The Shifting Perception of Wealth, Success, and Legacy: Why “100 Grandkids” is Mac Millers Best song

Hello Mac community, huge fan here. When 100 Grandkids didn’t crack the recent “Mac Miller top 10 songs” series, I was motivated to share why I believe it is the best song in his impressive catalog. In short, it has everything: Mac flexing, introspective Mac, singing Mac, top tier Larry Fisherman production, amazing beat drop that reflects the change in themes, creative lyrics and delivery, nods to hip-hop influence – but most of all it is a song, in my opinion, about defining your legacy. Oh also, it slaps.

The title of the song is a portmantua of $100,000 and grandkids. To most, money and family are central to building an identity and legacy. That is, the “value” you have created and the offspring that inherit your genetics, virtues, interests, etc.

TL;DR: The whole song is a double / triple entendre about the shifting perception of wealth (financial, life experiences, family/community) and ultimately Mac maturation past his early financial goals.

Now to the song!

Intro (0:00 - 0:10) A sonic awakening – like the THX deep note before a movie or the royal fanfare music before the entrance of a king. The horns crescendo quickly and let you know something amazing is about to happen. That thing:

"A Revolution" (0:10 – 0:30) Mac starts to harmonize, exploring his signing voice, over the adlibs - an evolution of his rap sound.

Chorus (0:30 – 0:50) Mac shares an intimate promise made to his mother: to give her grandkids. Or rather to “bless” her with them, fitting his God status motif in the song. His current lifestyle, however, is “all day” so the promise goes unfulfilled. Additionally, he knows his mother will “spoil” the grandkids. I imagine spoil with love, since they would likely have a financially privileged upbringing.

“I’m a God give the whole squad a job, get ‘em all paid.” Mac’s goals are now evolving from personal wealth to providing for a community.

“Came a long way from all-state, yeah, now we all American.” Where he once dreamed of being the best in his state, now he believes he and his followers are the best in the country, what’s next – the world? But as his reputation grows, he also becomes a bigger target; “salute me, shoot me down” an allusion to a political assassination.

Flexing Mac verse (0:50 – 1:32) Mac spits some bars that demonstrate the extent of his powers. His charisma, persistence, and intelligence allow him to sell things, ideas, and drugs to people who don’t really need them. It is his stories, influence, and following that make people want to be in his circle. He almost sounds bored – like I am so good, the stuff that seems impossible is just trivial for me. But being a leader is stressful and Mac turns to drugs to ease his mind and allow him to enjoy his life experiences. Another evolution from “Money will solve all my problems” to “Now my problems are different; I need something to help me enjoy my life experiences.”

Hip hop reference – “keep some dead faces in my pocket” – frequent rap reference to dead presidents (Nas), which alludes to dollars with various deceased presidents (and Benjamin Franklin!).

“Getting faded, I’ve been stoned all week, but what’s a God without an OD, just a G.” One of my favorite lines – Mac addictions are well documented, and this line demonstrates the inner turmoil. Drugs enhance his life experience and relieve the stress. But as his following expands, he feels the need to push the boundaries, otherwise he’s just a run of the mill gangster rapper.

“Why you worried about me, stop tripping I’m fine.” Despite his confidence, he has people telling him he needs to get control because an OD could end the party abruptly and most relevantly, prevent Mac from delivering his promise to his mother. He brushes it off as people being too sensitive, but acknowledges:

“I got a problem, I’ma take care of it, wait/weight I’m carrying gotta let it go” – double entendre of his addiction and arrogance – he knows he needs to act better and get the weight off his shoulder, but he also has a stash of drugs and he needs to get rid of to prevent the temptation so “it won’t hold him down no more.”

Back to the chorus (1:32 – 1:52)

Bridge (1:53 – 2:14): “We ain’t going nowhere, we can’t be stopped now…” because this a revolution! What the powers that be may have viewed as something insignificant, is now growing – there is a following of family, friends, and fans that believe in Mac as a transcendent artist. Also, a homage to the Bad Boys soundtrack and an artist I’ll pass on mentioning.

Reflective Mac (2:14 – 2:34) He begins reminiscing on his early days when the thought of $100k was life changing. In his mind, this was the line that defined true wealth and if he could achieve that, his dreams would come true.

Back to Reality (2:35-2:50): I love this transition; it feels like that moment in tv shows or movies where someone is going / coming out of a dream sequence and there is the wavy special effect. You have some women harmonizing, likely the women surrounding him in his $100k dream or the women in his following.

BEAT DROP (2:55). Literally amazing. And thus begins Mac’s deep introspection. The song gets darker, tonally and lyrically. He realizes that achieving his $100k goal probably fed his arrogance “thought I was the shit… thought I was a king… couldn’t tell me nothing (reference to Kanye’s “Can’t Tell Me Nothing”)”. I love the last line of that stanza – a sobering “back when I made $100 grand… I made $100 grand.” He made it to the top of that mountain, only to realize that it was not fulfilling and there are way more immense mountains out there. Life is about the journey, not the destination, and certainly with financial wealth there is always more money, more things, more experiences you can chase after – to the point of never being satisfied.

Final Verse (3:15-3:55) Mac pivots between flexing and sharing his knowledge. Back then they called him little Mac (i.e. fuck you to you know who) but now “He’s riding something clean wrapped in a coat made of armadillo.” More specifically a $120k Mercedez G-wagon. Similarly, he has “100 g’s in his jeans, he’s a genius.” Where he once thought $100k was life changing money, he now drops more than that on a single car or keeps that amount as pocket money. Another read of the latter line is “100 g’s in my genes, I’m a genus” i.e. that he has 100 gangsta kids in his genetics and his proliferation will be so crazy, it will be worthy of taxonomic categorization (sublevel below family).

Through Mac’s reflection on success, he realizes his opulent lifestyle is filled with vices and guilt. He then begins to offer advice built upon his wealth of experiences - he’s the plug (“the dealer”) of knowledge. If you are getting schooled, work hard but sometimes it makes sense to change your approach. Find an exceptional girl, one that can perform even under extraordinary circumstances. Make your money before you start racking up debt. No matter the waves / challenges of life, you gotta keep a level head and just keep swimming. All the money in the world is pointless without purpose: Being the best for yourself, your family and your community. And no matter what you plan for, life will throw you curveballs along the way.

Sadly Mac’s untimely passing means the promise to his mother was broken. Or was it? After all, through Macs music, the fans continue to learn from him, spread love and happiness, and carry on his legacy. That’s right, YOU are the people he has passed his wisdom, values, and love down to. You are his mother's grandkids. Time is the ultimate equalizer. Time flies, so appreciate every moment.