Tyler, The Creator made sure to honor Mac Miller while performing in Pittsburgh, the late rapper’s hometown. During his Chromakopia Tour stop at PPG Paints Arena on Friday, March 28th, he took a heartfelt moment to remember his friend.
Reflecting on his connection to the city, Tyler told the audience, “What a special place. I had a friend that’s from here. His name was Malcolm. Safe travels, rest in peace to him.” He then recalled a cherished memory of Mac: “The last time I was here, he rode me around the city. It was great.” The tribute continued as Tyler dedicated the night’s show to Mac, prompting cheers from the crowd.
The two had a history of working together, most notably on their 2013 collaboration “O.K.” Mac also made an appearance on Tyler’s former Adult Swim series, Loiter Squad.
Last year, Tyler spoke about Mac Miller in a discussion about white rappers in hip-hop during an appearance on Maverick Carter’s SpringHill podcast. While voicing his frustrations with viral rapper ian, Tyler pointed out how some artists appear to mock rap culture. “There’s this kid right now, this white kid, regular Caucasian man, and he’s like mocking Future and Gucci Mane, like rap music. And people are like, ‘This shit hard!’” he said.
Tyler contrasted that with artists like Mac Miller and Eminem, who, in his view, approached hip-hop with genuine respect. “This is like weird and I’m looking at it and something about it don’t even sit well with me, in comparison to someone like a Mac Miller or Eminem who didn’t seem like they were mocking it; they had a genuine love for it.”
Mac Miller’s influence remains strong, especially with the release of his posthumous album Balloonerism in January. The project, which includes a feature from SZA, debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 with 81,000 equivalent album units in its first week.
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