Surf (Mac Miller Song)
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''Circles'' is the sixth studio album by American rapper
Mac Miller Malcolm James McCormick (January 19, 1992 – September 7, 2018), known by the stage name Mac Miller, was an American rapper. He began his career in Pittsburgh's local hip hop music, hip hop scene in 2007, at the age of 15. In 2010, he signed ...
, released posthumously on January 17, 2020, through REMember Music and
Warner Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...
. ''Circles'' was being worked on by Miller before his death in September 2018 and was created as a companion piece to his fifth studio album, ''
Swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...
'' (2018). Production was completed by
Jon Brion Jon Brion (born December 11, 1963) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and composer. He performed with the Excerpts, the Bats, 'Til Tuesday and The Grays (band), the Grays before becoming an established pro ...
. ''Circles'' was supported by two singles: " Good News" and " Blue World". The album received widespread acclaim from critics and debuted at number three on the US ''Billboard'' 200, earning 164,000
album-equivalent unit The album-equivalent unit, or album equivalent, often shortened to just unit, is a sales metric in the music industry that defines the number of streaming media, songs streamed and music download, songs downloaded equal to one Record sales, tradi ...
s during its first week, making it Miller's biggest week for an album.


Background

''
Swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...
'', the fifth studio album by American
hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...
artist
Mac Miller Malcolm James McCormick (January 19, 1992 – September 7, 2018), known by the stage name Mac Miller, was an American rapper. He began his career in Pittsburgh's local hip hop music, hip hop scene in 2007, at the age of 15. In 2010, he signed ...
, was released on August 3, 2018, by REMember Music and
Warner Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...
. Miller intended the album as a cohesive work meant to mark a certain era of his life, a trend that he began on 2016's ''
The Divine Feminine ''The Divine Feminine'' is the fourth studio album by American rapper Mac Miller. It was released on September 16, 2016, by REMember Music and Warner Bros. Records. The album features guest appearances from Kendrick Lamar, Anderson .Paak, CeeLo G ...
''. Inspired by his work on the
film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...
for ''
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind ''Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind'' is a 2004 American surrealist science fiction romantic drama film directed by Michel Gondry and written by Charlie Kaufman from a story by Gondry, Kaufman, and Pierre Bismuth. Starring Jim Carrey a ...
'', Miller hired
Jon Brion Jon Brion (born December 11, 1963) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and composer. He performed with the Excerpts, the Bats, 'Til Tuesday and The Grays (band), the Grays before becoming an established pro ...
as a producer for ''Swimming''. ''Swimming'' received positive reviews from
music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...
, with Mosi Reeves of ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...
'' saying that Miller "has finally abandoned his frat-rap reputation for good". On September 7, 2018, while preparing to embark on a promotional tour for ''Swimming'', Miller was found dead in his Los Angeles home of a suspected drug overdose. A later
toxicology Toxicology is a scientific discipline, overlapping with biology, chemistry, pharmacology, and medicine, that involves the study of the adverse effects of chemical substances on living organisms and the practice of diagnosing and treating ex ...
report from the Los Angeles County Coroners Office determined the cause of death to be "mixed drug toxicity" caused by a combination of alcohol,
cocaine Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...
, and
fentanyl Fentanyl is a highly potent synthetic piperidine opioid primarily used as an analgesic (pain medication). It is 30 to 50 times more Potency (pharmacology), potent than heroin and 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine. Its primary Medici ...
. Miller's estate began giving permission for his collaborators to release his remaining music posthumously in June 2019. These first releases were "
Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
", a collaboration with Free Nationals and
Kali Uchis Karly Marina Loaiza (born July 17, 1994), known professionally as Kali Uchis ( ), is an American singer and songwriter. Her accolades include a Grammy Awards, Grammy Award, an American Music Awards, American Music Award, two Billboard Music Awar ...
, and " That's Life", an
88-Keys Charles Misodi Njapa (born March 5, 1976), known professionally as 88-Keys, is an American record producer and rapper from New York City. Biography Born in New York City to West African parents from Cameroon, he was raised in the Eastchester se ...
song with vocal features from Miller and Sia.


