Hear Mac Miller Cover Billy Preston In Posthumous Spotify Singles
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We are probably going to be hearing new Mac Miller music for a long time. The widely beloved rapper and producer died of an apparent overdose a couple of months ago, and according to those who knew him, he left behind vast amounts of unreleased music. And since he was still deep into promoting his recent album Swimming when he died, we’re only just now getting to hear some of the stuff he did when he was making those rounds.
Case in point: Miller apparently recorded a live-in-studio single for the Spotify Sessions series, and he took that opportunity to show just how far he could stretch his musical voice. The Spotify Sessions formula is simple: Artists record a live-in-studio version of one of their own songs, and then they cover somebody else’s. But Miller had a sharp, sophisticated take on that.
Miller played a quiet, reflective version of “Dunno,” a song from Swimming. And then he played a short electric-piano cover of “Nothing From Nothing,” a jazzy funk vamp that the keyboardist and Beatles collaborator Billy Preston took to #1 in 1974. (It has the fun trivial distinction of being the first song ever performed on Saturday Night Live.)
Both of Mac’s performances are absolutely lovely, and they show the level of thought and care he was willing to put into what could’ve been a throwaway moment on the promo trail. There’s a good chance this one’s going to hit you pretty hard, so be prepared, and listen below.
In much lighter Mac Miller news, Complex reports that the man had a secret Instagram account, the perfectly named @CloudyWithAChanceOfAwesome69, that he dedicated entirely to doing vape tricks on camera.
