SXSW: Don't Get It Twisted - Mac Miller Is The Hip-Hop Story Down Here

Odd Future rolled into this gauntlet as the front-runner in terms of hip-hop buzz (both inside and outside of the rap community). And after a slew of riotous onslaughts, they'll leave that way (here for Phoenix coverage of the pandemonium at Fader Fort). But Mac Miller is without-a-doubt the other nu-rap big to break huge down here, easily graduating from the mid-sized venues he's been playing nationwide to halls and theaters on momentum caught in Austin.

In his Fader Fort show, Miller rocked like a seasoned tour devil, demonstrating breath control on par with greats like Qwel or Apathy, but with added animated antics (and tons of weed references) for his frantic fans. Killing shows like this, Miller's sure to have some real longevity in this game: if he can win over jocks, delinquents, co-eds and nostalgic rap geeks like me, then he's accomplished a task that seemed impossible until now.

It was just a year ago that Boston's own Sam Adams put so-called frat rap on the map for real, effectively scaring heads who were concerned about authenticity and blah blah blah. In what seems like no time at all, Miller has already muddied-up that cookie-cuter sub-genre, and no doubt upset the plans of major labels that retained the services of every whiteboy with an attitude and a diploma. Sometimes it's not what you rap about that matters, but how you do it (and, more importantly, how well you do it live). This week in Austin, Miller passed those tests and then some.