Adele recently suggested that she might be dropping an album this year while at a private wedding. It's been five years since the "Someone Like You" singer released her third studio album, 25 (2015), and her massive fan base is eagerly awaiting her next musical offering. But with 25 selling over ten million copies, officially going diamond, and earning her a total of five Grammys at the 59th annual Grammy Awards, the creative process can become daunting for someone who's achieved success at that magnitude. 

The news of Mac Miller‘s death in September of 2018 was devastating for so many people around the world. While his friends and family were, of course, deeply affected by his passing, fans of Mac, of hip hop, and of music in general were also shocked and upset to hear he was gone. Many fellow artists in the industry, and those who just looked up to him, have shared their fond memories of crossing paths with Mac, and so many have had nothing but good things to say about the man. One such artist was Lil Xan, who has been very candid about Mac’s impact on him as an artist and how hard his death hit him. He even got a face tattoo in honour of Mac and commissioned a painting of the late rapper to remember him by. Following the news that Mac’s family will be releasing a completed, posthumous version of Mac’s album, Circles, which he was working on before his tragic death, Xan revealed he knew the name of the album for “dam near a year but wouldn’t say out of respect for everyone.”

He continued, “the fact this is dropping this month makes me wanna cry,This has made my whole fucking year and I wanna cry rn call me a bitch idc because it’s MOST DOPE FOREVER ! 412 BABYYYYY ! @macmiller @idlabsmusic ? Since 2009?.” Xan also posted a screenshot of him and Mac’s final DMs to each other.

The photo, which Xan captioned “Miss you every day malcolm ?” on Instagram, reveals the last words Xan and Mac exchanged before his untimely death on September 7th, 2018. On August 2nd, just over a month before Mac’s final moments, Xan had messaged him saying, “Bro so excited!” likely referring to his anticipation for the release of Mac’s album, Swimming, which dropped the following day on August 3rd. Mac replied with three swimming emojis (“?‍♂️?‍♂️?‍♂️”) followed by, “My guy,” confirming the meaning of the message. Xan messaged him again on October 3rd, less than a month after Mac had passed, writing, “Miss you man ❤️.” 

These were not Mac’s very final words to him, though. Xan has revealed that Mac’s final words to him were, “Be safe,” which became the name of Xan’s tribute album to Mac that he’s been working on for over a year now. A big reason that Mac’s passing had such a massive effect on Xan was their similar struggles with substance abuse. Mac’s tragic passing was the result of a drug overdose, and Xan has opened up about how losing so many of his friends (XXXTentacion and Lil Peep along with Mac) to drug-related deaths got him seriously considering getting sober. Circles will drop January 17th, 2020.