Recording and production

At the time of his death, Miller was "well into" the recording process of ''Circles''. It was intended to be a companion album to ''Swimming'', with "two different styles complementing each other, completing a circle" and the concept being "swimming in circles". Brion, who worked with Miller on the album, completed production "based on his time and conversations" with Miller. ''Swimming'' and ''Circles'' were planned to be the first two installments in a trilogy of albums, where the last piece would have been "a pure hip-hop record", as described by Brion.


Style and composition

Critics have described the album as a hip-hop,
funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...
, and
emo rap Emo rap is a subgenre of Hip hop music, hip hop with influence from emo. Originating in the SoundCloud rap scene in the mid-2010s, the genre fuses characteristics of hip hop music, such as trap-style beats with vocals that are usually sung. Some ...
album with elements of
soft rock Soft rock (also known as light rock or mellow rock) is a form of rock music that originated in the late 1960s in the United States and the United Kingdom which smoothed over the edges of singer-songwriter and pop rock, relying on simple, mel ...
,
pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...
, R&B,
lo-fi Lo-fi (also typeset as lofi or low-fi; short for low fidelity) is a music or production quality in which elements usually regarded as imperfections in the context of a recording or performance are present, sometimes as a deliberate stylistic ch ...
,
indie folk Indie folk (also called alternative folk) is an alternative genre of music that arose in the 1990s among musicians from indie rock scenes influenced by folk music. Characteristics The staff of '' Paste Magazine'' said in 2020: "No music genre ...
, and
synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s b ...
. ''
Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...
'' said the album was difficult to categorize, having so many different aspects. The track " Blue World" includes production assistance from Guy Lawrence, one half of UK-based house production duo
Disclosure Disclosure may refer to: Arts and media Film and television *'' CBC News: Disclosure'', a television newsmagazine series in Canada * ''Disclosure'' (1994 film), an American erotic thriller film based on the 1994 novel by Michael Crichton * ''Dis ...
. The track "Everybody" is a cover of American singer-songwriter Arthur Lee's " Everybody's Gotta Live", from his 1972 debut album '' Vindicator''.


Release and promotion

''Circles'' was announced by Miller's family via a note on his
Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...
account on January 8, 2020. It was released by Warner Records on January 17, 2020. The lead single, " Good News", was released on January 9, 2020, alongside an accompanying music video directed by Anthony Gaddis and Eric Tilford. The video features imagery of Miller in an abstract world with colorful animated landscapes. The remaining tracks on the album were also released with music videos of a similar style on January 17, 2020. "Good News" debuted at number 17 on US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, surpassing "
Self Care Self-care has been defined as the process of establishing behaviors to ensure holistic well-being of oneself, to promote health, and actively manage illness when it occurs. Individuals engage in some form of self-care daily with food choices, ...
" (2018; number 33) as his highest-charting song as lead artist. "Blue World" was sent to US
rhythmic contemporary Rhythmic contemporary, also known as Rhythmic Top 20, Rhythmic Top 30, Rhythmic Top 40, Rhythmic CHR or rhythmic crossover, is a primarily American music-radio format that includes a mix of EDM, upbeat rhythmic pop, hip-hop and upbeat R&B hit ...
radio on February 4, 2020, as the album's second single.


