Music runs my world. Gives it color, motion, makes it turn. I am always looking, listening, searching out new music, old music that is new to me, beats and lyrics that inspire me and touch my soul.
Recently, I have fallen in love with the reality that the age of the mixtape has officially arrived. Sites like DatPiff, Hulkshare, and the recently embattled MegaUpload along with others, have bridged the gap between musical creation and consumption. Particurly now that artists like Rick Ross, who dropped his mixtape “Rich Forever” a few weeks ago, are embracing the wonder that is the mixtape. Artists like Fabolous, The Weeknd, and Lil Wayne have long utilized this direct pipeline from their studio to a fan’s iTunes. The level of sophistication has sometimes varied, with certain mixtapes being much more like the historical physical mixtapes-raw, somewhat unfinished but still excellent and can often be a style that the artist is experimenting with. Other mixtapes however, and I’ll use Rich Forever and Fabolous’s There is No Competition:Death Comes in Threes as examples, have such a level of technical and artistic sophistication that they are truly more like albums in a deliciously free and downloadable format.
This change in musical distribution and consumption has made it’s way into my own iTunes with the last few downloads I’ve made all being mixtapes. I can’t get enough of the can’t miss it if you try-Rich Forever with it’s swagger and style of delivery that makes Rick Ross an unmistakable voice. Although I am much more at home with the socially conscious lyrics of Talib Kweli, Common and the likes of A Tribe Called Quest, I have been persuaded to expand my repertoire and appreciate more artists like Fabolous with TiNc3. While I will always love Common (and The Dreamer, The Believer is also on replay in my head), to learn an appreciation of different artists is always a positive thing.
Branching away from the rap and hip hop, I just copped the mixtape Conversational Lush by new R&B artist Elle Varner. It’s the kind of playful yet sophisticated package that makes me love mixtapes. It seems to give artists the license to have a degree of fun with their music that can sometimes be lost in the pressures of an official album.
In the changing world of musical consumption, I am of the belief that mixtapes are nothing but good. They encourage conversation about the music, make it easier for people to get their hands on it, and allow artists to have fun and experiment.
Art is… :)
-Jordan
