Delaware

Delaware artist creates viral Mac Miller ‘Balloonerism’ album cover

Published

10 months ago

March 16, 2025

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Delaware artist creates viral Mac Miller ‘Balloonerism’ album cover

Delaware artist explains abstract album cover for Mac Miller’s ‘Balloonerism’
Mac Miller fans around the world have recreated Delaware artist’s ‘Balloonerism’ album art
‘Balloonerism’ has topped multiple Billboard album charts

Whenever someone looks at the surreal album cover of late rapper Mac Miller’s “Balloonerism,” they’re also soaking in the creative genius of Delaware’s own Alim Smith.

Smith, also known as Yesterday Nite, is the visual artist behind the mesmerizing album art, which portrays Mac Miller with a Picasso-style face and a massive balloon head held by a shadowy figure. The posthumous album – which features R&B singer SZA, an alum of Delaware State University – dropped in January.

Not only has “Balloonerism” soared to No. 1 across multiple Billboard album charts, the album art has sparked Mac fans around the world to create their own works of art inspired by Smith’s abstract album cover.

Alim Smith praised for Mac Miller ‘Balloonerism’ cover

Instagram artist Johnny Grieco, for example, caught Smith’s attention with an IG post that featured the “Balloonerism” cover as a backboard on a real basketball hoop.

“This is soooooooo hard,” Smith raved in the comment section of Grieco’s post.

“Coming from the man himself!?” a humbled Grieco said to the Small Wonder artist, before adding: “You killed this artwork bro.”

Smith has delighted countless fans with his “Balloonerism” artwork. Lately he’s been getting a taste of his own trippy medicine, thanks to the relentless waves of fan art inspired by his work splashing him in the face.

But it hasn’t been easy for Smith to keep his head in the clouds. By the time he graduated from Cab Calloway School of the Arts in 2008, he was diagnosed with epilepsy and his mom lost her job, discouraging him from further pursuing his art education. But Smith was determined to thrive and continued to grow through networking and showings in Wilmington, Philly, New York and Florida from 2015-2017, one year before Mac Miller would reach out to him for artwork on Instagram.

“It’s very surreal, for one. Two, it’s very validating because I’ve been doing art since I was a kid. But I didn’t start taking it serious until I was like 25,” Smith, of Wilmington, told Delaware Online/The News Journal.

Smith, now 34, said it was about a decade ago when an ambitious idea entered his mind: “Around 35, I’ll be recognized more.”

Mac Miller loved Alim Smith’s abstract art style: ‘Need this’

Smith caught Mac Miller’s attention on Instagram on Aug. 16, 2018, with an abstract piece of art he posted of himself reimagined as a child.

That painting was an IG repost (from March 21, 2016) of a self-portrait Smith created of his childhood days in Wilmington, an image that looked similar to the cover that Smith would eventually create for “Balloonerism.” In the self-portrait, Smith created himself as a balloon wearing glasses. But looming above him was a giant hand clutching a metal pin, ready to pop the balloon.

Mac Miller commented on the IG post, “Need this.” Smith said Mac sent him a DM on Instagram and the two ended up talking on the phone.

Alim Smith dives into ‘Swimming’ artwork for Mac Miller

Smith said Mac initially wanted him to create artwork in support of “Swimming,” an album the rapper dropped just a few days before he commented on the self-portrait.

“He was talking about how we’re always swimming through life and navigating the tides and the waves and the crashing,” Smith said about Mac Miller.

The painter mentioned the Pittsburgh rapper sent him reference pictures of him sitting in front of his door.

Smith first tried to Photoshop things into the image to make it look like the rapper was underwater. But Smith’s pieces didn’t seem to fit Mac’s vision for “Swimming.”

The painter also said Mac was really chill, and “I don’t know if he had a clear expectation” of what he wanted Smith to create for the “Swimming” project.

