The last couple months saw a flurry of mixtapes from some of rap's biggest names. It's become a part of being a hip hop artist to make sure you stay relevant and at the forefront with fans and of course, promo for major release albums. This being my fifth installment of the Mixtape Mayhem series, I've gone over the same reasons as to the importance of mixtapes and how we, as the fans, win by getting new, original music for free (that sometimes is better than most major releases). It used to be the only way a new artist could get exposure in the past, but in 2012, it's even more important for established vets in the game to release their own mixtapes. That's exactly what has happened at the end of last year and beginning of this year. Mixtapes are also a great forum for new and established producers to get exposure for their beats as well, since most major tapes now give a listing for each song's producer. I'll run down most of the main releases with links so you can get up to date with what everyone is listening to. These have been out for a minute, but I like to put my ear on them and give an honest listen before I hit you with the Mayhem. Click on the jump below for the download links and video's.
Might as well start out with the big dog on top and that's no other than Rozayyyy…Rick Ross dropped his official mixtape Rich Forever right around Christmas. It was the most anticipated and probably the best overall tape out of all of these. It boasts all original music, some of which I'm sure we will hear on his forthcoming album, "God Forgives, I Don't", and it has a roster of the best featured guests. Drake lays down a killer verse on "Stay Scheamin", which they did a video for, see below, along with Nas delivering one of his best lines in a while, in my opinion. John Legend, Kelly Rowland, Diddy, Pharrel and MMG's finest all grace the mixtape. Not many can argue that Ross is a heavy weight showing off his belts right now with a strong team behind him. Maybach Music seems to be set up for a while with releases from Meek Mill, Ross, and another MMG album all on the horizon in 2012 and this tape is a sure fire way to start the year on the right foot or I should say on the right Air Jordan.
Fabolous dropped the third mixtape in his There Is No Competition series with DJ Drama on Christmas Eve and it did not disappoint. Fabo is and has been a star in the rap game and built a career from mixtapes and has the perfect flow for it. Although, I found myself thinking that he sounds like he's been influenced by other artists since certain songs sound similar to what's already out there. Countless metaphors over original beats and freestyles make up TINC: Death Comes in 3's. "You Don't Know Bout It" with Meek Mills is one I find putting on repeat. Lloyd Banks, JadaKiss, Styles P, and Trey Songz are also on the tape. Some might even say he throws a little jab Drakes way on the "Lord Knows" freestyle. What do you think?
The King of the South didn't want to be left out of the mixtape frenzy, so T.I. brought in 2012 by dropping F*ck Da City Up on New Year's Day and getting a leg up on the new year. Everybody's familiar with his recent stints behind bars, along with the reality show with his wife, but this mixtape is supposed to get the focus back to his music in anticipation of his eighth studio album, Trouble Man, that's due out very soon. T.I. gives you all the Trap music you can handle with a roster of guest stars (too many to mention) and producers, including Dr. Dre. Manny Fresh, and Hit Boy. Give the Just Blaze produced "Oh Yeah" featuring Trey Songz a listen along with a verse from Pimp C on "Pimp".
I'm sure you've been in the club within the past couple months and it looks like 50 Cent might have another banger with the song "I Just Wanna" with Tony Yayo from his mixtape The Big 10, video below. He released this tape in early December and it's all original new music, with a different producer for each track. He said he was going to release a video for each song on the tape as well and he's slated to release his fifth studio album this year. Crazy to think that the classic Get Rich or Die Tryin' is a year away from it's ten year anniversary! I'm sure 50 will have his say in the rap game this year and it will be interesting on how it's received, being one of hip hop's all time biggest stars.
At this point, I'm sure you want to listen to the music than continue to read about it, so I'll wrap up the fifth installment of Mixtape Mayhem by letting you of some other tapes that were released. I definitely can't forget about the Wu brethren, Raekwon the Chef, as he released Unexpected Victory, on New Year's Day as well. Busta, CNN, Styles P and others grace the tape and we all know what to expect when it comes to Shallah Raekwon. I'm a fan of Asher Roth and he dropped Pabst and Jazz at the end of December as the pre-cursor for his major release album in 2012. Blended Babies takes care of all of the production as the sound is definitely different than most of the tapes I listed here. Give it a listen and see if it's something that you can dig. You can only jam out to the same Lex Luger, Hit Boy, etc so many times. I'm also a big fan of Yo Gotti and have been letting his album Live From the Kitchen bump in the whip for a few weeks now, but he released a mixtape at the end of December called January 10th: The Mixtape which was actually the release date of his first major studio album. His voice is dope and a good reason he's still in the game after putting 5 independent albums out since 2000. Last, but not least, on a slower note, the Drake sponsored The Weeknd, released his third mixtape, titled Echoes of Silence. He continues to slow croon about relationships gone awry and ripped apart heartache. I think it's going to be almost impossible to top his first release House of Balloons (my review here) but it will be interesting to see what direction his major release goes. New Jersey native and ASAP Rocky beatmaker, Clams Casino, lends his talents on "The Fall" and there's also a Michael Jackson cover of Dirty Diana.
