Stream Mac Miller’s Second Posthumous Album ‘Balloonerism’ f/ SZA

Mac Miller’s Balloonerism project is finally out of the vault.

The long-awaited posthumous album officially hit streaming services on Friday, more than a decade after the late rapper began recording the songs for the album. Miller’s team announced the release during the 2024 Camp Flog Gnaw Festival, where they screened a nearly three-minute animated trailer that included studio footage of Mac.

Days after the festival, Miller’s estate dropped the full trailer on YouTube and confirmed Balloonerism would arrive on Jan. 17. 

“We believe the project showcases both the breadth of his musical talents and fearlessness as an artist,” the Miller estate wrote in a statement last year. “Given that unofficial versions of the album have circulated online for years and that releasing Balloonerism was something that Malcolm frequently expressed being important to him, we felt it most appropriate to present an official version of the project to the world.”

The album arrived exactly five years after Miller’s first posthumous album, Circles, and more than six years after his death.

Miller’s former tour manager Quentin Cuff shed more light on the album in 2021’s The Book of Mac: Remembering Mac Miller, saying his longtime friend recorded Balloonerism around the time he recorded 2014 mixtape Faces.

“Mac and Josh [Berg] were cooped up in the bottom studio [at Mac’s house in LA],” Quentin said, per Passion of the Weiss. “They were cooking up very zany, otherworldly, weird creations. At the time, they really stood out, and people loved it. There’s that album, Balloonerism, that was probably made before Faces. A lot of it was supposed to be Faces, and then Balloonerism’s its own thing. There’s so many albums during that time that were in the thought process.”

Balloonerism spans 14 tracks, including the recently released “5 Dollar Pony Rides.” It also features an appearance by SZA and Miller’s alter ego, Delusional Thomas.

Days before the album drop, Miller’s team released the Balloonerism short film, directed by Samuel Jerome Mason. According to Billboard, the animated film is based on lyrics from the album and “follows a group of school friends who are transfigured by the music of a chord organ and launched into a shadow world.”

The film was released in the U.S. on Jan. 15, and hit international markets the following day. Proceeds from Balloonerism ticket sales will go to benefit the Mac Miller fund.

You can stream the project now on Apple Music and Spotify.