(AllHipHop News) Nearly two weeks after Mac Miller settled his $10 million lawsuit with Lord Finesse, Complex has named the Pittsburgh native their “Man of Next Year.”
In the issue where Mac speaks on his many successes over the past two years, Rostrum Records’ flagship artist also revealed his battle with promethazine following the negative critical reception by some reviewers of his debut album, Blue Slide Park.
“There’s no way the album was as bad as that [Pitchfork reviewer] made it out to be,” says E. Dan of ID Labs, one of the main producers on Blue Slide Park. “It felt personal. It wasn’t like, ‘Here’s why I don’t like it musically,’ it was more like, ‘Here’s why I don’t like Mac Miller.’”
Reactions like those to his work drove Mac to use lean heavily following the album’s release in late 2011. “I love lean; it’s great,” Mac told Complex. “I was not happy and I was on lean very heavy. I was so f##### up all the time it was bad. My friends couldn’t even look at me the same. I was lost.”
Childhood friend Jimmy Murton told Complex about Mac’s battle with certain vices, “I’ve never really been worried about Mac except during that lean period. I saw him in that mentality I remember being in—you’re getting f##### up because you feel like you need to. You’re trying to get away from everything.”
It wasn’t until this past November that Mac officially quit for good as he was gearing up to film the first season of his MTV2 reality show, “Mac Miller and the Most Dope Family.”
“For how much he was drinking,” says Jimmy, “it’s unbelievable that he stopped. It’s definitely one of the most impressive things he’s ever done.”
Mac, who is currently hard at work on his sophomore release titled Watching Movies With the Sound Off, will next be seen starring in MTV2’s, “Mac Miller and the Most Dope Family,” which premieres on February 26th at 11:30 pm.