It’s also a nice touch that the only producers outside of Miller’s Pittsburgh camp who make appearances on the album are Young L and Clams Casino, two of the most innovative beat makers in rap today. Otherwise, for an album that sounds so different from anything else going on in popular music right now, its success is hopefully a sign labels will give rap artists more freedom to follow their visions in the future. While I didn’t care much for Blue Slide Park, I can’t deny if you’re already a Mac Miller fan it will likely live up to expectations. Not every rap artist is going to be a favorite of every rap listener.

His lesser rhymes usually result in a momentary cringe when they’re in his party-oriented songs (as on the album’s 45 King-sampling highlight “Party on Fifth Ave.”), but once he’s lamenting his newfound fame or venturing into more serious territory it becomes flat-out unsettling. He’s mustering clear effort to rap to the best of his abilities, and while it’s nice to hear someone having fun while attempting to hone their craft, Miller’s still the type of person to put the words “lameness,” “cooter” and “dog nuts” in a rap verse. Miller’s confidence in who he is is unshakable, and his debut succeeds as the album-length version of the guy at the Kappa Phi Alpha party whose friends make you change the music so you can “hear our boy rap, he’s really good.” His personality aside, he’s adequate enough at plenty of rhyme styles, but doesn’t particularly excel at any of them.

The maximum enjoyment you’re going to get from Blue Slide Park solely falls on how much you enjoy Mac Miller’s Spicoli-who-raps persona. What goes on behind the boards is too self-obsessed to hop trends, and if the album were instrumentals alone it would be among the year’s best. Varied but distinctive, the team shapes Blue Slide Park into the exact type of stoner-friendly project Miller’s fanbase wants without the slightest moment of rehashing any of rap’s current sounds. Labs, there is a fun spaced out warmth to the project that sounds like the score to a lazy Saturday evening on the way to a party. Predominantly produced by Pittsburgh beat makers I.D. Naming his album after the section of Pittsburgh’s Frick Park known for its large blue slide, the album’s sound is indicative of the city’s largely unheard hip-hop scene. Rappers have tossed the term “representing” around since the genre’s inception, and this authenticity to one’s environment is Miller’s absolute greatest strength. Miller’s debut Blue Slide Park shot to the top of the Billboard charts upon its release and, while his persona isn’t for everybody, it’s refreshing to have a successful rap release this true to the artist’s roots. With co-signs ranging from UGK’s Bun B to legendary producer DJ Premier, Miller has been both heralded by rap’s all time greats as well as beneficiary to one of the biggest word-of-mouth movements in recent memory. Almost three years later an entire sub-genre of “frat rap” has emerged and sitting on its throne with unparalleled crossover success is Mac Miller. When Asher Roth’s “I Love College” single was released in early 2009, it marked rap’s first blatant attempt to transparently court the college crowd by speaking to them directly.

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