Larry Lovestein & The Velvet Revival

An alter ego of rapper Mac Miller, Larry Lovestein & the Velvet Revival debuted in 2012 with the jazzy, lounge-influenced EP You. In 2011, Mac Miller hit the Billboard 200 with his independently produced debut studio album, Blue Slide Park. It introduced fans to his party-centric hip-hop sound, a style he also championed the following year on his mixtape Macadelic. However, that success belied the musical creativity and genre-bending influences that would soon earn the rapper accolades. After abandoning Pink Slime (a collaboration with Pharrell Williams), Miller entered the studio with producer Jon Brion. Rather than rapping, though, he decided to sing, crafting melodic, jazzy songs on the electric piano. Released in 2012, You showcased this smoky, throwback nightclub vibe. It was an early experiment that marked a creative turning point for Miller that he and Brion would further develop on 2018's Grammy-nominated Swimming and 2020's Circles, the latter of which was released posthumously after Miller's tragic death at age 26.
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