The discussion of posthumous albums in the world of music can be a tricky subject. An artist suddenly passing is a shocking situation for both the fans and their family. After a tragic loss, it serves the question, should an artist's unreleased work remain untouched?

First of all, there are two types of posthumous releases, intended and unintended. For example, Queen’s ‘Made in Heaven’ album was released after Freddie Mercury had passed on even though he knew his saddened outcome. It was intended to be heard by audiences after his death, hence the title of the record. An example of unintended would be XXXTENTACION’s album ‘Skins.’ The record was released six months after his shocking death. He was unexpectedly shot dead on June 18th, 2018.

X’s label has since released four new albums under the rapper's name post-death. With his fifth album, ‘LOOK AT ME’, releasing today. It coincides with a documentary that was made about the American rapper. It includes a mixture of old and new songs, including his new single, ‘True Love’ with Kanye West.

These posthumous releases beg the question, do they tarnish the legacy of these brilliant artists? In some cases, absolutely. Some releases just feel like a straight money grab from the labels in question. It has got to the point where Hip-hop legend, Biggie Smalls (The Notorious B.I.G.), had a single released under his name only three weeks ago. The man has been dead for 25 years. The beat on the track sounds like nothing he would rap over. Just let the man rest.

Various artists have also come out ranting about this very thing happening to them. Including Silk Sonic’s own, Anderson Paak. He has this tattooed on his arm:

“When I'm gone, please don't release any posthumous albums or songs with my name attached, those were just demos and never intended to be heard by the public.”

Anderson Paak performing at Falls Festival 2018. Photo taken by Bruce Baker

Although, in other instances, we have posthumous albums that are done perfectly. Mac Miller’s ‘Circles’ is a beautiful example. Miller sadly passed away on September 7th, 2018, from a drug overdose. His next album ‘Circles’ was nearly in completion before the unforeseen death. The record was released on 17th January 2020 and was a sequel to his previous work, ‘Swimming’. The albums were meant to conclude in a perfect loop hence the title of a concept called ‘Swimming in Circles.’ Mac worked closely with his producer, Jon Biron, who made some final additions for the album release.

Jon explained: “When he died... it’s worthless to put into words. I was flattened.

“When the family came to me, they asked me to see it (the album) through. I said I would.

“I worked painfully slowly because I was trying to figure out the way to change it as little as possible.”

Circles is a calming, chilling and emotional experience to listen through. It feels complete and something exactly that Miller would release on his own terms. He uses a combination of genres including ‘R&B,’ ‘Rap’ and ‘Soul’ to represent his emotional state at the time of recording. Some of the lyrics we hear on this album are devastating now in hindsight. Lead single, ‘Good News', is a heartbreaker with its lyrical content.

“Why can't it just be easy?

Why does everybody need me to stay?

Oh, I hate the feeling

When you're high but you're underneath the ceiling.”

“Heard they don't talk about me too much no more

And that's a problem with a closed door”

Just some gut-wrenching lyrics that make the loss of such a gifted artist hurt even more.

Biron mentions how the album was meant to be involved in a trilogy of albums, with the last record being only hip-hop.

He explained: “The second, which he’d already decided would be called ‘Circles’, would be song-based. And I believe the third one would have been just a pure hip-hop record. I think he wanted to tell people, ‘I still love this, I still do this.’”

Who knows if we would’ve seen this album released if the man had a greedy label that was looking to glue some demos together to make a quick buck. Gladly though, Circles will be the final album we hear from Mac Miller which is substantial to keeping his legacy sustained. It was a beautiful closer to conclude his amazing discography.

Mac Miller’s ‘Circles’- A Posthumous Album Done Right