Critical reception

''Circles'' was met with widespread critical acclaim. At
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an
average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...
score of 83, based on 14 reviews. Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave it 7.8 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus. In her review for ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'', Roisin O'Connor praised the album, writing, "Through the album there's a mesmerising rhythm, a kind of rocking horse motion that spurs you on to the next track. ... On ''Swimming'' he was adrift, searching for a lighthouse beam that would bring him back to "a place of comfort". On ''Circles'', it sounds as though – if only for the briefest of moments – he found it". ''
Sputnikmusic Sputnikmusic (abbreviated as Sputnik) is a music website that publishes music reviews and news entries. The site hosts both professional and amateur content, covering metal, punk, indie, rock, hip-hop, pop and other styles. Its reviews are us ...
'' critic Rowan5215 said, "Where ''Circles'' succeeds, where it becomes a graceful and elegant piece of art rather than an experimental excursion, is in finding the perfect subject matter for its laidback meanderings. Quite simply, these songs are dispatches from a day in the life of Mac Miller". Writing for ''
Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly ''Exclaim!'' print magazine publishes seven ...
'', A. Harmony stated, "His gruff vocals hold pain and weariness as he reflects on his struggles and challenges. Yet, however difficult it might be to ingest his candour, there is also a maturity about Miller in which to take solace. There's a sense of growth and lessons learned. These are the marks of a life well-lived, however short". David Brake of ''
HipHopDX ''HipHopDX'' is an online magazine of Hip hop music, hip hop music criticism and news. ''HipHopDX'' has over 3.5M monthly readers, the website encompassing hip hop news, interviews, music, and reviews. The website's founder and CEO is Sharath C ...
'' wrote, "He finds beauty and peace in allowing himself to experience his own emotions. It's an honest, matter-of-fact account of the grey areas of his life and mind. On ''Circles'', Mac shows the unexpected joy that can be found in the darkest of times".
Kitty Empire Kitty Empire (born 1970) is a British writer and music critic, currently writing for ''The Observer''. Early life Empire says that she was born in Montreal, Quebec, in 1970 and brought up in Canada, Italy and Egypt before arriving in Britain in ...
of ''
The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...
'' saying "If ''Swimming'' felt contemplative, ''Circles'' feels even more like a singer-songwriter album than a hip-hop joint – a tendency most likely amplified by Brion's treatments". Will Lavin of ''
NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...
'' gave a positive review, stating "It's a high-quality project, but we lost Mac way too soon, and that's hard to accept. So while it's hard to listen to him talking about self-deterioration and how he spends far too much time in his own head, it's a privilege to hear him share his inner most thoughts over a bed of sweeping, inventive sonics. This is the album Mac Miller was born to make". Rachel Aroesti from ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' enjoyed the album, saying, "Miller's lyrics possess a plainness that occasionally yields moments of heart-rending simplicity, but frequently wither into triteness and banality. Yet when his words fail him, his voice is able to communicate the pain more effectively".


Year-end lists


Commercial performance

In the United States, ''Circles'' debuted at number three on the US ''Billboard'' 200, behind the debuts of
Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all time, he is credited with popula ...
's ''
Music to Be Murdered By ''Music to Be Murdered By'' is the eleventh studio album by American rapper Eminem. It was released on January 17, 2020, through Shady Records, Aftermath Entertainment, and Interscope Records. Just like his previous studio album, ''Kamikaze'', i ...
'' and Halsey's '' Manic'', earning 164,000
album-equivalent unit The album-equivalent unit, or album equivalent, often shortened to just unit, is a sales metric in the music industry that defines the number of streaming media, songs streamed and music download, songs downloaded equal to one Record sales, tradi ...
s (including 61,000 copies in traditional album sales) during its first week. This became Miller's biggest week for an album and his sixth US top-ten album. Ten tracks from ''Circles'' simultaneously charted on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in its first week, topped by "Good News" at number 18 and "Blue World" at number 38. In its second week, the album dropped to number six on the chart, with 45,000 units. On December 11, 2024, the album was certified
platinum Platinum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a density, dense, malleable, ductility, ductile, highly unreactive, precious metal, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name origina ...
by the
Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
(RIAA) for combined sales and album-equivalent units of over one million units in the United States. ''Circles'' reached Miller's highest peaks in Australia at number three on the
ARIA Charts The ARIA Charts are the main Australian record chart, music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA beca ...
, in Canada at number three on the
Canadian Albums Chart The ''Billboard'' Canadian Albums is the official record chart A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music according to certain criteria during a given ...
, and in the United Kingdom at number eight on the
UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...
.


Track listing

Notes * signifies an additional producer * "I Can See" features uncredited vocals by
Ariana Grande Ariana Grande-Butera ( ; born June 26, 1993) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Regarded as a pop icon and an influential figure in popular music, Grande is known for her four-octave vocal range, which extends into the whistle re ...
Sample credits * "Blue World" contains a sample of "It's a Blue World", a song written by
George Forrest George Forrest may refer to: *G. Topham Forrest (George Topham Forrest, 1872–1945), principal architect for the London County Council *George Forrest (author) (1915–1999), American author and musician *George Forrest (botanist) (1873–1932), S ...
and Robert Wright, as performed by
The Four Freshmen The Four Freshmen is an American male vocal quartet that blends close and open harmony, open-harmonic jazz arrangements with the big band vocal group sounds of The Modernaires, The Pied Pipers, and The Mel-Tones, founded in the Barbershop music, ...
.


