{"id":931976,"date":"2026-10-13T22:24:16","date_gmt":"2026-10-13T22:24:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/931976\/"},"modified":"2026-10-13T22:24:16","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T22:24:16","slug":"mac-millers-cinderella-collaborators-reflect-on-its-resurgence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/931976\/","title":{"rendered":"Mac Miller’s “Cinderella”: Collaborators Reflect on Its Resurgence"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\t\u201cI think a lot of times people just want to be cool, and to be in love is not cool. But I think it\u2019s the coolest,\u201d Mac Miller<\/a> told Vogue<\/a> over shots of espresso in 2016. \u201cI think love is the coolest thing that there is.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tExplore\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

See latest videos, charts and news<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Divine Feminine \u2014 which debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200<\/a> \u2014 turned 10 in September and returned to the Billboard 200\u2019s<\/a> top 10 this week. The seminal album played an integral role in Miller\u2019s artistic evolution from frat rapper to boundless musician, and saw the Pittsburgh native take a dreamy exploration into the complexities of love, intimacy and the \u201cfeminine energy of the planet,\u201d as he put it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tEight years after his tragic passing from an accidental drug overdose at the much-too-early age of 26, Mac Miller\u2019s catalog is more relevant than ever. He posthumously dominated the summer behind a scorching commercial resurgence from The Divine Feminine\u2018s \u201cCinderella,\u201d which became Miller\u2019s second highest-charting single as a lead artist, reaching No. 25 on the Billboard Hot 100<\/a> in July.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI felt like that was Mac talking from heaven, man,\u201d Ty Dolla $ign,<\/a> who delivers a lovestruck hook on \u201cCinderella,\u201d his first official collaboration with Mac Miller, tells Billboard. \u201cI felt like he was speaking down to us like, \u2018I\u2019m not done yet.\u2019 It\u2019s like Mariah Carey: every Christmas her song comes back, we having one of those moments.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tFalling hard for Ariana Grande <\/a>fueled Mac\u2019s eight-minute sultry expedition, which took form in early 2016 when Dahi sent a Sunni Colon guitar loop to the Pittsburgh rapper.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tDahi played the bassline with production from Aja Grant to complete the beautifully intoxicating instrumental and Mac got to writing a steamy diary entry about the girl of his dreams, pushing back against rap\u2019s stereotypical machismo.<\/p>\n

