Delaware

Delaware artist creates viral Mac Miller ‘Balloonerism’ album cover

Published

12 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

Attention Ag Insurance Agents: Subsidy issues subject of Monday, March 9 virtual Q&A with USDA Risk Management Agency – State of Delaware News

Published

1 hour ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

The Delaware Department of Agriculture is encouraging agricultural insurance agents to attend a virtual Q&A session with the USDA Risk Management Agency on crop insurance subsidy issues on Monday, March 9 at 2 p.m.

Crop insurance is a critical component of the farm safety net, protecting farmers from weather, environmental, and economic conditions that can result in low crop yields and income concerns.

The March 9 event is an important opportunity for Delaware agriculture representatives to receive answers and guidance before the First State’s peak planting and growing season begins.

“It is critical that Delaware agricultural insurance agents have all the facts before their clients make critical crop insurance decisions,” said Secretary of Agriculture Don Clifton. “In addition, we need input from crop insurance agents on the performance of the program in 2025 and how we can pursue more improvements.”

For the 2025 crop year, 318 Delaware policies received more than $3.45 million in Risk Management Agency loss payments out of more than 1,400 active policies statewide. In total, after all subsidies, Delaware policies received $1.03 for every $1 paid in premiums.

Agricultural insurance agents should contact Michael Lewis at michael.w.lewis@delaware.gov for direct meeting links and more details.

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Delaware

Delaware eyes $25.3 million infusion to affordable child care. But to what end?

Published

13 hours ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

Delaware eyes .3 million infusion to affordable child care. But to what end?

Delaware is debating a $25.3 million investment into its state-subsidized child care program, known as Purchase of Care.
A potential federal rule change could require the state to pay providers based on enrollment rather than attendance, costing an estimated $25 million.
If the federal rule is dropped, officials propose using the funds to expand child care eligibility to more lower-income families.

Delaware child care has been a fixture of this budget season.

Gov. Matt Meyer pitched some $50 million toward early education in his proposed budget for next fiscal year. It included an $11.3 million federal grant to bolster systems, $8 million to pilot statewide hubs – and the largest piece in $25.3 million to boost Purchase of Care, or state-subsidized child care.

That line item proved a major talking point during a public health budget hearing in Legislative Hall on Monday, March 2, while connecting to broader visions for early childhood reform.

As it turns out, Delaware’s subsidized child care program in particular was already due to shoulder federal requirement changes dating back to the Biden administration. And those changes, effective April 1, could cost the state about $25 million to keep up.

That morning, lawmakers were briefed by the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services for more than three hours, before well over 50 public comments stretched late into the afternoon. Topics ranged from at-home care and centers supporting Delawareans with disabilities, to the ongoing strain of child care.

New Health Secretary Christen Linke Young said the Trump administration might drop these coming changes to pay providers based on child enrollment, before they’re effective.

And for Delaware, she would agree with that call.

Boosting Delaware child care, one way or the other

Purchase of Care is one program helping lower-income Delaware families – or those making below 200% of the federal poverty level, as of yet – afford care at various child care outfits across the state. Delaware pays those providers directly, around the end of the month, based on how many days these children attended.

Federal requirements could force states to change that.

Delaware would have to pay providers at the top of the month, based on their overall student enrollment, regardless of attendance. Young told lawmakers that would cost around $25 million each year, if requirements are not rescinded by the Trump administration.

It would mean more money for providers, she said, though also harsher policy needed around attendance expectations.

“If the federal government does change the rules, we need that full amount to shift to enrollment,” she said, addressing the Joint Finance Committee dais. “If not, our intention is to use it for increased eligibility.”

In other words, the administration hopes to invest about $25 million into this bucket either way. However, the health secretary said paying based on enrollment isn’t her recommendation.

Young told lawmakers the administration would rather see that amount infused into the program to expand eligibility to 250% of the federal poverty level. So, picture a family of three making roughly $80,000 would make the cut. No changes were proposed to co-payments or special education tiers.

This was met with mixed reviews.

“I’m sure some folks are going to have something to say about that,” cautioned Sen. Trey Paradee, committee chair.

For her part, Jamie Schneider was already editing her remarks in real time.

