I trust you read the title. Now that I have your attention…. Mixtapes. Mixtapes. Mixtapes. I love them as much as the next guy. Cheap, inventive, and it’s an avenue in many cases where artists can cut loose and do some amazing things. We’re in that day and age at the moment where it seems like mixtapes yield higher quality and are more anticipated than the actual album of an artist.

And that is a MAJOR issue.

I’m always hearing about how MC Such N’ Such [As much as I’d love to point out Gucci Mane for this example, I don’t feel he deserves the publicity.] is the truth on the 5 million mixtape variations he’s got out. Indeed, he might be deadly impressive on someone else’s beats or the cut of his verse from someone else’s track; but why do his albums suck so much? How come left to his own devices, powerhouse producers, and infinite features; his album is “okay” at best. Nothing more I hate than a hype train that takes me to a destination I’ve already been to over and over. Frankly, I’m tired of so many rappers nabbing “Best in The Game” statuses based off of mixtapes when they can’t bring it where it truly counts…the STUDIO ALBUM.

I think a lot of this frustration stems from how mixtapes are perceived. I’ll sum it up like this. Movies have trailers to get you amped for a film coming your way soon. They’re cut intricately and are designed to get your ass to the theater so you can drop that money down on the real deal, the actual film. The mixtape is an auditory trailer for the grand feature, I’ll repeat, the studio album.

So imagine when I see a trailer for a movie that should be awesome then I pay my money, sit down, and realize I’ve been duped into 100 minutes of straight bullshit. Of course I’m going to be mad. Same thing for mixtapes. You’ve showcased what you can do and you’ve got my anticipation up. The A&R’s have heard you and you got that label signing and the big album is due soon. Then it drops and for whatever reason, it fails on all accounts to live up to all this hype you bombarded me with prior.

Be honest with yourself as I ask you this question.

How many albums have lived up to the hype based on mixtapes not named Tha Carter 3? And even then, we have those wishing to debate the issue, given that Tha Carter 3’s anticipation had more heat than the oven door.

Used properly and distributed sparingly, mixtapes are an effective hype tool in preparation for what could be a quality album. As much hate as the man garners lately, much of it deserved, 50 Cent’s mixtape run before Get Rich Or Die Tryin’ was perfect. Just the right amount of street singles, freestyles, and showcasing to get everyone ready for an album that took the world by storm; and launched a career.

Another problem I’m seeing with mixtapes is over saturation. So many come out for an artist, it may be viewed as a waste to even worry about the album; especially in the case of track leaks being all over official and unofficial mixtapes. Let us not forget how just like the radio, TOO MUCH of an artist could easily lead to backlash.

Let us not forget that with mixtapes being a cheap alternative and less people willing to pay for music; mixtapes see more money than the actual studio albums and it’s the studio albums that keep your favorite rappers out of the “Where Are They Now” category. [See Gunnas, Young or Kwon, J]. The general populace treats the mixtape with the reverence and scrutiny that the studio album should get. I can ask the average Hip-Hop fan a release date on a mixtape and get solid answers; whereas they’re shocked half the time when an album drops. I repeat, you can spit hot fire like Dylan and have the world talking about you; if the studio album sucks, how good of an artist are they really?

Now, I’m not saying you’ve got to do Outkast numbers; or more recently, Wayne numbers. An album’s QUALITY is not always judged by how fast it flies off shelves. That proverb is as old as my I Declare War CD [Oh, the days when Pastor Troy claimed Augusta] and doesn’t look to change for the foreseeable future.

There are artists being victimized by mixtapes as well when the mixtape is all the fans will deal with. With sales declining across the board and leaks running rampant, now is the best time for artists to focus on creating quality studio works for the masses. Honestly, CD’s and legal downloading need a boost before it gets worse than it is now. I’ll be honest, if the CD is QUALITY, I’ll buy it.

