In late May, a previously unreleased Mac Miller track wrongly labeled as “Benji the Dog” surfaced online. Today, producer 88-Keys officially released the song, which is actually named “That’s Life.” The soulful track features singer-songwriter Sia and is built around a sample of Valerie Simpson’s “Benjie.”
On the track, Mac remembers being kicked out by his mother:
Man, man, I swear it’s what I dream about
Ever since my mom told me that she need me out
Always smoking weed, ‘causing trouble, never clean the house
But I paid her back for everything; I guess we even now
Later on, he acknowledges that life is always going to be a struggle:
So hard to stay sober when you feeling fucked over so much
Always coming up short, you like the roach of a blunt (Yeah)
And I could never sleep at night
Fuck paying bills, I need a brand new lease on life
Why does doing wrong always feel so right?
Well, I guess, fuck it, that’s life
The opening vocals and instrumental from “Benjie” are sampled throughout “That’s Life.” The track is taken from Simpson’s self-titled 1972 solo album.
88-Keys sat down with DJ Booth for an interview about how “That’s Life” was made. The New York producer revealed that the track was recorded in February 2015, while Mac was working on his third studio album, GO:OD AM.
During their recording session, Mac opened up about some relationship issues with his longtime girlfriend, which then turned into a conversation about Kanye West. 88-Keys shared some stories about being around Kanye for The College Dropout, which prompted him to pull up a beat that would’ve fit in that era:
[Mac] was pretty fascinated by little tidbits and stories, behind-the-scenes stuff I was telling him about College Dropout. So he was fanning out. That’s when I realized how much of a Kanye fan he was… The very first beat I pulled up was a beat that I had called ‘Benji The Dog,’ and I played it for him, and he just kinda lost it. He just went crazy. He started writing. Once he started recording, it was ‘Oh, he definitely felt the conversation that we just had.’
According to 88-Keys, “That’s Life” was “officially approved by Mac’s family and estate.” Last week, Mac made his first posthumous appearance on “Time” by frequent Anderson .Paak collaborators The Free Nationals.
Listen to the song above, and read all the lyrics to 88-Keys' “That’s Life” featuring Mac Miller & Sia on Genius now.
