Watching Mac Miller with the sound on

FOR A GUY just 21, Mac Miller sure thinks a lot about mortality - as well as oral sex, drugs and rap 'n' roll.

"Retrace my steps back to Biblical times/We're all gonna wind up meeting at the finishing line," he pontificates on one track of his new sophomore set, "Watching Movies With the Sound Off." On another track Miller requests, "When I die throw a couple bad bitches in my casket." And later ponders "Is what I do important in the grand scheme of things?"

The latter, for sure. This rapper's become a star against all odds - recording on a tiny indie label, based in none-so-cool Pittsburgh, pasty white (at least in his un-tatooed territory) ), daring to hint now and again of his half-Jewishness in new tunes like "Avian" and what sounds like a police-raided Klezmer Acid party, "Goosebumpz."

Often times, Miller's abiding by the hard-core rules, bragging about party excesses (though he's now backed off from the worst) and his new found riches, objectifying and demeaning women.

But this loose cannon is also at turns goofily comic (surreal standup comedian Mitch Hedberg is an influence), darkly philosophical or heart-on-his-sleeve emotional - especially when rapping/singing in ballad mode about his long-term but now over teen-years romance.

No wonder Miller gets insulted on the new album by guest rapper Tyler the Creator as the nerd most likely to have been stomped to a pulp by classmates.

But hey, much the same was said about Eminem and even more so about the Beastie Boys - the latter another "definite" inspiration to him, Miller admitted in a recent call from the road

And in these YouTube-ruling days, living outside the law (and the music-industry establishment) can make you not just honest but hip and wealthy. "Making Movies" recently debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard album chart, with more than 100,000 sales, the same week that major label rappers Kanye West and J.Cole came in Nos. 1 and 2. Also nothing to sneeze about, the crowds have been big and enthusiastic, he says, for Miller's "Space Migration" tour, co-starring Philly guy Meek Mill and bringing them to Festival Pier tomorrow.

So what's it feel like to be held up as such a D-I-Y inspiration and success story?

"It's dope," Miller responded. "I'm proving that no matter what type of people you're working with, if you work hard enough you can do it on your own. I think I've been able to move based on my creative vision more than anything else. Things are a lot freer in my world. I record at home. I work with the collaborators I want - but lately more on my own. I answer to no one but myself. When you work with a corporate hierarchy there's more direction from the top, it's more of a business."

So viral he's ill, Miller earned a real bump up in visibility a couple of years back when our Broad Street bullies, the Philadelphia Flyers, adopted his raucous and rude musical noodle "Knock Knock" as their "good luck" victory song. Didn't hurt that HBO Sports chronicled the whole thing on an episode of "24/7: Flyers vs. Rangers Road to the NHL Winter Classic."

"The Flyers asked me to come down and do it live at a game, but I was on tour and we couldn't work out the scheduling," Miller said. "I'd like to think it brought them good luck" - the Flyers eventually gave up on the party anthem after a losing streak - "even though I'll be a Penguins fan until I die."

Speaking of which: How bleak is Miller these days? Is his glass half-empty or half-full? And how's he feeling since very publicly acknowledging his sobering-up efforts?

"It depends on what day you ask me," he said, with laugh. "Today it's half-full. But it's like a break up. You can't just put a positive or a negative on it. It is what it is. It has both aspects. . . . I have a good friend named Thundercat. He's a musician. He told me the smartest advice about substance [abuse] was, as much as people think it adds to the music, to the creative process, there's no way the drugs will be more talented than you are."

And what does he hope people ingest from his densely packed and haunted work? "I just want them to listen with an open mind and decide for themselves. I've definitely got a mission in there, but I'm still figuring it out. I think the mission evolves with you. Right now it's pushing people towards questioning things, looking deeper into things and taking their minds to different places."