Once looked over as nothing more than a comical “frat rapper,” Mac Miller has spent the last several years trying to prove that he has more depth and insight to offer with his music than his infamous “making money and feeling on top of the world” vibe.

After the coveted release of his debut studio album Blue Slide Park and the mixtape I Love Life, Thank You in 2011, Miller began working on another project, the mixtape Macadelic. According to Miller, he had decided to “stop thinking about what kind of music [he] should make and just start saying what [he] wanted to say.” His second studio album, Watching Movies with the Sound Off, further continues his shift to a “new sound” that he began with Macadelic, this time  on a larger platform. Miller has described the album as very introspective and very personal, this serves as a drastic change from how he would have put any of his previous projects into perspective. This initial attempt to immerse his fans into a “new sound” was an essential (yet nevertheless imperfect) step in the right direction, but never wholeheartedly convinced them that this movement inherited a change in which they could continue to be the same fans.

Fast forward to present day and the release of Miller’s highly anticipated third studio album, GO:OD AM (his major-label debut after departing his longtime home, Rostrum Records, for Warner Bros. Records). After a long period of waiting, in which Miller’s fans saw him take on various alter egos, produce countless other projects, and release a prelude mixtape last summer Faces, it is on GO:OD AM that we are able to witness Miller finally surface as the artist he’s always had the potential to be.

One point that immediately stands out as an immense positive of the project is Miller’s choice of guests. From Mac and Ab-Soul’s back-and-forth on “Two Matches,” to the shockingly adept Chief Keef verse on “Cut the Check,” the purpose for each guest’s appearance on a given track is understood and valued immediately. By far the most interesting feature is Yukimi Nagano of Little Dragon, whose intangible vocals on the album-outro “The Festival” fade the album out in serenity.

Beyond this finite selection of features, however, the Pittsburgh rapper is left to fill most of the run time himself, a task at which he manages to do more than accomplish. He contemplates the idea of settling down versus bringing in money on “100 Grandkids,” and ponders happiness in a society consumed by materialism on “Brand Name.” Perhaps his greatest success is on the nearly 8-minute “Perfect Circle/God Speed,” a trippy, introspective track in which Miller finds himself concerned about his drug use, maturity, and hurting his loved ones.

For all the alluding to of Mac’s growth, it’s the album’s downplayed yet nevertheless lavishly layered production that immediately emerges as yet another big step. Whether it’s the soulful sample on “Brand Name” or the sporadic piano of “ROS,” you come to understand each beat’s purpose almost immediately, and are left dazed by the comfort in which each song flows to the next.

The album was co-produced by a number of acclaimed colleagues of Miller, from Tyler, the Creator to Christian Rich, but the majority of the project is handled by Miller’s longtime partners and close acquaintances at ID Labs. It is made evident from the album’s sense of serenity that the two have grown complacent with one another after collaborating on so many projects together through the years. The pairing provides the album a sense of naturalness that makes it an enjoyable and gratifying to listen to.

Mac Miller’s projects have never failed to deliver great beats—the difference on GO:OD AM is that you feel they are finally being used to their full potential. The lyrical and emotional maturity he shows throughout the album truly is exactly what Miller’s fans have been waiting for out of the “new sound,” and it’s this maturity that will ultimately make the project one to be remembered as the moment it all came together for Mac Miller.

“I’ve been having trouble sleeping/Battling these demons/Wondering what’s the thing that keeps me breathing/Is it money, fame, or neither?” he asks listeners on the Miguel-assisted “Weekend,” with a vibe in which he comes off more conscious than ever. Even on the non-mellow tracks, where the Mac of old could verge toward melodramatic, he finds more to deliver than come-to-be-expected, trivial “My girls is hotter & I’m better than you” rhymes. Tracks like “In the Bag” and “When in Rome” manage to eclipse what in the past what would have been renowned as typical frat boy party anthems for Miller. This is just one of many of the resounding signs that the kid who brought us K.I.D.S. has grown up.

While it’s been easy for his doubters to dismiss his work thus far, they’re going to have a much harder time developing cynical opinions in the face of GO:OD AM. For fans who have been with him from the start, the album will present satisfaction in a full-circle moment when their early passion and images of success for him is finally matched with a musical product that cumulates everything he has to offer. It will give them the wholehearted convincing that they’ve been looking for that they can continue to be fans through Miller’s shift to a “new sound.” It can also serve as a first exposure to Miller for those who have long viewed him and his music with any skepticism, annoyance, or derision.

Regardless of one’s feelings on his previous projects,  it’s tough to deny that Miller’s major-label debut flat out delivers. Perhaps he says it best himself on “Time Files”: “You can expect the unexpected/My dreams are manifested from my head into reality/They seem a bit excessive, but I don’t stress it/Two hands to count my blessings.” All in all, it’s safe to say that Miller has given the fans what they were longing for and if GO:OD AM is a sign of things to come, then you can bet no one will be sleeping on Mac Miller and his “new sound.”