GoldLink's Career Went Downhill After Slamming Mac Miller Following His Tragic Death
Published Aug. 18 2021, 1:40 p.m. ET
You may be familiar with rapper GoldLink thanks to his hit song "Crew," which has been a fan favorite since its initial release in 2016 and remains the standout song of his discography. However, the last few years of GoldLink's career have been marred with controversy thanks to some less-than-ideal comments he made about Mac Miller back in 2019 on social media.
So, why exactly have many music fans canceled GoldLink, what was the root cause of the entire situation, and has the artist responded to any of it in the time since? Here's a complete breakdown of all of the known details.
Why was GoldLink canceled? He made some harsh comments about Mac Miller roughly a year after Mac's death.
The tragic death of rapper Mac Miller in 2018 due to an accidental overdose of fentanyl, cocaine, and alcohol practically brought the music world to its knees. Artists ranging from Elton John to Travis Scott paid tribute to the talented Pittsburgh-born wordsmith, and the resounding impact of his loss is something still felt by millions of fans today.
Although the overall response to Mac's death was that of mourning and immense sadness, GoldLink decided to be apparently the only public figure to speak negatively about the star, and nearly a year after his passing at that.
His complaints about Mac on social media led to a mass exodus of fans who supported him previously and even drew criticism from the likes of Anderson .Paak, who frequently worked with the "Circles" creator when he was alive.
The situation has since recaptured the attention of many hip-hop fans online, who took to social media to speak about the situation and its implications nearly two years after GoldLink's initial November 2019 post.
"Remember when Mac Miller died and Goldlink was like 'hey dude :/ heard you died man? that sucks. yo didn’t you kind of steal my album idea tho? man anyways RIP always losing our people too soon,'" wrote one Mac fan in a viral August 2021 tweet.
What did GoldLink say about Mac Miller in his Instagram post? He bashed him for allegedly stealing his album concept.
In GoldLink's November 2019 Instagram post, which is still visible on his page, the rapper decided to take aim at the late rapper for allegedly taking the concept for his album "And After That We Didn’t Talk" and using it on "The Divine Feminine."
"That’s where our problem started. 'Divine Feminine' was an actual blueprint of 'and after that we didn’t talk," GoldLink wrote.
"Your single was called 'Dang!' Ft. Anderson .Paak...you had Souelction support you on the Divine Feminine tour and when I tried to contact you, about anything at all...you never hit me," he added, going on later in the post to say, "Afterwards, we seen each other at Coachella, and you put your head down like an innocent child."
The rapper disabled comments on the post, but that didn't stop his peers from clapping back at him for taking aim at the late rapper over a year after his death.
In a since-deleted post, Anderson .Paak slammed GoldLink for his harsh words about his deceased friend, writing (per Billboard): "@goldlink I would imagine yo weird a-- posted up somewhere just like this when you decided to make that disrespectful, narcissistic, jealous, grossly unnecessary post."
Anderson doubled down on this by reminding GoldLink that he was the only person to speak negatively about Mac in the wake of his death.
He added: "You ain't the first to make an album inspired by a relationship, you ain't the first to make a song featuring Anderson .Paak, but you are the first to disrespect my friend who is no longer here for absolutely no reason and I can't stand for that."
GoldLink has not had a single song chart in the U.S. in the wake of that situation and remains unapologetic for his remarks. During a November 2019 concert after the statement came out, he further discussed the issue, per Hot New Hip Hop.
"The whole post I made about Mac Miller was about love .... It wasn't about stealing. I never used the word copy. I never used the word steal," the rapper reportedly said to a crowd during his concert, later adding: "So I don't give a f--- what nobody say." In January 2020, he shared a video of himself performing "Crew" in Johannesburg, SA, with the caption "Cancelled feels nice."