Our interview series Icebreaker features artists talking about things—some strange, some amusing, some meaningful—that just might reveal their true selves. This edition features hip-hop wild child Mac Miller, whose latest album, The Divine Feminine, is out this week on Warner Bros.
Pitchfork: What is the worst job you’ve ever had?
Mac Miller: I sold weed, but I was the worst guy to buy weed from because I would cop shitty ass weed for $200 and sell it as really good weed for $600. I was a dickhead. I’d make up some wild name, like, “I got the honeycomb.” And kids from the suburbs would be like, “Yo, you guys are the plug.”
What’s the last song you heard that made you cry?
I was at this show in Houston and we covered “Purple Rain” live. It was 100 degrees out, but once we started playing that song, it started raining out of nowhere. “Purple Rain” just stops people, swings their emotions. I cried the hardest I’ve cried in my life. Fucking heavy crying. Like bawling. Crying is awesome. The next time I have a day off, I’ll probably sit and just try to make myself cry.
What’s a movie that made you cry?
Click
What was your wildest birthday?
A couple of years ago, I was in Australia at the Big Day Out festival, and I did two fifths of Jameson and some acid, and we had a ball. Kurupt was my drinking buddy that whole tour, we would drink every morning at 10 a.m. and go hard. Kurupt was like, “Mac, I haven’t had someone to drink with like this since Nate [Dogg] and Tupac died.” I was like, “That’s the nicest thing that anyone’s ever said to me.”
So I was hanging out onstage, and all of a sudden Snoop Dogg is like, “It’s the homie Mac Miller’s birthday” and he dedicated “Gin and Juice” to me, and I came on stage killing it. Then I ran over to the Deftones stage and came out as [alter ego] Delusional Thomas, over some wild shit. Then I went over to Major Lazer’s set, and Liam Gallagher stopped me and was like, “You’re crazy, man.”
How would you describe yourself as a dancer?
When I feel free, it comes—I turn into JT real quick. Whenever I stop trying to be too cool and just have a good time, dancing is the shit. I suggest to anyone to go salsa dancing, that shit is fire. Live a little.
What’s your life motto?
In the words of Lil Bow Wow: “You just don’t know/The way you move so fast across the floor/See you running through my mind like all the time/To the point that I just want to take you home.”
What’s the greatest concert you’ve ever been to?
Kamasi Washington at the Blue Note
If you could be in any band ever, which one would you choose?
The Beatles. No one has ever had—or will ever have—an effect on the world like they did. When the Beatles did “The Ed Sullivan Show,” crime in the world went down—I’m not playing. That’s how much of an influence they had. John Lennon is my favorite. I got a Lennon tattoo, bro. He’s Jesus.
Who would you want to play you in a movie about your life?
Obviously, the mecca of who would play older Mac would be Bill Murray—just him being himself. My hope is that one day I’ll become Bill Murray.
What’s a band you love that no one would suspect given your own music?
Dave Matthews Band. Growing up in Pittsburgh, no bands went there besides the Dave Matthews Band. They’re sick, bro.
What’s a moment in your life when you felt like a complete idiot?
The other day, someone close to me sent me a picture, and I was like, “You look great in this picture,” and they were like, “That’s not me.”
What’s the best advice anyone has ever given you?
I was really self conscious about moving my voice to the front of the beat and the music, but my lawyer gave me advice one time, he was like, “You’re always hiding behind the song you choose. Go stand out front where you belong.” I was like, “That’s fucking deep, dude.”
What fictional character do you relate to most?
Bugs Bunny in Space Jam
What YouTube video have you watched the most times?
Have you ever seen the dude that gives the bar fight training, Bas Rutten? Oh my god, bro. I used to watch it whenever morale would get low in the studio. Afterward, it was like, “I’m fucking ready to go.”
What would you want to have written on your tombstone?
“He did that shit.”