Blue World – Mac Miller

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It’s a blue world without you…

You know who can make some depressing music? ‘50’s crooners. Maybe it was all those wars, maybe it was the fact no one was allowed to dress casual.

Whatever the reason, Harmonized Sadness became a sub-genre and now, 70 years later, folks like Mac Miller, Jon Brion and Guy Lawrence can transform it into a sound of perseverance and hope. “Blue World” is such a track, sampled from The Four Freshmen’s ditty of the same name. I suspect it was Guy Lawrence, ½ of the EDM group Disclosure, who suggested dicing up the sample, and paired with Mac’s cocktail of lyrics, we are presented with a great dining experience.

Hey, one of these days we'll all get by / Don't be afraid, don't fall

I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge the passing of Mac Miller, as this posthumous release is bittersweet for lovers of chilled out, smart, and introspective hip hop. Artists, more than any other profession, work to create timeless product that lives well past its creator’s expiration date. It’s sad that often, artists are more appreciated and celebrated after they pass, particularly if the passing is premature. No better example of this than the recent passing of Kobe Bryant, a brilliant entertainer in his own right. Another reminder to live life like you can’t control the outcome, and to focus on what you CAN control. Regrets are more painful than rejection.

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You can learn more about Mac Miller here:

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About the Curator - Ben Young:

Ben Young lives a life of polarity. He has split his life between the coasts: half his life on the West (California) and half on the East (Georgia and Virginia). He has pursued careers in the art world (film school graduate) and the corporate world (executive with Fortune 500 companies). And he is Biracial, the personification of being two things at once.

Ben’s musical influences were formed by music loving parents, raised in a world of John Coltrane and John Lennon, James Taylor and James Ingram, Huey Lewis and the News and Prince and the Revolution. Saxophones, electric guitars, synthesizers, and breakbeats filled the air Ben breathed from birth. And being born one year after the birth of Hip Hop, Ben has been joined at the hip with the genre his entire life.