Personnel

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes. Musicians * Mac Miller – lead vocals (all tracks), bass (tracks 6, 13), guitar (track 9) *
Jon Brion Jon Brion (born December 11, 1963) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and composer. He performed with the Excerpts, the Bats, 'Til Tuesday and The Grays (band), the Grays before becoming an established pro ...
– guitar (tracks 1, 2, 4, 8, 9, 11), cymbals (track 1),
vibraphone The vibraphone (also called the vibraharp) is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using Percussion mallet, mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone ...
(track 1, 5), synthesizer (tracks 2, 5), keyboards (tracks 4, 5, 7), drums (tracks 6, 8, 9, 11), bass (tracks 7, 9, 11, 12), piano (track 9),
Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert, first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, sound was created ...
(track 10),
reed organ The pump organ or reed organ is a type of organ that uses free reeds to generate sound, with air passing over vibrating thin metal strips mounted in a frame. Types include the pressure-based harmonium, the suction reed organ (which employs a va ...
(track 10), percussion (tracks 10, 12) *
MonoNeon Dywane Eric Thomas Jr. (born August 6, 1990), professionally known as MonoNeon, is an American bassist, experimental musician, singer and songwriter. His work, spanning multiple experimental projects and collaborations, including with American ...
– bass (track 2) *
Wendy Melvoin Wendy Ann Melvoin (born January 26, 1964) is an American guitarist and singer-songwriter, best known for her work with Prince as part of his backing band the Revolution, and for her collaboration with Lisa Coleman as one half of the duo Wendy ...
– bass (track 4), guitar (tracks 4, 7, 9) *
Matt Chamberlain Matthew Chamberlain (born April 17, 1967) is an American session drummer, record producer and songwriter. He has played with various artists, including Pearl Jam, Edie Brickell & New Bohemians, David Bowie, Tori Amos, Morrissey, The Wallflow ...
– drums (tracks 4, 10) * Shea Taylor – drums, horn, strings, synthesizer (track 5) * Tony Royster Jr. – drums (track 6) * Baro Sura – additional vocals, drums (track 8) * Thundercat – bass (tracks 13, 14) * Jeff Gitelman – guitar (track 13) * Vic Wainstein – guitar, synthesizer, drum programming (track 13) * Carmel Echols – background vocals (track 14) * Erin Stevenson – background vocals (track 14) * Samantha Nelson – background vocals (track 14) * Brandyn Phillips – horn (track 14) * Fabian Chavez – horn (track 14) * Lemar Guillary – horn (track 14) Technical * Patricia Sullivan – mastering * Greg Koller – mixing (all tracks),
recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, re ...
(tracks 1, 2, 4–12) * Vic Wainstein – associate producer (tracks 1–12), recording (tracks 1, 2, 4–7, 9–14) * Eric Caudieux – recording (tracks 1, 2, 4–7, 9–12, 14) *
Guy Lawrence Disclosure is an English electronic music duo consisting of brothers Howard (born 11 May 1994) and Guy Lawrence (born 25 May 1991). They grew up in Reigate, Surrey. Their debut studio album, '' Settle'', released on 3 June 2013, by PMR Records, ...
– recording (track 3) * Shea Taylor – recording (track 5) * Josh Berg – recording (track 5) * Zachary Acosta – recording (track 6) * Ross Ferraro – recording (track 8) * Stefan Durandt – recording (track 8) * Ben Fletcher – recording assistant (tracks 1, 2, 5, 9, 11–14) * Ben Sedano – recording assistant (tracks 1, 2, 5, 11–14), assistant (track 9) * John Armstrong – recording assistant (track 1, 2, 5, 9, 11–14) * Rouble Kapoor – recording assistant (tracks 1, 2, 4–9, 11, 12)


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Certifications


Release history


References

{{Authority control 2020 albums Mac Miller albums Albums produced by Mac Miller Albums produced by Jon Brion Albums published posthumously Warner Records albums Funk albums by American artists Emo albums by American artists Emo rap albums