It’s those buys that keep them making albums for the foreseeable future. How supportive are you really digesting every mixtape and downloading everything without giving something back to them to keep them in the game? I’m looking at the Slim Thug fans out there. Boss of All Bosses should have at least got that gold plaque, but I didn’t see anyone shying away from his quality mixtapes, which lead to a quality album.

Artists are getting released out of contracts due to declining sales and we the fans aren’t saving their chances of staying in the spotlight; yet we ask why they don’t get more mainstream love. The label could care less how many mixtapes they move. The STUDIO ALBUM keeps them afloat and the artist in the spotlight that you, as a fan, would want them to bask in. I just see an ass of no-wins involved, because I’m rarely seeing mixtape heavy-hitters with justifiable sales AND/OR quality studio work that was worth the hype.

On the heels of Mixtape Messiah 7 dropping, I’m just asking Hip-Hop fans to realize we have to put in what we take and be realistic about it. If the trailer rules and the movie sucks, the movie failed you. Same for music. Albums are original pieces of work that an artist will be judged by for years to come in terms of sales, quality, and overall staying power. I love them as much as the next man, but it takes more than these underground pieces of art to be considered among an elite crop of Hip-Hop standards.

We as fans deserve more than hype and you should demand more for your dollar and for your ears. While I’d never want to see mixtapes die, it’d be nice for someone to tell me how good someone’s album is in a debate; as opposed to me telling them how sorry an album was then them defending it with the latest mixtape that dropped.

Forgive me. I want more than bits and pieces, I want the whole thing. And as Eminem, Wayne, and possibly Drake are showing; we’re willing to pay for quality. Just don’t leave all that genius where it won’t count in the long run.

I see mixtape posts up in abundance around the Fro; so I feel the need to get a little leftfield with my pick. I like originality and the unexpected, so naturally, I’m drawn to this release here. Entitled Southerngold, we are introduced to mashes of popular Southern rap songs with the hypnotic sounds of Santigold. The critically-acclaimed Brooklyn native was sampled for “Brooklyn Go Hard” and her Santogold album is a wonderfully abstract piece of work. Hearing it mashed with favorites like “Nann Nigga”, “Hustlin’”, “Still Tippin”, and more not only create wildly original sound; but mash up North and South so they meet somewhere in outer space.

Mixtapes like these always interest me too because you’re exposed to auditory you wouldn’t normally get, but are eased in because it’s JUST familiar enough. Ready to take that chance?

Proper credit is to be given to Illroots.com (wonderful site that features the works of Terry Urban and Mick Boogie often, two producers definitely worth a shout) and Gold Coin Clothing for sponsoring the release. I’m proud to bring this to the attention of nappyafro readers and downloaders and if you’re looking for something space age [one of them there 8-Ball phrases] this will definitely fit the bill. Expand your horizons eh?

1. M.I.A. Artistes (feat. Pitbull & Ying Yang Twins)
2. You’ll Find A Way Player (feat. Andre 3000 & Bun B)
3. Still Tippin’ It (feat. Slim Thug & Mike Jones)
4. Can’t Say It (feat. T-Pain)
5. Creating Kryptonite (feat. Purple Ribbon All-Stars)
6. Fire Superman (feat. Lil’ Wayne) [Prod. By Mike Cash]
7. Hustlin’ With The Lights Out (feat. Rick Ross)
8. Shawty Is Starstuck (feat. The Dream)
9. Unfreakable Girl (feat. Gucci Mane)
10. Nann Lady (feat. Trick Daddy & Trina) [Prod. By JKhan]
11. Anne’s Plan (feat. Chip Tha Ripper) [Prod. By Mike Cash]
12. You’ll Go Crazy (feat. Young Jeezy) [Prod. By Mike Cash]

Download: Terry Urban & Gold Coin – Southerngold

The remix as defined by Wikipedia…. “A remix is an alternative version of a song, different from the original version. A remixer uses audio mixing to compose an alternate master recording of a song, adding or subtracting elements, or simply changing the equalization, dynamics, pitch, tempo, playing time, or almost any other aspect of the various musical components. Some remixes involve substantial changes to the arrangement of a recorded work, but many are subtle, such as creating a “vocal up” version of an album cut that emphasizes the lead singer’s voice. A song may be remixed to give a song that was not popular a second chance at radio and club play, to create a stereo version of a recording that was previously only available in mono sound, to improve the fidelity of an older recording in which the original mixdown tape has been lost or degraded, or to alter a song to suit a specific music genre or radio format.”

