Faces is the eleventh mixtape by American rapper Mac Miller. It was independently released for free download on May 11, 2014. The mixtape is the follow-up to Miller's second studio albumWatching Movies with the Sound Off, and is considered by many to be his magnum opus for its dark and personal exploration of Miller's struggle with drug addiction. Miller produced most of Faces himself, and moved towards creating more psychedelic and jazzy instrumentals for his increasingly dark lyrical themes. Yet, its jazziness is not a departure from Miller's previous work, acknowledging the project he released under the alias, Larry Lovestein titled You that was centered around jazz instrumentals. It continues to build upon and experiment with the psychedelic sounds of Watching Movies with the Sound Off. The mixtape features guest appearances from Rick Ross, Earl Sweatshirt, Schoolboy Q, Mike Jones, Sir Michael Rocks, Vince Staples, Ab-Soul, Dash, and Miller's pet dog King Ralph of Malibu. It was named "Mixtape of the Week" by Stereogum on May 14, 2014, given a 7.3 rating by Pitchfork, and noted by Billboard on May 11, 2014.
Production
Mac Miller serves as the executive producer under his production pseudonym "Larry Fisherman", serving as the sole producer for over half of the songs on the track list. ID Labs handled production for two songs, while Earl Sweatshirt produced the songs "Polo Jeans" & "New Faces" under his own production pseudonym, "randomblackdude". Thundercat, DrewByrd, Rahki, THC, Big Jerm & 9th Wonder produced one song each on the mixtape. Faces includes various spoken word and movie samples interspliced throughout the album. These notably include Charles Bukowski on "Wedding", Hunter S. Thompson at the beginning of "Funeral", and Bill Murray from the 1979 comedy Meatballs at the beginning of "It Just Doesn't Matter". Schoolboy Q is featured on the third track "Friends", but does not have a verse. Instead he provides ad libs and the 'Miller Mac' chorus, similar to his work on "Pneumonia" off of Danny Brown's 2016 album Atrocity Exhibition. Ab-Soul is listed as a feature on "Polo Jeans", but only his trademark 'Soul!' ad lib is present at the end of the track. He originally had a full verse that ended the song, but requested Miller remove it before the album was officially released. The original version with his verse still remains unreleased.
Critical reception
Faces was met with positive reviews upon release, and noted for its themes and exploration of psychosis, addiction, and mortality. Many regard it as perhaps Mac Miller's greatest work, and laud Miller's unique, jazzy production as some of his best. Faces has gained significant cult status amongst rap fans as one of the best mixtapes ever released, particularly during the internet mixtape boom of the early 2010s. It was released at the end of a particularly prolific period for Miller and many of his close friends and collaborators in the rap underground, including Earl Sweatshirt, Vince Staples, ScHoolboy Q, and Ab-Soul, all who are featured on Faces. Between 2013-2014, the five of them collaborated on a variety of projects including Vince's Stolen Youth, Earl's Doris, Miller's Watching Movies with the Sound Off, and Ab-Soul's These Days. Faces was rated the eighteenth best rap album of 2014 by Rolling Stone.
