A lot changes between the ages of 18 and 25, as Mac Miller can tell you. The Pittsburgh rapper's breakthrough mixtape K.I.D.S. was released 7 years ago today (August 13, 2010), and since, Mac has earned the first independent debut to top the charts since 1995, signed a 10 million dollar imprint deal with Warner Bros., and found the love of his life and a consistent collaborator in pop star Ariana Grande.
Given the occasion, Mac ruminated on his K.I.D.S. mixtape on Twitter and Instagram today. "7 years ago this motherfucker changed my life. Those gentlemen on the cover are still my best friends in the world, other than the ugly dude with the backpack," he wrote, making a characteristically self-deprecating joke. "I started touring 3 days later. Thank you to every human being who was there."
Last year, Mac Miller released his fourth studio album, The Divine Feminine, his most soulful and melodic project to date. It's a pretty big jump from the Lord Finesse-sampling work he was doing on the 2010 tape, but the personality at the center of the music has remained consistent. Speaking of Lord Finesse and K.I.D.S., the rapper and producer famously sued Mac for sampling him on the mixtape track "Kool Aid & Frozen Pizza," despite the song being released for free. The $10 million case was eventually settled for an undisclosed amount in 2013.
You can still download Mac's K.I.D.S. mixtape for free here.