Truth be told, the remix was one of the main reasons I got into one of my deepest loves, DJing. I was amazed at the art of these auditory technicians deconstructing everything I thought I knew about some of my favorite tracks; just to build them up into something more amazing and layered then it started. You’d think the original was a piece of work. Then a sick tactician of the turntable or a hungry producer comes along and tells you, “Fuck you, I got something for that”. They say good music is all in the interpretation and nothing proves that more than the remix.

You’d think the remix would be highly coveted in a day and age where CD’s move like they got Anthrax packaged inside. Remixes have been known to put extra steam on even the most anticipated of albums [R.Kelly has been making a career off of hot remixes] and to turn okay singles into banger status [You think Biggie’s “One More Chance” was that nice originally? No comparison].

I know what you’re saying.

“Jamar, what you mean that the remix is dead?! They remixed “A Milli” like 50-leven times!”

Perhaps I need to be clear about how I define a remix. Yes, the remixes where new rappers are added or the main artist changes his verses are good. They’re needed and in some cases, turn chicken shit into chicken salad. I don’t even pay the original “Dey Know” mind when the hulked up version dropped featuring Wayne, Plies, and Jeezy; it was just a better version by far. I’m talking about the good ol’ days when the song would sound like an alternate reality of what you loved before. I remember cruising with my brother back home around that 9PM hour, back when Power would have the fresh DJ mixes, and they dropped the “Vivrant Thing” remix on my head. I was astounded.

“Vivrant Thing” is one of my favorite Q-Tip songs ever, and among my top ten favorite rap songs ever. Nothing touched it at that time for me. Then I heard the Violator remix of it featuring Missy and Busta and I was floored. The bass hit harder, the drum patterns changed just enough, the verses were wilder. Even the hook changed up with Tip alternating between “viv-a-rent” and “vivrant”. But it was still what I knew, what I loved. Justice done to the source material, but an enjoyable re-imagination of an already good thing.

In a way, a good song is something like a relationship. Lasting relationships have points where your partner displays surprises and changes that draw you back in; making them almost new again, sometimes completely fresh. Like cheating on your girlfriend WITH your girlfriend. Let that sink in for a second.

A strong remix is like when you lady (or guy, for our female readers out there) changes her hair to something sexier than what it started. Or when she takes a step in a new direction you would have never guessed, for the better. Or the best case; when she evolves into something greater than when she started. Same thing with our music.

I see the “remix” today as almost lazy. It’s a general lack of vision in a time where vision is already looked down upon and severely lacking in the Hip-Hop genre. If you take a look at one of our contemporaries, techno music (beep-bop-beep-boop-bop music to some, wake up music for me.), they have songs that stay classics for decades while we’re hard-pressed to remember hot tracks from a few years ago. Why is that? The thing to learn from techno is they have a passionate community and set of artists that aren’t afraid to reinterpret upon reinterpretation of their music. Remix upon remix that keeps a worthy original alive and well, stimulating a new set of listeners while educating them to a track they weren’t there to discover when it was fresh.

The technology is as good as it’s ever been. The mixtape game is booming and a standard of this stage of Hip-Hop. DJ’s and producers are no longer background, but main players and reasons to buy an album based on name value alone. So why am I getting the word rearranged on the same old beat I’ve heard a million times? Is it wrong to want better for my art by having them do something we did better than ANYONE just a few years back?

