On August 3, 2018, Mac Miller dropped his fifth official studio album Swimming, which came on the same day as other monumental rap releases like Travis Scott’s Astroworld and YG’s Stay Dangerous. Swimming, however, with no features, a wide vocal range from Miller, and crips instrumentation, would end up being the Pittsburgh emcee’s last project before his death a month later.
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Making the LP that much more impactful, Swimming‘s 2023 anniversary, coming just before the 5-year anniversary of Miller’s passing, is now earning a massive celebration from his estate. Today (August 3), they announced a number of different features they’ll be putting out to commemorate the album.
First, as of Thursday, Swimming is now available in Dolby Atmos audio on Apple Music for the first time. The project was mixed by Jon Brion, a producer and multi-instrumentalist who has worked on albums by Frank Ocean, Kanye West, Miller, and more throughout his career. Second, a two-disc, 5-year anniversary edition vinyl has now been made available on Miller’s website.
[RELATED: Mac Miller Posthumous Album with Madlib on the Way, Producer Says]
Additionally, a second vinyl went up for sale today on the site, which includes the full audio from Miller’s beloved performance for NPR Tiny Desk. Amassing 105 million views up to this point, the late rapper’s Tiny Desk Concert sees him gracefully perform Swimming songs “Small Worlds,” “What’s the Use?” and “2009.”
Also available on his shop, a custom pair of Mac Miller Swimming edition Vans went live today, as “a portion of proceeds from each sale will benefit The Mac Miller Fund,” according to the press release.
“To carry on Miller’s artistic and creative legacy, The Mac Miller Fund supports programming, resources and opportunities to youth from underserved communities, helping them recognize their full potential through exploration in the arts and community building,” the site dedicated to fund writes on their home page.
Lastly, taking place at 6 pm local time in Miller’s hometown of Pittsburgh as well as Long Angeles, Swimming will be played “front to back in Dolby Atmos-enabled theaters alongside a suite of new visuals to accompany the music.” These events will accompany the launch of listentotheuniverse.com, a website where fans can log the moment they are currently listening to Swimming and be able to see other people around the world who are listening at the same time as them.
Miller’s estate’s remembrance of Swimming comes just over a month after they celebrated the 10-year anniversary of Miller’s sophomore studio album Watching Movies with the Sound Off, which came with a special edition deluxe vinyl.
Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for Coachella
