Today, Roger Gengo of the publication "Masked Gorilla" has decided to bless Mac Miller fans with a welcome surprise: unreleased footage of Mac's alleged "first video interview."
In the previously unreleased clip, Mac seems pleased to promote his upcoming mixtape Kids, before he gets to setting it off. "Rockin' demins wear em under my ass," raps Mac, "I didn't bring a stack just a couple hundred cash." He continues spitting for a while longer, before switching back to the interview. As he signs off, Mac hilariously struggles to plug the "Masked Gorilla" brand, stumbling over the name like Chris Tucker saying "gefilte fish" in Rush Hour 2. "I'm not even high!" laughs Mac, before finally nailing the take.
On the official description, "Masked Gorilla" founder Roger Gengo opened up about the experience in a heartfelt tribute:
Here's a video of Mac Miller freestyling in 2010 after I interviewed him for Masked Gorilla. He was still in highschool. So was I. It was before he released K.I.D.S. Before he had any tattoos. It was his first interview. It was mine too. He was in New York City for a few days. Before he left to fly home I met him at his hotel near the airport. I was incredibly nervous driving there. So nervous that, even though his manager Quinten instructed me to come up to the room when I arrived, I waited in the lobby for him to tell me again. Eventually Q came down. I asked Q why they were in NYC. Someone flew them out, but their parents didn’t know the trip was paid for, so they gave them travel money. They were excited about that. We were, literally, all just kids pretending that we knew what we were doing. I walked into the hotel room and greeted Mac. He was very energetic. I don’t think either of us could believe that the other wanted to do the interview. We filmed the interview. It felt like the greatest thing I had ever done in my life. Then we all piled in my mom’s car to get food. We did some other things, too, then I dropped him back off at the hotel.
Check out the video below, and observe an artist at the early stages of their career; it's bittersweet to see the optimism in his eyes, made all the more tragic by the nature of his fate. Mac's story is indeed a tragic one, but the amount of love he continues to inspire even now is a testament to his reach. Rest in peace.