Vince Staples remembers Mac Miller: “He gave me advice but also opportunity”

Vince Staples has spoken about the impact late friend and rapper Mac Miller had on his life in a new interview.

• READ MORE: Mac Miller – ‘Circles’ review: posthumous album is a conflicting, tantalising taste of what might have been

Speaking with Peter Rosenberg on Hot 97, Staples reflected on Miller’s legacy, and what the ‘Best Day Ever’ rapper’s early support – from tour co-signs to business advice – meant to him.

“He gave me advice but also opportunity, I would say is the easiest way to put it,” Staples said. “Like, ‘You should be doing more music, but I’m also gonna help you with the beats. And I’m not gonna charge you, and I’m gonna take you on tour, and I’m gonna kind of help you figure out how tour goes, and I’m gonna make sure you don’t have any expenses on tour.’ And that kind of just put me in a good position to be set up.”

Staples also recalled going to Miller’s house and all the relationships he built via those visits. “You can tell that I was really squeezed into it,” he said. “You know, I always appreciated that, him giving me a relationship with [Schoolboy] Q… I met him at his house, I never met him before. I ended up going on tour for Q’s ‘Oxymoron’ album and Q helped me learn about tempos and all that comes from Mac.”

Staples continued: “I met a lot of people at Mac’s house. I met [Ab] Soul at Mac’s house. I met Thundercat at Mac’s house. It’s honestly too many people to name, because everyone was always over there. But his studio was a very interesting place in a sense of who you could run into. Just the relationships he had with other people made it a good environment. I done seen Future at Mac’s house.”

Last year, Staples revealed that Miller refused to take royalties from his 2013 mixtape ‘Stolen Youth’ – which Miller executive produced – and “took me on tour and he didn’t want no publishing”.

Miller was found dead on September 7, 2018, with his death later determined an accidental drug overdose from a combination of fentanyl, cocaine and alcohol.

Stephen Walter, Ryan Michael Reavis and Cameron James Pettit were indicted in 2019 on charges of conspiracy and distribution of drugs resulting in death.

Walter has since agreed to plead guilty to one count of distribution of fentanyl. Reavis also pleaded guilty to the same charge after initially pleading not guilty. According to Rolling Stone, Pettit also reached a plea agreement that has been sealed.

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