(MTV's 'First Date' with Mac Miller)
Pittsburgh rapper Malcolm “Mac Miller” McCormick has amassed quite the following in his short but skyrocketing career. With YouTube hits numbering in the millions, a million-plus followers on Twitter and a fast growing Facebook fan page (not to mention his recent Billboard cover story) the 19-year-old is proof positive that social media plays an important part in gathering a supportive fan base. Now, he's set to have the first no. 1 indie release since Tha Dogg Pound's Dogg Food dropped in 1995.
Before releasing his debut album Blue Slide Park this past Tuesday (November 8), Mac Miller laid the groundwork with sold-out shows and a heavy mixtape grind. Now, Mac Miller is poised to have the number album this week, a feat that has only been achieved by an independent artist once before.
According to sales projections of 100k, Blue Slide Park’s numbers should top the charts and the album will join Snoop Dogg affiliates Tha Dogg Pound and their smash debut Dogg Food which was released in November of 1995. The Death Row Records release sold 278,000 copies according to Billboard, making it a critical and commercial success.
Mac is signed to Pittsburgh indie label Rostrum Records, home to fellow native Wiz Khalifa. Label head Benjy Grinberg spoke to Billboard during Mac’s feature story about the indie game, explaining why the label will steer clear of the majors this time around. “We’ve learned a lot about the ins and outs of the majors and how different things operate [through working with Khalifa]," Grinberg says. "We try to apply those lessons to everything we do . . . I'm not on some sort of revolutionary [anti-major] kick. I just know there are better ways of doing things.”
Did you pick up a copy of Blue Slide Park? Tweet to us at @MTVRapFix or leave us a comment below and tell us what you think.
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