This might be the Black Uncle in me talking, but I remember back in the day when you would wait for days for your favorite up and coming rapper to drop their newest mixtape on Datpiff.com, My Mixtapez, Spinrilla, SoundCloud, or any easily accessible platform; ‘twas a very litty time.
The older uncles than me (or early 90s babies) remember the days of buying cassette tapes/CDs out of the trunks and streets from their local up and coming rappers. Those were the real mixtapes and where platforms like Datpiff got their inspiration from. You can research case studies of popular Hip Hop acts such as T-Pain or Master P telling of how they would indeed sell music out of their trunk to get their early careers started. Millennials and the current generation grew up in the internet age for the most part, so Datpiff and the other aforementioned platforms contained free but very much layered quality content from the leaders of the New Skool that we revere today, i.e Meek Mill, Kendrick Lamar, Drake, J.Cole, Wale, Rick Ross, Chiddy Bang, King Los, Childish Gambino, Lil’ Wayne, etc. Middle schoolers and high schoolers alike, after the demise of Limewire, would congregate at lunch tables and free time in class to discuss the newest mixtapes ranging from No Ceilings, Rich Forever, Friday Night Lights, Pilot Talk, Young Sinatra, and so many more.
What went wrong?
From an objective stance: nothing went wrong, just evolution of the music industry once again in the same way sheet music moved to vinyls, from vinyls to cassettes, and cassettes to CDs. To be frank, the medium simply changed and will likely be changed again. The qualm with the modern mixtape is that when it is released, sometimes it is only available on the streaming subscriptions platforms that people have to pay for. People don’t always have access to these subscription based services like Apple Music and TIDAL as juxtaposed to Datpiff, SoundCloud, and Spinrilla, which are free for the most part minus a few exclusives.
These new age “mixtapes” became more about streaming profits than the fans and building a brand within the Hip Hop community. I believe that artists should definitely be compensated for their work, do not get me wrong. However, the debate becomes whether the artist is more focused on building a brand/accessibility to potential fanbases and gaining experience, simply getting money, or a hybrid of both. With whatever avenue, potential fans have been alienated through this new process somewhat; the thrill of discovering a new artist organically through the easily accessible sites. Time is money, however, which is ending mixtape series or potential series projects the culture would love from current Hip Hop superstars like J.Cole, Drake, Kendrick, Wale and Childish Gambino that made their brand off the accessibility of quality rap content. Just a little over two years ago, DJ Luna of Miami, on her previous alias on Twitter, started a national conversation on a thread of Mixtapes that deserved Grammy’s, a brilliant talking point in itself highlighting how much mixtapes mean to Hip Hop Culture. The hashtag and online conversation DJ Luna prompted was so good, the conversation continued into mainstream Hip Hop news sites.
The last part of the debate comes into complication regarding the ambiguous definition of a mixtape these days. Nowadays, an artist, even locally, says they are releasing a project, which is super ambiguous because they could mean an “album”, “mixtape” or “EP”. The clear definition becomes complicated as well in cases like when G.O.O.D Music releases 7-track albums (which would be considered EPs in the past based on that low number of songs + length) and Drake reaching high Billboard acclaim with what he deemed a “playlist” “(More Life in 2017) Cash rules more than ever, and when you’re rich, you have no more to prove in regards to your “realness to the game.” Thus, the financially and culturally successful rappers in the game now that are still dropping mixtapes for the culture are much appreciated, constantly honing their MC crafts even in a comfortable position within the game.
My favorite mixtapes in recent years, in the canon of the definition of “mixtape” from the era of when I grew up, include Tory Lanez’s dually released Chixtape 4 & The New Toronto 2 on New Year’s Day in 2017, Dave East’s Karma 2 hosted by DJ Holiday released this past Friday, King Los’ G.O.A.T Tape and Moor Bars both released one week within each other in December 2017, and Childish Gambino’s dually released STN MTN/Kauai (one for Datpiff and the other for streaming on major platforms) in October 2014.
What are some of your modern and past mixtapes that truly define a mixtape? What do you all think about the recent development and changing of what defines a mixtape? Leave a comment below or share the discussion.
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