In case you didn’t know, the Pittsburgh rapper Mac Miller will soon release a new album entitled The Divine Feminine, whose most recent single, “My Favorite Part,” is a collaboration with rumored paramour Ariana Grande. It is what can best be described as a neo-soul joint, with Miller singing about how his favorite part about his woman is that she doesn’t know how beautiful she is. (Hmm, where have we heard that before?) Additionally, it sounds like it wants to be an outtake from the soundtrack to my favorite movie, Brown Sugar. 2004 is so hot right now.
In promoting The Divine Feminine, which is out Friday, Miller gave an interview to John Norris over at Billboard, in which he discussed its concept (apparently it’s full of love songs). Norris out and out asked Miller if he considered himself a feminist, and he replied:
I mean to me, women have always been the sturdiest people in my life and have been incredible sources of energy. I don’t know if I’m a feminist, but I just know that I am all for outspoken, powerful women. I’m blessed with them in my life. I don’t know if that makes me a feminist. A lot of this record is about the energy surrounding this planet. It’s a feminine one — Mother Earth. We need to hold that up as something sacred.
To loosely invoke Brown Sugar again, in this interview Miller somewhat sounds like Common during the Erykah years, which is to say it seems like he’s striving for that plateau beyond woke. It seems like he’s reaching for consciousness. Respect, my crocheted-newsboy-cap-wearing fam.
And every soulful man needs his queen—but is he dating Grande, and if so, is she his soul mate?!?! GLAD YOU ASKED:
On “Soulmate,” you use a Robin Williams sample about taking that first step and finding your soul mate. Do you believe in the concept of a soul mate and have you found one? Or are you still searching?
[Laughs] No, I’ve found one but I do wholeheartedly believe in that. I also wholeheartedly believe in the idea of love, and I think it’s interesting that in the year 2016, there’s all these different ways of what love and relationships are supposed to be. Like “What is monogamy? Who cares? It’s 2016.” But I don’t know. I still want to have the kind of story that my grandparents had.
“I’ve found one.” He’s found one! He’s found one, y’all! Could he be referring to Grande, or someone else before her? But also, what even is monogamy? Do you care? And what if God was a “her”?
Is The Divine Feminine Mac Miller’s Be? I haven’t heard it yet, but I look forward to its Friday release in breathless anticipation.