\n\tRecorded at EastWest Studios in L.A. and Encore Studios in Burbank, Calif., Mac showed off his raspy singing voice while playing an early version for Ty Dolla $ign, who he wanted to sprinkle his hook magic. \u201cI remember being nervous while doing it,\u201d Ty recalls. Mac wasn\u2019t present while he laid down vocals to an extensive chorus, painting a steamy picture of the lead-up to a euphoric night with a woman he\u2019s had his sights set on.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cYou think about format \u2014\u00a0like, is this gonna play on the radio?\u201d Dahi remembers debates about cutting parts of Ty\u2019s chorus to make the unconventional love song more digestible. \u201cIn my head, it\u2019s like, \u2018Maybe we should cut it\u2019 \u2014 but you\u2019re cutting half of what he said, so everyone was like, \u2018Let\u2019s just keep it.\u2019 I loved it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tDahi adds: \u201cThat was Mac\u2019s favorite song on the album. He was like, \u2018Oh, this is really special.\u2019 It\u2019s a little bittersweet because he\u2019s not here to see the fruits of what he did.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tUsing love as a muse for creativity wasn\u2019t foreign to Mac. He\u2019s shown a penchant for lush arrangements and exploring the intricacies of romance earlier in his career on tracks like 2013\u2019s Watching Movies With the Sound Off cuts \u201cYouforia\u201d and \u201cSomeone Like You.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Pittsburgh native turned the page on his high school sweetheart Nomi Leasure and entered new dating territory, a relationship with Ariana Grande, which started to percolate in early 2016. The spotlight surrounding Mac\u2019s love life intensified, as his relationship piqued the interest of TMZ and other tabloids, along with the watchful eyes of millions of Arianators.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI assumed it was [about Ariana],\u201d Dahi said of \u201cCinderella.\u201d \u201cNot so much he was her muse, but when he\u2019d write a song it was very current to what he was going through at the time. I don\u2019t think she came to the studio. Sometimes he\u2019d talk to her on the phone.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tLyrics like, \u201cI know you got expensive taste\u201d made more sense when connected to the pop star. Mac Miller and Grande dated for about two years before splitting in May 2018. Later in the same month, in the pop star\u2019s response to critics following Mac\u2019s DUI arrest, Grande confirmed on X (formerly Twitter) that she was the subject of \u201cCinderella,\u201d<\/a> but not any other TDF tracks.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tFast-forward to May 2026, \u201cCinderella\u201d experienced a seismic explosion, surging onto the Hot 100<\/a> thanks to a viral TikTok trend, which introduced The Divine Feminine track to a new generation of listeners.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tMillions of Gen-Z and Millennial TikTok users made videos soundtracked by \u201cCinderella\u201d highlighting a fairytale romance with their current partner, while others basked in the honeymoon phase and nostalgia of a previous relationship with throwback photos and heartwarming clips.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tVideos would start with Mac\u2019s vocals from the end of his second verse, \u201cI yell your name, Cinderella\/ Never gonna find nobody better, all my life,\u201d leading into Ty\u2019s lust-filled chorus, \u201cI been waitin\u2019 all night for this moment\/ I been waitin\u2019 all year for this moment.\u201d Others turned \u201cCinderella\u201d into a verb,<\/a> captioning clips with versions of, \u201cI\u2019m so cinderella by Mac Miller about you.\u201d As of late June, over 13 million videos<\/a> were made using \u201cCinderella\u201d on the platform.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI used to hear people saying, \u2018TikTok is the way, if it blows up on TikTok, it\u2019s gonna blow up.\u2019 Me being from my age group, I\u2019m from the old way of music so I\u2019m gonna wait to see if it really matters,\u201d Dolla $ign says. \u201cI can definitely see it now and I\u2019ll sign my name on the contract that TikTok matters. It\u2019s one of the resources you can use to take your record to the next level.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tNow why exactly did \u201cCinderella\u201d blow up a decade later? That could be attributed to a multitude of factors. There\u2019s been an appetite for 2016 nostalgia \u2014 a modern-age golden year in the zeitgeist \u2014 from hip-hop fans, as artists who dominated the era like Fetty Wap have seen a viral resurgence. Fetty\u2019s \u201cAgain\u201d returned to the Hot 100 <\/a>at No. 41 in February 2025. In the modern age of music discovery, forgotten songs hitting the charts has become more commonplace, as tracks like Rihanna\u2019s \u201cBreakin\u2019 Dishes\u201d (2007) and Radiohead\u2019s \u201cLet Down\u201d (1997) debuted on the Hot 100<\/a> last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tMac\u2019s catalog is being streamed more now than when he was alive, as he boasts nearly 44 million monthly listeners on Spotify, the highest that total has ever been. Music\u2019s mainstream is also currently less hospitable to hip-hop than its been in years past, leaving real estate up for grabs (Drake is the only rapper to post a top 10 Hot 100<\/a> hit as a lead artist in 2026).\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tAs of Oct. 1, \u201cCinderella\u201d has accumulated 495.5 million official on-demand streams in the U.S. Of that total, 237.1 million streams occurred in 2026 alone. \u201cCinderella\u201d invaded the chart at No. 60 in mid-May and peaked at No. 25 in July. The track has continued to remain in the Hot 100\u2019s <\/a>top 50 in its 22 weeks on the chart. It\u2019s also been climbing the Rhythmic Airplay <\/a>chart, where \u201cCinderella\u201d cracked the top 10 (No. 9) and is still gaining steam.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s a little bittersweet because he\u2019s\u2019 not here to see the fruits of what he did,\u201d Dahi states. \u201cThat\u2019s the power of art. Instant gratification isn\u2019t what we should be going for most of the time. You have to let s\u2013t bake and the marathon [is where] you get to see how impactful it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAlong with the song\u2019s reemergence, the \u201cCinderella\u201d music video is on the receiving end of a second wind. Directed by Bo Mirhosseni, the 2017 visual now has over 27 million views.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI know a lot of people that have worked with him say this, but one of the best dudes I\u2019ve worked with just, like, not only was extremely professional on set and everything, but just down to experiment and do weird s\u2013t,\u201d says Mirhosseni.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t Bo Mirhosseni<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cCinderella\u201d marked Mirhosseni\u2019s first time working with Mac, as their relationship blossomed during an initial meet-up at the rapper\u2019s house to discuss his vision for the hazy visual. Mirhosseni recalls being shocked at Mac\u2019s deeper understanding of filmmaking as the director pitched him cinephile references like David Fincher\u2019s mystery thriller The Game and Wong Kar-Wai\u2019s 2000 film In the Mood for Love.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cHe never got like into like you know celeb mode,\u201d Mirhosseni says of Mac, adding that even when the budget ran out, the rapper came out of pocket to fund the rest of the visual. \u201cHe was committed 100 percent. He loved all my ideas, which is I was like, \u2018All right, you\u2019re allowed to say no.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tShot throughout one night in March 2017 at an East L.A. studio, Mac and Mirhosseni joined forces for a 12-minute, multi-part odyssey that depicts the rapper in a hallucinatory dream on the never-ending pursuit of an angel within his grasp, but one he can\u2019t fully reel in.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t Bo Mirhosseni<\/p>\n

\n\tMac Miller\u2019s family has been extremely judicious and delicate with the rapper\u2019s legacy. The estate tastefully released a 10th anniversary edition<\/a> of The Divine Feminine on Oct. 2, featuring three new tracks (\u201cButterflies,\u201d \u201cGrand\u201d and \u201cChannel 13\u201d), which were recorded during sessions for TDF. The reissue resulted in the album vaulting from No. 159 up to No. 10 on this week\u2019s Billboard 200. <\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tWith fans\u2019 renewed interest in \u201cCinderella,\u201d Ty Dolla $ign has been closing his shows<\/a> with the 2016 Mac Miller collaboration while performing on Bryson Tiller\u2019s The Neo Trapsoul Tour. But for Dolla $ign, time hasn\u2019t healed the wound left by his close friend\u2019s early departure.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cEvery time I\u2019ve performed it the last four or five times, it folds me inside. Mac was one of my good boys,\u201d Dolla $ign, who met Mac through Wiz Khalifa<\/a> in the early 2010s, explains. \u201cHe really cared about the same s\u2013t I cared about. He was really about love, the music and taking it further than rapping.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThe 44-year-old candidly continues: \u201cWhen [Mac] did pass, and we did the first concert at the Greek Theatre, that was the first time my daughter saw me cry. It folded me that day, and it folded me on Tiny Desk, and now every time it\u2019s the one song I do and the crowd is going up, and I\u2019m shedding tears and s\u2013t. That\u2019s the one death out of all of the deaths, including family members and best friends. That s\u2013t just f\u2013ks me up.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t Bo Mirhosseni<\/p>\n