S. Samuel
Pittsburgh rapper Mac Miller had fans and concertgoers concerned over the weekend after collapsing during a Phoenix, Arizona performance.
Footage of the rapper performing new music and eventually falling to the stage has emerged.
Mac Miller performed at the Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix as the second stop on his Space Migration tour over the weekend. While he was performing the title track to his latest album ‘Watching Movies’, Mac started to feel unwell (at the 1:28 mark) but he gathered himself and continued to perform the song. But around 30 seconds later, he fully collapsed to the ground after which his team quickly had the lights of the venue dim down. The reason is unknown but it didn’t take him long to get back up and finish his set. Hope he’s doing alright. (HHNM)
A few days ago, Mac hinted at needing to get some rest.
“In Vegas. Need sleep.,” Mac tweeted August 8. (Mac Miller’s Twitter)
In mid-June, Miller said he initially stopped using syrup to avoid gaining weight.
The “Donald Trump” MC says things didn’t get too bad and luckily he was able to kick the habit. “I don’t want to act like I was like this serious heroic story, tackling a drug,” Mac told MTV News correspondent Sway Calloway on Wednesday when he appeared on “RapFix Live.” “The reality is I gained, like, 40 pounds when I was going to MTV and I didn’t want to be fat on national television. I just stopped.” (MTV)
He then went on to admit family and friends pointed out the serious impact it was having on his life.
During a portion of the Watching Movies recording process, Mac, who had relocated to Los Angeles, received a visit from his original Pittsburgh producers E. Dan and Big Jerm. As soon as Miller picked them up from the airport, they could tell something was off. “I probably had a cup in the car with me and picked ’em up and came back,” he said, recalling not being able to keep his eyes open during their scheduled studio session. “I was sitting there trying to stay awake and I passed out.” Everyone from his Most Dope crew to his mother voiced their concern. “I kicked it. But it’s addictive; don’t mess around,” he warned. “I don’t know how down and bad I was — but I guess I was.” (MTV)
Earlier this year, Mac said bad music reviews sparked his retreat to heavy drug usage.
Mac took the bad reviews to heart. They didn’t just piss him off; they sent him into a personal tailspin. His problems got worse once he started the Macadelic Tour in March 2012. For the first leg of the tour, he played nothing but colleges, venues that did nothing to dispel the perception that the young MC was nothing more than a “frat rapper.” Over six grueling months he played 53 shows, including 20 in Europe (“Going through customs every day is not fun,” said his entourage). To help manage the stress he started using promethazine. Somewhere along the way he became addicted. “I love lean; it’s great,” says Mac. But during the Macadelic tour things got out of hand. “I was not happy and I was on lean very heavy,” he admits. “I was so f*cked up all the time it was bad. My friends couldn’t even look at me the same. I was lost.” (Complex)
Check out the footage:
