AceShowbiz - Mac Miller's family is celebrating the rapper's legacy by unveiling plans to release the album he had been working on prior to his untimely death.

Circles, the follow-up to his fifth offering, 2018's Swimming, will hit retailers and streaming services on 17 January, two days before what would have been his 28th birthday.

In a statement posted on the Self Care MC's Instagram page, his relatives write, "Here we are. The act of having to write this at all feels surreal.

"At the time of his passing, Malcolm (Miller) was well into the process of recording his companion album to Swimming, entitled Circles. Two different styles complementing each other, completing a circle-Swimming in Circles was the concept."

Miller, real name Malcolm McCormick, had been collaborating with producer Jon Brion on the project, and he was invited to help complete the tunes following the hip-hop star's death in September, 2018.

"After hearing some early versions of songs, (Jon) cleared his calendar to help Malcolm fine-tune them," his loved ones explain.

"After his passing, Jon dedicated himself to finishing Circles based on his time and conversations with Malcolm. We are eternally grateful to Jon and to those who gave their best to the difficult and emotional task of putting out this body of work.

"This is a complicated process that has no right answer. No clear path. We simply know that it was important to Malcolm for the world to hear it."

The family concludes the press release by expressing its gratitude to Miller's devotees for their years of support.

"Thank you to all the fans who've supported him unconditionally through the years," continues the statement. "We miss him. We are left to imagine where Malcolm was going and to appreciate where he was.

"We hope you take the time to listen. The look on his face when everyone was listening said it all."

Miller died from an accidental drug overdose, aged 26.