Mac Miller was always open about his troubles, so it's particularly sad that so many reviews of 2018's Swimming remarked on how honestly and openly and constructively he appeared to be working through the lingering emotional trauma of a recent, high-profile breakup with pop star Ariana Grande.

Alas, a mere month and four days after the record's Aug. 3 release the rapper born Malcolm James McCormick was found dead in his Los Angeles home after an accidental overdose of cocaine, fentanyl and booze, making Swimming the fifth and final album he would release during his brief 26 years on the planet. It wasn't a bad way to go out, all things considered; Miller's messed-up open-heartedness is endlessly engaging here, while the woozy, rubbery funk production underpinning his rhymes keeps things chugging along at an appropriately dogged pace to match the "I will get through this, dammit" tone of the lyrics. It's a pity that's where he left off. 

TRACKLISTING:

1. Come Back to Earth
2. Hurt Feelings
3. What's The Use?
4. Perfecto
5. Self Care
6. Wings
7. Ladders
8. Small Worlds
9. Conversation Pt. 1
10. Dunno
11. Jet Fuel
12. 2009
13. So It Goes