“He didn’t like the direction of the sh– I was doing. So, he was like, ‘Just make me a self-portrait like yours, but just with me,’” Smith explained.

Mac Miller ‘Balloonerism’ album cover explained

The inspiration behind Smith’s self-portrait came from a school picture when the visual artist was a student at Shortlidge Elementary School in Wilmington. Smith posed in the photo wearing glasses and a deadpan look on his face.

“I needed to capture how awkward that phase is in life like when you’re not a teenager yet, but you’re still not a kid no more. You have two big teeth, and your body just looks wrong, proportion-wise,” Smith explained. “I just wanted to capture that vibe.”

Flora Smith, the painter’s mom, said her son wasn’t crazy about posing for photos as a child, and that’s carried over to adulthood.

“That [school] picture was a picture of him and how he felt his face would look if he could make the different pieces of his face move around, because he hated taking pictures,” the mom explained. “He’s an introvert, but he’s an extrovert with his art.”

When Alim Smith learned about death of Mac Miller

Weeks after Mac graced Smith’s Instagram page, Smith was doing an art show at Gallery 102 in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 7, 2018. But he said something didn’t seem right.

“I was feeling so weird all day. I didn’t know why,” Smith recalled. “I experienced a lot of death in life and I feel like sometimes before I get the news, I’m just feeling weird.”

The feeling intensified at the art show when Smith learned Mac had died. The rapper died at age 26 from an accidental drug overdose.

A day after Mac died, Smith wrote an emotional tribute on Instagram and shared a painting of the “Balloonerism” cover, which featured crease marks on it because he had folded it up, Smith’s mom said.

The painter said Mac was a down-to-earth person, despite being famous, which was evident whenever they talked on the phone.

“He was cool as hell. He was one of the only celebrity people that hit me up [at the time],” Smith explained. “We just chatted on the phone about basketball. We were chatting and sh–. He was cool.”

What did Mac Miller think of the ‘Balloonerism’ album cover?

Mac never got a chance to see the final version of his “Balloonerism” cover. But the rapper did get to see drafts and “he loved it,” Smith said.

Fans bootleg Mac Miller ‘Balloonerism’ with Alim Smith album art

During the pandemic, bootlegs of “Balloonerism” were floating around. Mac’s fans took Smith’s unpolished cover painting and were selling fake vinyls and cassettes of the album, he said.

The visual artist’s mom said fans also used words from his IG tribute to Mac and printed them onto fake albums and T-shirts. The mom said she sensed something “crazy” was brewing with how passionately Mac’s fans were spreading her son’s unpolished “Balloonerism” artwork.

“I said, ‘This is crazy.’ It’s growing like wildfire,” the mom recalled.

Smith said the movement was so out of control that Warner Records was pressured into using his artwork for the official release of “Balloonerism.”

“That’s why Warner [Records] had to reach out to me, because the fans kind of already made it a thing,” he explained.

After “Balloonerism” officially dropped, Smith was surprised to see even more fan art and publicity surrounding his album art.

“Once it came out again, it was like the same exact process, but on steroids, because now the images are on billboards and it’s everywhere,” he said.

‘Balloonerism’ floats, despite Mac Miller tragedy

Although Mac Miller died before “Balloonerism” officially dropped, Smith said it feels like the rapper has still been along for the ride.

Smith said at one point he was working on official artwork for Starz’s drama “Empire,” but it got derailed after cast member Jussie Smollett staged a hate-crime hoax, Smith said.

“I had a project I was doing …. for the show ‘Empire,’ but then Jussie Smollett got into his situation, so they had to nix it,” Smith explained. “Then I was doing things for Mac Miller, and then he passed.”

Two of Smith’s major projects became deflated. But “Balloonerism” would eventually rise, taking Smith’s recognition to another level. The visual artist said it’s like the late Mac Miller is still involved with the project and is celebrating the album’s success with him.

