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Mac Miller: Lil Wayne Taught Me to Work, Grind and Have Fun

The Most Dope Family star talks reality TV, Iggy Azalea and touring with Weezy.

Mac Miller is one of the busiest artists in hip hop. The Pittsburgh-based rapper is currently the star of his own reality show, MTV2’s Mac Miller and the Most Dope Family, which airs on Wednesday nights (check your local listings). He's released seven studio albums, including last year's Delusional Thomas, and his tenth solo mixtape, Faces, which hit the scene this past spring.

Miller chatted with BET.com about his reality show, discussed touring with Lil Wayne and weighed in on all the drama surrounding Forbes magazine's declaration that Iggy Azalea is running hip hop.

You’re back with a brand new season of Mac Miller and the Most Dope Family. What can audiences expect from Season 2 of your reality show?

They can just expect a lot of fun. The show is just me and my friends traveling the world and doing things that we normally wouldn't do. My friends and I don't have many disagreements. We just all ride or die, that's how we are.

Did you feel pressure to give more access to your life this season as opposed to last season?

It's just not really that kind of show. There's not a lot of the inner personal life stuff in it. That's for me. Things to do with my music career, that's for me, this is just fun. People that are watching know it's a good show. We don't want to have a lot of drama on our series. Would it be awesome to have a show where everyone sees the ups and downs and everything in between? Yeah, but it's also just cool to have a show where it's all about having fun with your friends. I want my show to remind kids to realize that your friends are very important.

Part of this season chronicles your experience as an opening tour act for Lil Wayne. What was that like?

It was amazing. That whole camp was great. I'm a fan first and Wayne and all the mixtape s--t going back, all the dedications before Tha Carter III came out, all the leaks that came out Tha Carter I, Tha Carter II, everything. "Hot Boys," we listened to it all. To get that call [to be Wayne's opening act] was so amazing for me personally. We did great. We got the crowd real live for him. I come from Pittsburgh so I come from performing for people who don't know who you are. So you can't back down from a crowd full of people there to see someone else. You know what your job is and my job was to get the crowd hyped for Lil Wayne and hopefully get some new fans along the way. It was a lot of fun. On the last show we hung out on stage during his entire set and kicked it. It was great. I'm excited for Tha Carter V, just like everyone else.

What lessons did you learn from being on the road with Lil’ Wayne?

The thing I learned from Wayne was figure out what you want to do and do it. Trust yourself, go in and work, work, work and grind. But Wayne still has fun. He’s really enjoying himself. Just seeing him do what he loves to do this deep in the game was inspiring for me. That's what I took from that tour. It was inspiring for me as a 22-year-old who is planning to do this for the rest of my life. I learned to stick to what I love and keep it fun.

You’ve collaborated with many of the hottest rappers in hip hop, who else is on your dream list?

No. 1 on my list is André 3000 until I can finally get to him. I know that's a difficult one. But Aquemini was the first rap album I ever listened to. I got to work with Q-Tip, which was my other one [wish] and that was amazing. I still want to work with Missy [Elliot] very badly. Missy came out and supported me and we talked before, but it's just about getting that right time. There's no one else in hip hop other than Missy who can continually reinvent what she does, continue innovating and stand for something positive.

What do you think about Forbes magazine’s declaration that Iggy Azalea is running hip hop?

I don't know about all that. Iggy is doing well, so it’s good. I think there's definitely a place for everyone. You’ve got to respect the culture at all times and know what your duty is. It's about letting everyone's uniqueness and individuality shine through. It's happening. It's a beautiful thing going on in hip hop right now.

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(Photos from left: Kevin Mazur/BET/Getty Images for BET, Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)

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