“Comments today suggested providers want to keep attendance-based payments instead of moving to enrollment-based payments,” said the interim executive director for Delaware Association for the Education of Young Children, representing some 900 early care providers. “That is inaccurate and I hope it’s a misunderstanding.”

Schneider welcomed the enrollment model, with “clear rules” to hold both providers and parents responsible. She and a handful of other speakers still also reinforced the necessity in bolstering the Purchase of Care program, from accessibility to reimbursement rates.

Some lawmakers hesitated on shifting away from enrollment boon for providers, while others pushed for attention on the benefits cliff. Meanwhile, child care became an economic discussion.

Is Delaware child care everyone’s business?

Some lawmakers did not care for this price tag, either way.

“So, there’s $25 million that will be saved because of this non-change, and you’re going to expand the program?” Sen. Dave Lawson posed to Young, while expressing concern for taxpayer dollars.

The secretary quickly turned to economic impact.

“Child care is expensive,” she said, in a portion of her remarks. “It is keeping people out of the workforce. It is posing an enormous burden on families and keeping them from making choices that they want to make, to participate in the economy, or to drive change.”

The Rodel Foundation released survey data in fall 2025 that would buttress these claims. The nonprofit is focused on public education and policy, with early childhood education as one pillar. At a glance:

About 92% of Delaware employers surveyed said child care challenges are hurting their employees, while some 76% reported such problems directly impact their business operations.
About 1 in 4 caregivers said they considered leaving Delaware because of child care challenges.
1 in 3 employers cited productivity declines, lost hours or services and staff turnover.
2 in 3 have seen their employees miss work, reduce hours or report absences at least monthly.
For parents, 1 in 3 reported turning down a job or promotion, cut hours or left work to meet child care demands.

“The cliff is real for me,” Sen. Eric Buckson said. “It disincentivizes individuals to climb out, and I’ve seen it work against folks.”

Purchase of Care’s “graduated phase out” level – often referred to as the “benefits cliff,” when eligibility runs up – would remain at 300%, according to DHSS budget documents and hearing remarks. It was unclear Monday if it would be solidified in more years to come.

There is a long runway ahead.

Untangling a bigger picture for Delaware child care

Sometimes Lt. Gov. Kyle Evans Gay describes the state of Delaware’s early childhood education system as the backside of an average desk. Tangled wires trace down the wall, with various colors and knots headed toward different outlets.

She’s been tapped to help straighten it up.

Named chair to the Interagency Resource Management Committee last year, Gay has overseen several Delaware departments as they centralize on early education. Those are state departments like Health and Social Services, Education, Services for Children, Youth and their Families and more.

The cross-agency group – with cabinet secretaries, agency leadership, lawmakers and the Delaware Early Childhood Council – landed a $11.3 million preschool development grant. Gay sees this next year ahead as setting the stage.

“That will go to projects in each of the agencies, as well as projects in my office,” the lieutenant governor said.

“And truly, with that money, we are building that investable system so that we can have information, including data about how to better serve Delawareans. We’re going to be building local infrastructure so that we can make sure that providers, educators, parents, have resources at their local levels.”

The former state senator and longtime advocate on child care issues sees a north star of early education as a universal, public good.

“But that’s an incredibly large project,” she said. “And it’s a big change from how we traditionally think about birth through 5.”

From exploring finance models to connecting public and private partners, this could be one step in that direction.

DDOE’s Office of Child Care Licensing has also been working to digitize electronic record systems to elevate the office’s public database, while tracking compliance and investigating complaints across Delaware’s licensed providers. A combined $2.4 million was pledged to make it happen, in the last two years, and it’s highly anticipated, Gay said.

The “Delaware Early Childhood Care & Education Alliance,” or likely hubs to the north and south, may also land an $8 million infusion to work across area providers and assist the state in expanding child care access, as outlined in the governor’s proposed budget.

A budget hearing on public education should bring more on that, Tuesday, March 3.

Got another education tip? Contact Kelly Powers at kepowers@usatodayco.com.

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Delaware

Delaware Supreme Court upholds reforms to curb ‘DExit’ concerns

Published

1 day ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

Delaware Supreme Court upholds reforms to curb ‘DExit’ concerns

Karl Baker
| Spotlight Delaware

This story was produced by Spotlight Delaware as part of a partnership with Delaware Online/The News Journal. For more about Spotlight Delaware, visit www.spotlightdelaware.org.