“For it to come around so full circle, it feels like he still is a part of it,” Smith said about Mac. “And to know that he at least seen [the ‘Balloonerism’ art] and was fu—– with it before he passed, I feel good about that.”

Smith is also more recognized than he’s ever been, all before celebrating his 35th birthday on Monday, March 24.

“At 34, to make an album cover and thousands of artists are painting their own interpretation, stealing it, putting it on tattoos, doing all kinds of sh–, that’s very validating,” Smith said.

If you have an interesting story idea, email lifestyle reporter Andre Lamar at alamar@gannett.com. Consider signing up for his weekly newsletter, DO Delaware, at delawareonline.com/newsletters.

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Delaware

How DE delegation is responding to US military action in Venezuela

Published

6 hours ago

January 3, 2026

Press Room

How DE delegation is responding to US military action in Venezuela

Delaware’s congressional delegation condemned the overnight military strikes in Venezuela, which resulted in the capture of the country’s leader, Nicolás Maduro, on Jan. 3.

Following the capture of Venezuela’s president and his wife, President Donald Trump told reporters the U.S. would “run” Venezuela.

Trump didn’t rule out having the military contribute to running the country, but said U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will run the country alongside Venezuelan leaders, USA TODAY reported.

Rubio said the administration did not notify members of Congress about the strike ahead of time.

Trump stated Maduro and his wife will be taken to New York to face charges of drug trafficking in an indictment.

Delaware’s congressional delegation, all Democrats, expressed criticism of the Trump administration’s actions and questioned the legal authority to intervene without congressional approval.

U.S. Sen. Chris Coons, a member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, called the military action “incoherent” and an “illegal” operation in a statement on Jan. 3, criticizing the Trump administration for not notifying members of Congress until after the strike had concluded.

“The Trump administration owes our country transparency and a clear strategy,” Coons said in the statement. “The administration must promptly brief Congress on its plan to ensure stability in Venezuela and the region, its legal basis for this action, and its plans for any further use of military force. Our Constitution requires the administration to seek congressional approval, in the form of an Authorization for the Use of Military Force, before they take any further action to commit U.S. troops or take military strikes against Venezuela.”

U.S. Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester said in a statement on social media that the president carried out the operation without congressional approval because he knew Congress wouldn’t approve it.

“If this continues, nothing stops him from sending American troops around the world to carry out his own reckless foreign policy decisions, which thus far have already negatively impacted our standing on the global stage and continue to erode further the separation of powers enshrined in our Constitution,” Blunt Rochester said in the statement.

“The administration must immediately brief Congress on its legal justification for this decision and its plan going forward,” Blunt Rochester added. “Congress must take action on Senator Kaine’s bipartisan war powers resolution to prevent further escalation.”

In a statement on X, U.S. Rep. Sarah McBride said the Trump administration routinely ignores the Constitution and misleads Congress.

“I have fidelity to our Constitution even if I do not have sympathy for Nicolás Maduro,” McBride stated.

McBride criticized the actions. “At a minimum, these individual actions legally and substantively demand Congressional action and public consultation,” she said on X. “But collectively, the military operations we have seen in the Caribbean, the Pacific, and, now, on land in Venezuela, present a significant escalation of unilateral action that betrays a larger goal by this administration. Beyond arguments for or against any individual action, the Trump Administration is clearly seeking to remake the global order in a way that will, ultimately, benefit authoritarians and adversaries.”

“Our values and principles as a nation matter most when we have seemingly altruistic reasons to violate them. I oppose a ‘might makes right in my neighborhood’ foreign policy. It is amoral, illegal, dangerous, and lays the foundation for bad actors like Russia and China,” she added.

Coons added in his statements that the president lacks a clear plan for what comes next for Venezuela.

“This raid risks creating more instability in the region, putting U.S. service members and civilians in the hemisphere at risk, and dividing us further from our regional partners,” he said.

Sophia Voight is a growth and development reporter. Reach her with feedback and story tips at svoight@delawareonline.com.

