The year 2018 proved to be one heinous one that took the lives of prominent young rap artists. First, we lost XXXTentacion to fatal gunfire on June 18, 2018 in Deerfield Beach, Florida. XXXTentacion was only 20-years-old.
Then just a couple months later the Los Angeles County Coroner informed us that the life of Mac Miller was seized away due to a drug overdose. When did Mac Miller die? His life ended at 11:51 a.m on September 7, 2018 in his home in Studio City, California.
Miller had been fairly upfront about his on lean, a combination of codeine and promethazine. It started to get pretty bad during the time he was crafting his 2012 mixtape, Macadelic.
Before noon on that very day of Mac’s death, police officers responded to an intense 911 call that was put through by Miller’s personal assistant who also functioned as Mac’s sobriety coach, who found his dead body in a bedroom.
Two Weeks Before Mac Miller Died
Just two weeks prior to Mac’s death, superstar singer Ty Dolla $ign was in the middle of collaborating with Mac Miller at Chalice Recording Studios in L.A. banging out a dual project.
Ty Dolla Sign shared:
“He was in good spirits…He had everybody in the room dying laughing…(Fifth Harmony member Dinah Jane)…She was talking about how nice he was…She didn’t think he was gonna be that cool, but he was supercool. I’m like, ‘Yeah, man. That’s Mac.’“
Then when Ty learned about his friend Miller’s passing through a text message while riding out on tour in Tampa, Florida with G-Eazy and Lil Uzi Vert, it tore Ty apart:
“I went outside of my bus to try to catch a breather,” he says. “I was crying. And I don’t ever cry. Nobody sees me down like that. That was the hardest day ever. The first time I cried in years.”
It would actually be Ty Dolla $ign that informed Thundercat about Mac Miller dying, with the pain being passed between the two men.
One Week Before Mac Passed
Los Angeles bass player, producer, and Mac collaborator Thundercat said that the week before Mac Miller’s death he appeared to be happy. Mac invited Thundercat and his daughter Sanaa over on August 31st to the rapper’s house in Studio City, California to celebrate her 12th birthday.
Thundercat stated:
“He refused not to celebrate it with us…The happiness was there, man…I could see it in him. And it wasn’t fake…He was like, ‘What do I get her?’ ‘I dunno, some Gucci flip-flops?’”
Thundercat shared that they had dinner together, “Happy Birthday” twice, and spent the rest of the night viewing Sanaa’s favorite TV shows. Unfortunately, this would be the last time that these three friends would ever spend together.
The prolific creative Mac Miller also had musical plans in store with Thundercat as well before his life was cut short. They were preparing to hit the road touring together that same fall season of 2018 to support the rapper’s upcoming album, Swimming, and were going to create a cool music video for their collaborative track “What’s the Use?” the same month Mac passed on. Guy Fieri, Kehlani and Mac DeMarco were set to make cameo appearances in the music clip.
Days Before Miller’s Demise
According to the witness statements located in the autopsy report, Miller was last seen by his assistant at approximately 10:30 p.m. on September 6th, the night before he passed on. The assistant had a conversation with Mac Miller’s mother on the telephone that night.
Had the assistant not arrived at Mac’s house the next morning to perform his routine of waking Miller at 11:30 a.m.; there is no telling when someone else would have actually found out that Mac was dead.
The autopsy report also shows that Miller’s struggle with addiction was a long-term journey that included many bumps in the road where he back-pedaled. The last such slip up occurred before the night of his death on September 4th, just three days before he died according to Mac’s assistant.
Three Men Charged
Cameron Pettit, Stephen Walter and Ryan Reavis are the three men that were charged with conspiring and distributing cocaine and oxycodone pills laced with the fentanyl that caused Mac Miller’s overdose.
Initially it was thought that Mac was sold a painkiller called oxycodone. But it was much worse than that because it was laced with fentanyl, a drug that is 50 times stronger than heroin.
The coroner found fentanyl, cocaine and alcohol in his body and concluded he had accidentally taken an overdose.
The indictment accuses the men of continuing to deal drugs after the rapper’s death.
The rapper had always been open about his issues with substance abuse and had been arrested for drink driving in May 2018.
Ariana Grande’s Reaction
When Mac Miller died, he was also coping with ending an A-List relationship with pop star Ariana Grande. During an interview with Vogue Ariana opened up about her pain over Mac Miller’s death, calling it “pretty all-consuming”
“By no means was what we had perfect…He was the best person ever, and he didn’t deserve the demons he had. I was the glue for such a long time, and I found myself becoming… less and less sticky. The pieces just started to float away…It was frivolous and fun and insane and highly unrealistic, and I loved him, and I didn’t know him. I’m like an infant when it comes to real life and this old soul, been-around-the-block-a-million-times artist. I still don’t trust myself with the life stuff.”
Tribute by Elton John
Even the legend pop star Elton John paid tribute to Mac Miller on the opening show of his farewell tour, in Allentown, Pennsylvania, the night after Miller’s passing. The singer dedicated “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” to the rapper.
Elton John addressed the concert crowd by saying:
“Unbelievably, 26 years of age, and passed away yesterday…It’s inconceivable that someone so young, and with so much talent, could do that.”
add comment