Release Date: June 18, 2013
Watching Movies With The Sound Off is the second LP and surprisingly intimate effort from 21 year-old rapper Mac Miller; he addresses everything from the death of a childhood friend on “REMember” to life’s larger questions on “Avian.” Miller still includes some women and weed songs, but he is clearly using this album to be more introspective.
Watching Movies also has an impressive list of guests: ScHoolboy Q, Earl Sweatshirt, Action Bronson, Ab-Soul, Tyler, The Creator, and Jay Electronica lend their vocals to Miller’s mix, and Diplo and Flying Lotus produced one track each. The roster is diverse and skilled, setting the bar high for Miller’s production and performance. The variety of guests affects the album’s cohesiveness, but Miller’s lyrics and intent keep a running theme throughout Watching Movies With The Sound Off.
The first nine songs are generally thoughtful, conscious, and somewhat dark, but are often overshadowed by the production and Miller’s tendency to throw in lines about drinking or women.
On “S.D.S,” he contemplates religion, but his insights merely scratch the surface and are on top of a juxtaposing danceable Flying Lotus beat. “Wonder if Christ made a million off selling the cross,” is one of the more direct ponderings, but it stops there, leaving room for further contemplation. Miller’s superficial analyses pervade the album.
Watching Movies is at its best when Miller talks more personally. On “Objects in the Mirror,” Miller personifies his drug addiction as a relationship with a woman. “And I been thinking about her all the time/I never seen somebody put together perfectly/What do I have to do to call you mine?,” Miller raps. The beat, produced by Pharrell, creates a sentimental tone appropriate for Miller’s desire to “leave it all in the rearview.”
“Red Dot Music,” featuring Action Bronson and Loaded Lux, is one of the best songs of Watching Movies. Miller’s hook, “I said it must be the drugs that got us thinking crazy shit/Looking up into the clouds where the angels sit/They looking down, keeping watch ’til I’m dead/So how’d I get this red dot on my head?” highlights the combination of his reckless party behavior and curiosity of what lies beyond the life he’s been leading, all in the context of impending death.
Miller’s self-awareness and questioning are the essence of Watching Movies With The Sound Off.
The “Red Dot Music” outro, rapped by Loaded Lux, disses Miller’s status as a jokester and white rapper. Miller knows this is a more thoughtful album than his previous work, and the outro is the most interesting part of Watching Movies because he subjects himself to the criticism he tends to receive from others. In a way, Miller is commenting on how, in the past, he could not be taken seriously because of both his lyrics and his race, but moving beyond that phase.
Loaded Lux repeats the line, “I liked you better when you was Easy Mac with the cheesy raps/Who the fuck is Mac Miller?,” which is precisely what listeners must be thinking about this album, and even Mac Miller himself. Miller’s previous work has been insightful, but not as deep as he tries to go with Watching Movies. His first studio release, Blue Slide Park, was about his life growing up in Pittsburg. Miller has matured since the release of his first LP, but presumptions about him as a rapper remain.
While Miller’s consciousness is prominent throughout, variety comes from the bonus track “Goosebumpz,” produced by Diplo—boasting one of the dopest beats on Watching Movies—and the goofy “O.K.” featuring Tyler, The Creator, which opens with a burp.
Overall, Watching Movies With The Sound Off is a step forward for Mac Miller. His attempt at being a more conscious rapper is noted; sometimes he succeeds and sometimes he doesn’t. The album starts off strong, but dwindles by “Youforia,” a horribly sung and unnecessary track.
Watching Movies With The Sound Off might be an album leading Mac Miller’s transition into a stronger, more ruminative rapper, but he isn’t there yet.
Mac Miller – Watching Movies With The Sound Off tracklist:
- “The Star Room”
- “Avian”
- “I’m Not Real (feat. Vinny Radio & Earl Sweatshirt)”
- “S.D.S.”
- “Bird Call”
- “Matches (feat. Ab-Soul)”
- “I Am Who Am (Killin’ Time) (feat. Niki Randa)”
- “Objects In the Mirror”
- “Red Dot Music (feat. Action Bronson)”
- “Gees (feat. ScHoolboy Q)”
- “Watching Movies”
- “Suplexes Inside of Complexes and Duplexes (feat. Jay Electronica)”
- “Remember”
- “Someone Like You”
- “Aquarium”
- “Youforia”
- “Goosebumpz”
- “O.K. (feat. Tyler, The Creator)”
- “Claymation”