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Health care changes and other new Delaware laws taking effect in 2026

Published

6 days ago

December 29, 2025

Press Room

Health care changes and other new Delaware laws taking effect in 2026

The countdown to 2026 begins.

Several new Delaware laws, including health care initiatives and public utility protections, are slated to go into effect in the new year.

Here’s a look at what goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2026 – alongside other new changes Delawareans should expect in the year ahead.

Medical aid in dying law soon to take effect

This legislation had been long in the making.

Signed into law by Gov. Matt Meyer earlier this spring, the Ron Silverio/Heather Block End of Life Options Law will allow terminally ill patients who have six months or fewer to live access to medication that will “end the individual’s life in a humane and dignified manner,” according to the law’s text.

The legislation also has several guardrails in place.

Qualified patients must be “adult” residents of the First State and have at most six months to live – a prognosis that must be confirmed by an attending doctor or an advanced practice registered nurse and a consulting doctor or nurse.

Practitioners must also present eligible patients with the opportunity to rescind their request for medication before writing a prescription and inform them of other end-of-life options available, including hospice and palliative care.

The law is set to go into effect either when regulations are finalized and published or on Jan. 1, 2026, whichever happens first.

As of Dec. 8, a federal lawsuit filed by a coalition of disability and patient advocacy organizations hopes to block the law. Plaintiffs argue that such a change could “single out” individuals with disabilities and other vulnerable communities and put them at risk for untimely death, instead of necessary care.

As written, the law does not allow individuals to qualify for the life-ending medication due to age or disability.

Paid family medical leave coming online

Paid family and medical leave is also making its way to Delaware next year.

First signed into law back in 2022, the Healthy Delaware Families Act provides First State employees 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave through a designated state trust fund.

This initiative specifically applies to life events, like caring for and bonding with a new child; taking care of a parent, child or partner “with a serious health condition”; or addressing one’s own serious injury or illness.

Employees can begin to submit claim applications starting Jan. 1, 2026. More information can be found on the state Labor Department website.

Delaware seeks public utilities payer relief

Delawareans are also set to see some potential accountability from public utilities.

This and other efforts followed sudden spikes in energy bills across Delaware last winter, a topic that became a chief concern among lawmakers last session.

Backed by Sen. Stephanie Hansen, another law coming into effect adjusts the standards for what costs can be included in “a utility’s rate base” and presented to the Public Service Commission.

This means the commission would have the power to reject certain costs or expenses put on ratepayers, which could lead to less impactful or frequent increases.

Special enrollment period for Medicare

Back in health care, one bill that establishes a “special open enrollment period” for residents currently enrolled in a Medicare supplement policy will also take effect at the top of the calendar.

This gives Delawareans the opportunity to cancel their current policy and purchase another “that provides the same or lesser benefits,” according to the law’s description. That window begins roughly a month before an eligible individual’s birthday and will stay open for no less than a month afterward.

This change would only apply to those enrolled in a supplement policy under Medicare.

As written, anyone switching from one plan to another during this period “cannot be denied coverage,” nor can rates or coverage be determined by one’s medical history.

Offshore wind set to fly

Delawareans will also see an effort related to one of last session’s most controversial bills take effect later this month.

Also backed by Hansen, the bill overturns Sussex County Council’s rejection of a permit needed for US Wind to build a substation critical to plans to erect more than 100 wind turbines off the Delmarva coast.

Several Republicans fought against the bill’s passage. Many argued that bringing this decision to the hands of state government would strip local leaders of autonomy over what happens in their county, while some pushed for the courts to make the final decision.

State GOP members even spent the last night of session holding up necessary support for Delaware’s billion-dollar bond bill, which helps fund several projects, renovations and improvements across the state.

However, after a few hours of deliberation, lawmakers were able to reach a compromise. And the offshore wind legislation will go into effect Jan. 31, 2026.

