this song. I remember hearing this for the first time and being disappointed that he didn't actually drop a verse, but I think it works because Mac Miller raps just fine enough to cover the time. The instrumental is also just beautiful. The whirling piano, bass, and synths just mix together to make some really cool sounds. It really is a good closer for the album sonically and thematically. I must touch on the rest of this track though... I understand that it is his grandmother speaking, but that doesn't make the song any shorter. It actually works well as an album-closing skit. An elderly woman sharing her love story over some beautiful piano playing. It is a good love story. BUT IT SHOULD BE ITS OWN TRACK. This is the only reason this song isn't on my playlist. I don't want to hear this three minute story every time this song plays on shuffle.
Overall
The Divine Feminine has always been kind of a frustrating album for me. In hindsight, I tend to view it as almost practice for the sound he would come to polish up on Swimming and Circles (both are superior albums in my opinion). Even if the instrumentals themselves are decent, and most of these are, a lot of these tracks are twice as long as they need to be. The good sounds can get old too when they are looped across an entire track. I love the bass lines and piano parts across the project. A lot of the vocals are also catchy and sung with passion (even though Mac Miller doesn't exactly have the greatest singing voice). For someone that seems to be all about the love, he sure raps a lot about sex as if they are the same thing. Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of them both. I guess my main issue with this album is its feeling of incompleteness. I feel like he settled too much. He wanted to be less hip-hop and more soulful, but he found a weird in-between point. It worked great on some of the tracks, but I don't think it held up across the album. Maybe I have no heart. Maybe I've never been in love before. Maybe I just hate all things good in this world. But this album is kind of lackluster. It's still an enjoyable listen, which is why it still has a positive rating, but there is a lot holding it back.
6.7/10
If you've read my review, I assume you have already heard The Divine Feminine, so I want to hear what you think. What'd I miss? Did I tear apart your favorite song? Or give too much credit to one that doesn't deserve it? Any questions or comments? I'd love to respond. Feel free to drop review requests too! I will strongly consider them.
Peace and love.
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