Mixtapes were once, by definition, stopgaps: collections of freestyles, new renditions of popular songs by other rappers, B sides, and whatever else you could package together and pass off to fans while they waited for a studio album. But since the digital takeover mixtapes increasingly resemble “proper” releases in quality, scope, and detail. Price has been one of the few things keeping the line between mixtapes and albums stable—mixtapes these days are essentially studio-quality releases available for free download through sites such as Datpiff or LiveMixtapes—though the line went askew the night Drake released If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late, a mixtape he first posted for a fee through iTunes. The convoluted nature of mixtapes in the digital era continues to be more confusing with each passing day, to the point where it feels hard to know how to categorize a new project’s format. Earlier this week Mick Jenkins released the details for his forthcoming Wave[s], a nine-track EP that the local rapper will release through his label (Cinematic Music Group) as a pay-to-download collection, and Pitchfork called it a mixtape; these days it seems that the only thing that defines a mixtape is that it’s made by a rapper.
- Virgil Solis
- ShowYouSuck