That's eight different mixtapes to get your early 2012 fix on. Give me a shout if there's anything else out there we should be listening to or let me know which of these are dope or not so much. All links are below via datpiff.com, thee official mixtape site, special thanks to them.
As always, if you need to check out the earlier Mixtape Mayhems, click here for I, II, III, IV.
Check back for the next installment and we'll see where the new heat is coming from.
Downloads
Rick Ross - Rich Forever
Fabolous - TINC: Death Comes in 3's
T.I. - F*ck Da City Up
50 Cent - The Big 10
Raekwon - Unexpected Victory
Asher Roth - Pabst and Jazz
Yo Gotti - January 10th Mixtape
The Weeknd - Echoes of Silence
Might as well start out with the big dog on top and that's no other than Rozayyyy…Rick Ross dropped his official mixtape Rich Forever right around Christmas. It was the most anticipated and probably the best overall tape out of all of these. It boasts all original music, some of which I'm sure we will hear on his forthcoming album, "God Forgives, I Don't", and it has a roster of the best featured guests. Drake lays down a killer verse on "Stay Scheamin", which they did a video for, see below, along with Nas delivering one of his best lines in a while, in my opinion. John Legend, Kelly Rowland, Diddy, Pharrel and MMG's finest all grace the mixtape. Not many can argue that Ross is a heavy weight showing off his belts right now with a strong team behind him. Maybach Music seems to be set up for a while with releases from Meek Mill, Ross, and another MMG album all on the horizon in 2012 and this tape is a sure fire way to start the year on the right foot or I should say on the right Air Jordan.
The King of the South didn't want to be left out of the mixtape frenzy, so T.I. brought in 2012 by dropping F*ck Da City Up on New Year's Day and getting a leg up on the new year. Everybody's familiar with his recent stints behind bars, along with the reality show with his wife, but this mixtape is supposed to get the focus back to his music in anticipation of his eighth studio album, Trouble Man, that's due out very soon. T.I. gives you all the Trap music you can handle with a roster of guest stars (too many to mention) and producers, including Dr. Dre. Manny Fresh, and Hit Boy. Give the Just Blaze produced "Oh Yeah" featuring Trey Songz a listen along with a verse from Pimp C on "Pimp".
I'm sure you've been in the club within the past couple months and it looks like 50 Cent might have another banger with the song "I Just Wanna" with Tony Yayo from his mixtape The Big 10, video below. He released this tape in early December and it's all original new music, with a different producer for each track. He said he was going to release a video for each song on the tape as well and he's slated to release his fifth studio album this year. Crazy to think that the classic Get Rich or Die Tryin' is a year away from it's ten year anniversary! I'm sure 50 will have his say in the rap game this year and it will be interesting on how it's received, being one of hip hop's all time biggest stars.
At this point, I'm sure you want to listen to the music than continue to read about it, so I'll wrap up the fifth installment of Mixtape Mayhem by letting you of some other tapes that were released. I definitely can't forget about the Wu brethren, Raekwon the Chef, as he released Unexpected Victory, on New Year's Day as well. Busta, CNN, Styles P and others grace the tape and we all know what to expect when it comes to Shallah Raekwon. I'm a fan of Asher Roth and he dropped Pabst and Jazz at the end of December as the pre-cursor for his major release album in 2012. Blended Babies takes care of all of the production as the sound is definitely different than most of the tapes I listed here. Give it a listen and see if it's something that you can dig. You can only jam out to the same Lex Luger, Hit Boy, etc so many times. I'm also a big fan of Yo Gotti and have been letting his album Live From the Kitchen bump in the whip for a few weeks now, but he released a mixtape at the end of December called January 10th: The Mixtape which was actually the release date of his first major studio album. His voice is dope and a good reason he's still in the game after putting 5 independent albums out since 2000. Last, but not least, on a slower note, the Drake sponsored The Weeknd, released his third mixtape, titled Echoes of Silence. He continues to slow croon about relationships gone awry and ripped apart heartache. I think it's going to be almost impossible to top his first release House of Balloons (my review here) but it will be interesting to see what direction his major release goes. New Jersey native and ASAP Rocky beatmaker, Clams Casino, lends his talents on "The Fall" and there's also a Michael Jackson cover of Dirty Diana.
That's eight different mixtapes to get your early 2012 fix on. Give me a shout if there's anything else out there we should be listening to or let me know which of these are dope or not so much. All links are below via datpiff.com, thee official mixtape site, special thanks to them.As always, if you need to check out the earlier Mixtape Mayhems, click here for I, II, III, IV.
Check back for the next installment and we'll see where the new heat is coming from.
Downloads
Rick Ross - Rich Forever
Fabolous - TINC: Death Comes in 3's
T.I. - F*ck Da City Up
50 Cent - The Big 10
Raekwon - Unexpected Victory
Asher Roth - Pabst and Jazz
Yo Gotti - January 10th Mixtape
The Weeknd - Echoes of Silence
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