When I started taking notice that Hip-Hop was growing a little by-the-numbers; I knew the transition was complete when the full-bodied remix died too. Now, artists are too scared to take a chance on what proved itself a sure thing and won’t challenge themselves (or someone else) to attempt something magical. Admittedly, there are some terrible remixes out there just like there are terrible remakes of classic movies. But haven’t the hits been worth more than the misses? I’ve got a challenge for you. Pull up your favorite file-sharing or Bit-Torrent related program.

I’ll wait.

-hold music plays-

Good. I need you to download Paid in Full by Eric B. and Rakim. Really LISTEN to that song, a Hip-Hop classic if there ever was one by two greats in the game.

Now I need you to download “Paid in Full (Colduct Remix)”. Listen to THAT. Tell me that song doesn’t tap a nerve in your soul somewhere? A marriage of obscure sounds, scratch, quotes, and yet still grounded in the story of trying to get those dead presidents.

That’s what I’m talking about. It’s all I’ve been getting at by writing this. I want to be shocked and amazed at what I thought I knew about Hip-Hop. We’ve got talented producers like Terry Urban, Mick Boogie, Ape Blends, and many more that are mashing and remixing some class stuff these days in an effort to give us new ways to enjoy our sound; even making it accessible to people who normally wouldn’t care to hear it. For you Jay-Z fans out there, go out of your way to listen to Viva La Hova. A mashing of Coldplays classics with Jay-Z’s bravado and intricate storytelling, you may find a new favorite band and earn greater appreciation for one of rap’s elder statesmen.

As much as I’ve noticed how the rap community is all about what’s hot at the moment, lets take notice of keeping our heat preserved and remembered so they can EARN those ‘classic” titles being tossed around with little concern. The remix isn’t a solution to what I’m stating, but It’s an enjoyable aid on the path towards it.

Want more from what you enjoy and you just might get it.

I’ll just keep writing waiting for the day Hip-Hop lets her hair down and gives me a new reason to fall in love with her. She shows me from time to time. Can she show me more often?

-Listens to “Luv 2 Luv U (Remix)”, wondering-

I will state this now. This column is NOT an issue of color or race. It’s a deeper issue that happens to be rooted in it, unnecessarily I might add. I debated writing this a number of times, but I feel somebody needs to say it; and if it gets through to one, maybe the effort was worth it.

First, my reason for writing this. I think back to a trip to Alabama with a good friend of mine for a wrestling show [Youtube “Kareem Abdul Jamar”, check my pedigree :p] and I find myself rattled by some commentary he made about what I was playing at the time. Gym Class Heroes was in the CD player, the track was “New Friend Request”.

I’m grooving and he’s laughing, so of course I want to know what the joke is.

Friend: “Man, why you listening to this white people rap?”

Me: “White people rap? Didn’t buy this CD in THAT section. Must’ve missed it.”

Friend: “Pssh. Even my SON knows that’s white people rap.”

I was willing to write it off. I’ve come under fire all my life for my musical tastes, dreams, style, and grammatical syntax [peep the grammar]; often being described as being the “White Black Guy”….I fucking hate that. I’m always black enough when I get pulled over, and my interests aren’t color-coded; open your mind.

I digress, my friend is a grown man with his own thoughts and Lord knows, that’d be a task to change. His kid though? It bothered me all day. His child is going to view music as white, black, and whatever else instead of what it should be at the end of the day….

Good or bad.

Not to sound like the older cat at the barbershop where everything was better in “his day”; but in what I’d consider the golden era of rap, 1980-1992, you had EVERYTHING. Experimentation, storytelling, mashing, consciousness, raw styles, flash, trash talk, and so much more. Everything was done just enough; not too excessively. Rap from the early 80’s to the early 90’s had to be the most exciting genre to watch unfold, because it was open to being whatever you needed it to be. There were no definitions. The most creative musical form out there.

Now, it seems like the artists that still believe in that notion are pushed to the backburner and considered irrelevant. Trap-stars, self-proclaimed killers, and hood figures are the order of the day. They all boast about the same things, their stories an unoriginal tapestry of uninspired wordplay. A dark society demands dark figures to place on a pedestal, AND OUR CHOICES ARE ENDLESS!

