Swimming is the fifth studio album by American rapper Mac Miller. It was released on August 3, 2018 by REMember Music and Warner Bros. Records. Miller produced the album himself, with Jon Brion, Dev Hynes, J. Cole, ID Labs, Dâm-Funk, DJ Dahi, Tae Beast, Flying Lotus, and Cardo, among others. The album has no credited features, but contains vocal contributions from Dâm-Funk, Dev Hynes, Snoop Dogg, Syd, Thundercat, and JID. Miller died on September 7, 2018, making Swimming his final album to be released during his lifetime.
Swimming was supported by three singles: "Small Worlds", "Self Care", and "What's the Use?". The album received generally positive reviews from critics and debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200. It was nominated for Best Rap Album at the 2019 Grammy Awards.
Throughout the album, Miller's break up with pop singer Ariana Grande is a common theme of inspiration, as it gave him the chance to experience self-love, healing and psychological growth, similar to the themes shown in his previous album, The Divine Feminine (2016).[5] Lyrically, The Independent stated Miller addresses the acknowledgment of his temper ("Wings") and the pitfalls of fame ("Small Worlds").[6]
Concerning the album's music, Rolling Stone noted Swimming is "a continuation of 2016's The Divine Feminine, with a silky, deep vibe redolent of the L.A. alternative soul scene".[7] The song "So It Goes" has been said to incorporate "muted guitars and a spacey synth drone", while "Wings" has been described as "a spacious neo soul slow burner punctuated by the occasional sigh of a violin".[8] NME wrote that "Ladders" is "a buoyant radio ready bop, which sees his bars skitter across glorious brass lines and earworm riffs".[9] "Jet Fuel" was described as "sluggish, dancehall-inflected trip hop", and "What's the Use" as "synth-funk".[7]
Swimming was released worldwide by Warner Bros. Records on August 3, 2018, amongst other high-profiled albums, such as Astroworld by Travis Scott and Stay Dangerous by YG.[10] Miller performed "Ladders" on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on August 13, 2018.[11]
On May 30, 2018, Miller released the album's first single "Small Worlds", alongside two non-album singles: "Buttons" and "Programs".[14] The album's second single, "Self Care", was released with an accompanying music video on July 13, 2018.[15] The album's third single, "What's the Use?", was released on July 23, 2018.[12]
Swimming was met with generally positive reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 78, based on 13 reviews.[17] Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave it 7.5 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus.[16]
Mosi Reeves of Rolling Stone wrote that Swimming is Miller's "most impactful album of his career", though noted a lack of lyrical depth: "If he could surface those demons with more vivid details and add texture to his lyrics instead of simply using them as a rhythmic device, then he may have a genuinely classic album in him yet. But if Swimming doesn't quite achieve greatness, it connects. You can hear his pain and perseverance, even if he struggles to put it into words."[7] Neil Z. Yeung of AllMusic concluded that "Swimming is ample evidence that Miller can pick up the pieces and continue evolving, his grasp on thoughtful, introspective hip-hop getting stronger by the album".[1] Trey Alston of Highsnobiety concluded that Swimming is "the authentic self-destruction album so many artists have attempted before. Here, Mac is in rare form, chronicling his destruction and rebirth in a way that shows his acknowledgment of the path ahead, but reluctance to step on it without the certainty of companionship at the end. Whether he continues to walk that path is ultimately up to him, but the Mac that's featured on Swimming will find his way from the darkness. In the process, he's given us a beautiful means to mark the turn of his narrative".[2]
In Miller's home country of the United States, Swimming debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 with 66,000 album-equivalent units, which included 30,000 pure album sales in its first week.[37] It serves as Miller's fifth consecutive top-five album in the United States.[37]
Following Miller's death on September 7, 2018, the album rose from number 71 to number six on the Billboard 200 with 67,000 album-equivalent units, of which 15,000 were in traditional album sales.[38] Additionally, three tracks from the album entered the US Billboard Hot 100: "Self Care" (number 33), "Hurt Feelings" (number 70), and "Come Back to Earth" (number 91).[39] "Self Care" became Miller's highest-charting song as a lead artist and second-highest entry overall, behind Ariana Grande's "The Way" featuring Miller (2013; number 9).[39] On February 24, 2021, Swimming was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for combined sales and album-equivalent units of over 1,000,000 units in the United States.[40] It is Miller's first ever album to be certified as platinum.[41]
In Australia, Swimming opened at number 21 on the ARIA Albums Chart, becoming Miller's third top-50 album in the country.[42] In Canada, Swimming debuted at number four on the Canadian Albums Chart.[43] It serves as Miller's fifth consecutive top-10 album in the country.[43] In the United Kingdom, the album debuted at number 37 on the UK Albums Chart, becoming the rapper's first top-40 album on the chart.[44]
Hey guys as you can guess i wanna print out the album cover of swimming, do you know where i can find a high resolution picture, the best i found so far was 1200 x 1200. thanks for your help guys.. much love
With the album coming out after his breakup with singer Ariana Grande and his 2018 DUI arrest, the album portrays him trying to swim away from his broken heart and struggles rather than drown in them.