And it didn’t end there. A state Superior Court judge ruled in early December to pause US Winds’ challenge in light of this new effective date.

“This is the result we wanted,” Hansen said in a statement following the decision, adding this marks “a key step in our efforts to increase Delaware’s energy supply and ensure energy reliability for all ratepayers in our state.”

What other bills will go into effect in 2026?

Another once-Senate bill aiming to expand the criteria for those incarcerated to petition for early release based on serious illness or rehabilitation – also known as the Richard “Mouse” Smith Compassionate Release Act – will go into effect on Jan. 10.

Another law providing First State tenants “new protections” by allowing specific eviction records to be restricted from public view will also come online Jan. 29.

Two additional health-centered bills signed by Meyer earlier this year will take effect this coming July. One creates a breastfeeding and lactation program for individuals in custody of the Delaware Department of Correction, while the other helps provide equipment and telecommunications assistance to Delawareans who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Joining them is a law to bar public and charter schools from selling or serving food containing the synthetic food dye Red No. 40, which is set to be implemented same month.

The wait will also soon be over for those longing to have wine shipped right to their doors, as a bill allowing wine producers to obtain a license and ship wine directly to Delawareans will go into effect in August 2026.

Olivia Montes covers state government and community impact for Delaware Online/The News Journal. If you have a tip or a story idea, reach out to her at omontes@delawareonline.com.

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State legislators target deals with Delaware’s only commercial airline

Published

6 days ago

December 28, 2025

Press Room

State legislators target deals with Delaware’s only commercial airline

Delaware’s only commercial airline continues to find itself in hot water with elected officials, and not because of any flights from Wilmington.

Members of the state Senate have introduced a resolution calling for more scrutiny over contracts and incentives with companies that work with ICE. Avelo Airlines has a charter agreement with the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement to run deportation flights out of the country. The flights do not leave from Wilmington Airport.

The airport is run by the Delaware River and Bay Authority, which also runs the Delaware Memorial Bridge and the Cape May-Lewes Ferry. DRBA is a two-state operation where the Delaware legislature has limited power, but this resolution sends a message of discontent around Avelo’s continued service and deportation flights.

The Delaware Senate is not the first public body in Delaware to send this message. Wilmington City Council approved a similar resolution urging the city to avoid companies who work with ICE’s elevated deportation campaign under the Trump Administration. The city does not have contracts with Avelo or companies who operate with ICE, but the resolution passed regardless.

Avelo’s agreement with ICE led to multiple protests outside of Wilmington Airport in early 2025. Dozens of people would line up on Dupont Highway with signs to show passing drivers their displeasure with the airline.

“We realize this is a sensitive and complicated topic. After significant deliberations, we determined this charter flying will provide us with the stability to continue expanding our core scheduled passenger service and keep our more than 1,100 Crewmembers employed for years to come,” Avelo’s founder and CEO, Andrew Levy, said in an April statement.

Despite the rancor from elected officials, Avelo continues to expand its service from Wilmington. It recently announced new routes from Delaware to Atlanta and to Chicago O’Hare starting in 2026. That expansion makes it 14 destinations.

Avelo benefits from a fuel-tax exemption and has a marketing incentive from DRBA. The agency does not receive money from financial support or tax receipts from either the State of Delaware or New Jersey, its website says. Most of its revenue is generated by tickets, fees and tolls. A DRBA spokesperson old the News Journal/Delaware Online in April that they are “disappointed” in the ICE deal.

The resolution simply urges DRBA to prohibit deals with companies who work with ICE deportations “without sufficient due process.” For now, it is “laid on the table,” and will not be considered until the legislature starts up again in 2026. It was introduced by Sen. Raymond Seigfried, a Democrat representing Claymont.

Shane Brennan covers Wilmington and other Delaware issues. Reach out with ideas, tips or feedback about reassessment and property taxes at slbrennan@delawareonline.com.

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