What people are failing to understand is that your soundtrack, the music you take in, has a huge effect on who you are and what you think. Especially in the case above where it molds our youth. African Americans already have a complex where ignorance is glorified and education/outside the box thought is considered weak or selling out. What other culture do you know where you’d gain more widespread respect holding a glock then cradling a schoolbook?

Ludacris wants to tackle serious issues in Release Therapy, wins a Grammy, and gets called a sellout for his troubles.

Wayne, wants to add a little rock to his sound and he’s already got people saying he’s “gone white”. At least he’s trying something different, whether it will be good remains to be seen.

Meanwhile, OJ Da Juiceman and Gucci Mane receive praise for wearing ignorant values on their chest; lacking the talent and creativity to make their stories worth a damn. Their stories used as motivators for people with no idea what that life is truly like. They see the flash and hear their boasts and think that’s the way to escape mediocrity and poverty. All they find for themselves is a trap more expensive then whence they came. The streets are harsh. The means to survive them are even worse and I ask this question to any fan of rappers who love to tout their body count or total bricks sold.

If that life was so good, so awesome; why not do that instead of schmooze at label parties and pop expensive collars? Why grind so hard to sell rhymes to get out of the hood in the first place? They’d still be there.

Have we grown so callous that we can’t appreciate the steps The Beastie Boys, 3rd Bass, Pharcyde, Tribe, Run DMC, and so many others tried to do to make hip-hop not only innovative, but an outlet for all? By definition, the white/sellout rap that some would say Lupe, Gym Class, and others do is the true essence of the art. Unfortunately, not enough hate or guns or drugs to make it relevant to an age where vice and violence aren’t just the answer…

…it’s the punctuation.

I can’t recall when struggle and hardship was just a “black or white” thing. I’m thrown off that you can’t be real talk or create something unique without being scrutinized by masses who choose to be so closed minded, accepting of the fact that they don’t want better. Music often times is a reflection of the times. And if the music is any reflection, then we’ve grown as uninspired and cliché as ever. It’s really sad.

There is a place for the subject matter. There is not a place in thinking that’s all there is to my beloved Hip-Hop. I find myself looking to her and asking what happened? Like a relationship gone sour, but you’re still locked in. When did she let ANYONE define what she was. All Hip-Hop had to be was possibility. Much like life, possibility makes it so worthwhile.

Much like life unfortunately, you have too many who’d rather take the easy way and not blaze their own way. It’s easier to be a killer, a pusher, a follower. So they set their soundtrack to that and pray it’s not too complicated for them to understand.

Do we fear better? Fear something new and exciting? Brave? Do the masses hate on Release Therapy because Luda because he sold out for a Grammy, or because it was harsh truths we weren’t ready to hear? Is it easier to turn your swag on; while turning off issues that still plague us as spit by Nas or K’Naan? How long are we going to be mad for no reason? Hurt others and us for no reason? Believe that hood fables are all we should aspire to learn?

These questions rattle through my brain 24-7 while I defend who I am and what I listen to. The art is on the verge of collapsing under the weight of sheer ignorance and it’s the few who still realize what Hip-Hop is that keep it going. I never thought I’d see the day I’d have to defend liking Andre 3000, as if he isn’t as real as the rap game could be; with the talent to match. Too bubblegum I guess, despite FEATURES that have been more raw then whole albums of his contemporaries. Since when did a man who blends everything that rap could be and then some have to come under fire for being too watered down for Hip-Hop?

It makes me wish I could stop the madness and give up. Then I realize all I can do is keep my ears open, accept all styles and flows, and remember that it can be only good or bad. That’s my responsibility to Hip-Hop.

What are you doing to make sure it survives another day?

Or perhaps I’m just being too white for you?

But since when was having a voice, being white? Or black? I thought intelligence was human. I suppose to enjoy Hip-Hop these days; I should just stop with that, right?

Right?