While Miller was the beginning of my modern-day music taste, he also delivered my first disappointment. I had been waiting for his debut-LP, Blue Slide Park, anxiously and borderline obsessively. I would refresh the iTunes Store everyday, before the days of Twitter and Reddit, stalking and waiting for this record to drop. Finally, on November 8th, 2011 the record dropped. This album was the first time in my music fan-hood that I was thoroughly left dissatisfied. I found the production to be lackluster and the content to be daft and dull. Though now I believe I was being a little harsh on Miller I still contest that this album is his worst and was a deafening misuse of his talent and charisma. At the time I speculated that this was the end of the road of my fandom of Mac Miller, which was obviously a incorrect assertion as time would tell.
I have not connected with a record like this since Blonde by Frank Ocean came out. This record is so outwardly honest and expressive that it reminds me of the music that brought me into the musical place I am today, which ironically was Mac Miller. My attachment to this record will never fade, as my fanhood of Miller. The sentiments on the record leave me surprisingly hopeful. The tide of life does drown us at times, yet that only makes us appreciate the times when our head is above water endlessly. The only thing I can hope is to keep swimming.
Just about three months removed from breaking up with Ariana Grande and being arrested for DUI a short time later, Mac Miller has emerged from the abyss of troubled thoughts and rapant media speculation with Swimming, an aptly titled album that finds the rapper trying to keep his head above water.
After enduring a tough breakup with ex-girlfriend Ariana Grande and a DUI charge in May, Mac Miller is ready to recenter his focus on music. On Thursday (July 11), Miller announced that his new album, Swimming, will be released Aug. 3.
His death made it all the more heartbreaking to listen to the album, as with each song he openly reflects on his constant state of unhappiness, his struggles with sobriety and finding the spirit to lift himself out of it.
Released on May 30th, 2018 along with Buttons and Programs, Mac breaks his silence in the wake of his very public rupture with Ariana Grande and subsequent DUI crash, marking his first releases since his 2016 album The Divine Feminine.
Mac Miller's final album Swimming is one the nominees for Best Rap Album at the 2019 Grammy Awards. Miller will compete alongside albums by Cardi B, Travis Scott, Nipsey Hussle, and Pusha-T. Although Scorpion is nominated for Album of the Year, Drake failed to be recognized in the rap album category.
Swimming was released just one month prior to Miller's death from an overdose earlier in September The album features the singles "Small Worlds" and "Self Care" plus contributions from Dev Hynes, Snoop Dogg, Syd, and Thundercat among others.
Swimming, released August 3rd 2018, same day as H.E.R., I Used To Know H.E.R, is a brand new opus that appears to be an introspective and therapeutic album. This feels nothing like The Divine Feminine album which sounds like a great party, with dreams of tender and never-ending love.
In Swimming, Ariana Grande being his ex, feels better and brighter off of a toxic relationship, and Mac might be alone, but still finds inner peace. Healthy and not under depression no more, he mentions at numerous times the light of the sun in this post break-up album.
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