You don’t need original beats or be good at mixing and mastering. It’s one of the cheapest ways to throw together a project that reflects your skill as a rapper. The mixtape is still, at its heart, a reflection of the streets. We're in the era of the "studio album" mixtape, but. They perform well on the charts and award shows. Mixtapes from artists like Drake and Chance the Rapper seem more like studio albums. Much like how Jay Z created his own label when he couldn’t land a record deal several years earlier.ĥ0 didn’t even record this album in the U.S.he had to record it in Canada because he couldn’t find a studio in the U.S. who would record him.Īnother 50 Cent mixtape before Get Rich Or Die Tryin' had the hit single "Wanksta".paving the way for mixtapes to achieve radio success.īlogs and mixtape sharing sites moved many careers forward with these digital downloads during the late 2000s.Įxamples include: Meek Mill, Young Jeezy, Drake, Mac Miller, Logic, Kendrick Lamar, Nicki Minaj, Gucci Mane, and Lil Wayne.Ĥ. They shelved his still unreleased original debut album.ĥ0 Cent took his career into his own hands by dropping his own music. Shady released his #1 rap album, Get Rich Or Die Tryin'.ĥ0 Cent is the Future came after his first label, Columbia Records, dropped him. ![]() Jacking popular beats with their own raps and promoting as their own song.ĥ0 Cent is the Future was a smash hit and led to his signing to Shady Records. The long era of DJs controlling the music was officially over.Īrtists used mixtapes for free promotion and to build hype. Rappers no longer needed a DJ co-sign to launch their careers. This changed the entire mixtape landscape. The mixtapes were still curated by DJs.until 50 Cent dropped 50 Cent is the Future in 2002.Īs DJ Drama said in Billboard, "There's the mixtape game pre-50 Cent and post-50 Cent." In the 2000s, the DJ became unnecessary for a mixtape. In some ways, mixtapes replaced four track demos.Īrtists previously pitched their demos to record labels to get signed and drop a more professional album.ģ. Labels and record distributors caught on and the mixtape process became industrialized in cities outside of New York The music was no longer focused on DJ skills or live shows but on the vocalists. Mixtapes were used to launch rapper careers. Turntablism and scratching became less prevalent. The ‘80s-’90s shifted focus to the vocalist/rapper.įans, labels, and music executives began to focus on the rapper instead of the DJ's skills.ĭJs responded by making compilations with exclusive artist freestyles. These always have been street tapes, away from the eye of the mainstream.Ģ. even though the tapes weren't sold in more established music stores and catalogs. That’s almost $5k a month in today’s dollars since the value of a U.S. 'I was making a couple thousand dollars a month, easy, just doing this.'” “'The people that was buying my customized tapes were the scramblers, the dealers, people that had money,' Grandmaster Flash told MTV.com in 2007. In Red Bull Music Academy's "History of Hip Hop Mixtapes," Grandmaster Flash said people with money would be the ones hitting him up for his tapes. Some early hip-hop crews like the The Furious Five had dozen of live mixtapes they’d sell at their shows. ![]() These mixtapes weren't made professionally in the studio. ![]() Hip-hop broke through the mainstream on radio and vinyl sales with "Rapper’s Delight."īut the majority of hip-hop fans knew that hip-hop was mainly captured on low quality dubbed tapes. The first hip-hop mixtapes were mainly live mixes for fans to relive concerts. We can break the evolution into four eras: It remains to be seen how its role for rappers and DJs will play out. Mixtapes have transformed throughout the years since those first hip-hop tapes in the '70s. I asked you on Twitter if you think the mixtape is dead - it seems not. The mixtape has always been an effective medium for street music to be passed around. The evolution of the mixtape goes hand-in-hand with the evolution of hip-hop and rap.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |