It’s been a trying few weeks for Mac Miller, between a breakup from Ariana Grande and an arrest for drunk driving and hit-and-run. Even amid his troubles, Miller has apparently used his social media hiatus to regroup and returned late Tuesday night (May 29) to surprise fans with three new singles, “Small Worlds,” “Buttons” and “Programs.”
Miller wiped his official Instagram account clean, only leaving caption-less photos of the artwork for each of his new singles. On the slow-churning “Small Worlds,” Mac is in a reflective state and seemingly addresses ex-girlfriend Grande, rapping, “I know I probably need to do better/ Fuck whoever/ Keep my shit together/ You never told me being rich was so lonely.”
The line could be a reference to Grande’s response to a fan who blamed her for the breakup, in which Grande wrote, “I have cared for him and tried to support his sobriety & prayed for his balance for years (and always will of course) but shaming / blaming women for a man’s inability to keep his shit together is a very major problem.”
Mac gets soulful on “Buttons,” which finds the rapper reminding the naysayers that he has no plans of changing who he is. “They wanna see me gone/ But I’m here in spite of it all,” he raps. “I never play along/ You can keep the fear and self-pity/ I’d rather tell you who I am, really.” But on “Programs,” Mac gives fans a bouncy trap-banger, as he raps about dodging drama to focus on his return to music. “Everybody want a headline/ I don’t got nothin’ to say/ ‘Cept I’m comin’ back with the freshness/ You know I love makin’ an entrance,” he spits.
“Small Worlds,” “Buttons,” and “Programs” are the first singles Mac has released this year. The Pittsburgh rapper’s last album, The Divine Feminine, was released in 2016.
Listen to Mac Miller’s comeback singles below.