A Delaware law passed last year in the wake of escalating assaults on the state’s corporate brand shielded powerful company leaders from facing certain lawsuits brought by smaller investors.

What it didn’t do was violate the Delaware Constitution, the state Supreme Court ruled on Friday, Feb. 27.

More than three months after hearing arguments, the justices ruled that the corporate law reform – known as Senate Bill 21 – did not strip Delaware’s prominent Court of Chancery of its constitutional authority to decide when a business deal is fair.

“The General Assembly’s enactment of SB 21 falls within the ‘broad and ample sweep’ of its legislative power,” the justices stated.

The ruling ends a bruising fight in Delaware over when the state’s business court should allow small-time investors to interrogate insider deals struck within companies by founders or other business leaders.

The ruling also averts what could have been an embarrassment for the state’s legal and political establishment had the high court overturned the law.

More than a year ago, Tesla CEO Elon Musk — the world’s richest person — was calling on business leaders to move their companies’ legal homes out of Delaware. Musk had launched the campaign, which became known as “DExit,” after a Delaware Chancery Court judge ruled that he could not accept a multibillion-dollar pay package from Tesla.

Just as the campaign appeared to be gaining a foothold, Gov. Matt Meyer, legislative leaders, and Delaware attorneys who represent corporations threw their collective heft behind SB 21.

They argued then that the legislation amounted to a “course correction” that would bring the state’s business courts back into alignment with rulings from a decade ago. Many also said the bill was needed to pacify executives who were considering following Musk’s calls to move their companies’ legal homes out of Delaware.

In response, a cadre of critics — which included national law professors, pension fund attorneys, and a handful of progressives within the Delaware legislature — derided SB 21 as a “billionaires bill.”

Some also argued that the legislation was the latest in a string of recent changes to Delaware corporate law that have shifted the state away from protecting shareholder rights and toward giving greater deference to powerful executives.

Meyer and others SB 21 supporters rejected those characterizations last year. And on Friday, he celebrated the Supreme Court’s ruling.

In a statement, he said the decision affirms that “Delaware is the gold standard locale for global companies to do business.” He also stated that the number of companies that maintain their legal home in Delaware had increased throughout 2025 despite the DExit campaign.

“In short, SB 21 is working, and I’m glad it will continue to be the law,” Meyer said.

The legal arguments for SB 21

When arguing against SB 21 in front of the Supreme Court last fall, one attorney asserted that the new law removed the Chancery Court’s time-honored and constitutional duty to say what is fair – or equitable – in a business dispute.

The attorney, Gregory Varallo, argued that by removing a shareholders’ ability to sue their company, the law reduced what he described as the immutable power of the Court of Chancery to oversee a “complete system of equity.”

During his arguments, Varallo also offered the justices an unusual acknowledgement, stating that he knew that his stance was unpopular — and that he understood “well the pressures on this court.”

The comments were a likely reference to the consensus of big business groups and the state’s political establishment that believed SB 21 was necessary for Delaware to remain the world’s preeminent corporate domicile.

Following Varallo, Washington, D.C.-based attorney Jonathan C. Bond defended SB 21, in part, by characterizing his opponents arguments as unprecedented. If adopted, he said they would imperil several existing Delaware laws that go back decades.

He also argued that changing the rules of corporate law – as SB 21 did – “is the same as wiping out jurisdiction merely because it makes some plaintiff’s claims harder.”

Also arguing in favor of SB 21 during the hearing was William Savitt, an attorney with the Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz – among the most prominent corporate law firms in the country.

Last spring, Meyer hired Savitt’s firm to represent the state in the legal defense of SB 21 for a budget rate of $100,000. By comparison, Wachtell Lipton charged Twitter $90 million in 2022 to ferry that company through its arduous, four-month-long acquisition by Elon Musk.

Wachtell’s client list also includes Mark Zuckerberg and other Meta executives and board members, who last summer settled a seven-year-long, multibillion-dollar shareholder lawsuit in the Delaware Chancery Court.

During his arguments on SB 21, Savitt said equity as determined by judges must follow the statutes created by the legislature, and “not displace the law.”

“No natural reading of the words (of the Delaware Constitution) support plaintiff’s position,” he said.

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