Blue Slide Park

Blue Slide Park
Studio album by Mac Miller
Released	November 8, 2011[1]
Recorded	2010–2011 Rostrum Records Studio I.D. Labs Studio (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
Genre	Hip hop
Length	45:49
Label	Rostrum
Producer	Benjy Grinberg (exec.), I.D. Labs, Ritz Reynolds, Clams Casino, Young L, Mansions on the Moon, Mac Miller
Mac Miller chronology
I Love Life, Thank You (2011) Blue Slide Park (2011) Macadelic (2012)
Singles from Blue Slide Park
"Frick Park Market" Released: August 18, 2011 "Party on Fifth Ave." Released: October 28, 2011 "Up All Night" Released: December 13, 2011 "Missed Calls" Released: June 22, 2012

Blue Slide Park is the debut studio album by American rapper Mac Miller. The title was announced in July 2011, and was released on November 8, 2011.^[2][3] The album is named after a section of Frick Park known as Blue Slide Park in Pittsburgh. The park section is at the corner of Beechwood Blvd, and Nicholson Street, just two blocks from Allderdice High School where Miller attended. The album cover was designed by his older brother Miller McCormick, and Redtape Design.

Promotion

On July 5, 2011, Mac Miller announced the name of Blue Slide Park on his YouTube page. On August 22, Mac Miller confirmed via Twitter the first single, "Frick Park Market," would be released on August 18 at 18:00 pm Eastern Time along with a music video. Since the video's release, it has reached over 22 million views.^[4] The song has also debuted at number 60 on the US Billboard Hot 100.^[5] Mac Miller confirmed that there would be no guest appearances on the album. Smile Back was released September 23.^[6] The title track, Blue Slide Park, was released October 13. Mac Miller had said the track would be released once he received 25,000 pre-orders, which he did on October 13.^[7] On October 21, Mac Miller held a private listening session for NYC journalists to the album, receiving positive reviews.^[8] At 11:20 pm Eastern Time, Mac Miller announced via Twitter that Blue Slide Park was in fact available on iTunes 40 minutes earlier than the previously set midnight release.

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	58/100[9]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllHipHop	(6.5/10)[10]
Allmusic	[11]
HipHopDX	[12]
Pitchfork Media	(1/10)[13]
RapReviews	(6/10)[14]
Rolling Stone	[15]
Spin	(4/10)[16]
XXL	(L)[17]

Critical reception

Blue Slide Park received generally mixed reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, a site that calculates an aggregate score based on a number of professional reviews, the album has received a score of 58/100 (based on 8 articles) which indicates "mixed or average reviews".^[9] Jon Garcia of AllHipHop.com gave the album a rating of 6.5 out of 10, criticising the production and claiming that "it's as if he hasn't found his sound yet". XXL viewed the album's production more positively, but noted that Miller still has "room to evolve". Jordan Sargent of Pitchfork Media gave the album a 1 out of 10 rating and wrote "Miller's world is a hermetic one, and unless it's one you inhabit, the album holds no appeal."^[13]

Commercial performance

Blue Slide Park debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart with 145,000 copies sold in its first week, making it the first independently-distributed debut album to top the chart since Tha Dogg Pound's Dogg Food in 1995.^[18] As of August 2012, the album has sold 344,000 copies.^[19] In Canada, the album debuted at number eight.^[20]

Singles

The album's first single, "Frick Park Market", reached number 60 in the Billboard Hot 100 chart. At the time this was Mac Miller's highest charting single, beating "Donald Trump" that charted at number 75. The second single, "Party on Fifth Ave." débuted at number 64. Following the album's release, and chart success the track "Smile Back" became Mac Miller's highest-charting song to date by reaching number 55 on the Billboard Hot 100, despite not being released as an official single.^[21] The album's third official single, "Up All Night", was released digitally via iTunes on November 15, 2011 and peaked at number 123.^[22] The fourth single was, "Missed Calls" which was released July 31, 2012.^[23]

Track listing

• On some physical copies of the album a 17th song, "Donald Trump", is incorrectly listed as a bonus track on the reverse cover track listing. Miller confirmed via his official Twitter page that this was due to a factory error and that the album would contain 16 new songs.

Tour

Europe – The Incredibly Dope Tour

Mac Miller toured Europe in early September 2011 to promote the album. The United Kingdom leg of The Incredibly Dope Tour ran from September 1 to 4, making up four dates in London, Manchester, Birmingham, and Glasgow.^[24] The tour also extended to mainland Europe, beginning in Amsterdam on September 6.^[25] Two dates in Paris were also announced, as well as Opwijk before Mac's return to the United States to perform at the 2011 edition of Rock the Bells in Boston. Later dates also saw Mac Miller performing in Germany, and Scandinavia.^[26] He also performed at The National and other famous venus.

United States – Blue Slide Park Tour

Mac Miller's tour of the United States ran from September to December 2011. The Blue Slide Park Tour began on September 22, 2011 at the Irving Plaza in Manhattan, New York City. The final date was on December 9 with Miller performing in his hometown of Pittsburgh.^[27]

Charts

References