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There was a time, right before the Justice Department gave up what little pretense remained of their original mission statement and became a full time enforcer for the RIAA/MPAA, that the "mixtape" was a legitimate avenue to hip hop success. What originally began as a way for DJs like Brucie B to advertise their services back in the early 80's was transformed, in no small part by one Curtis Jackson, into a relatively cheap, supremely effective, promotional tool focused on the emcee. Taking a cue from mixtape entrepreneur turned pseudo-celebrity DJ Clue, who spent so much time talking over each song in the name of self promotion that he became something of a running joke in hip hop, Jackson went one step further and turned each of his mixtapes into an hour long musical infomercial for 50 Cent The Brand rather than 50 Cent The Emcee. The rapping on his mixtapes was besides the point - of the dozens of hits that he jacked for beats, only one or two of his mixtape remakes offered up any memorable innovation over the original (for example Give It To Me's achievement of being even less subtle than Busta Rhymes' clumsy collaboration with Mariah Carey) - so much so that the highlight of each song invariably arrived when 50 gave up the charade of trying to string together words that rhymed and began speaking directly to the audience, focusing his rage and wit on whatever rapper, label owner, boxer, or celebrity happened to be the easiest target at the moment. (Clearly aware that his rantings had become the main draw, 50 Cent eventually brought that same approach to his official releases as well with the high/low point being the use of one of Pete Rock's best beats as a backdrop for a two minute dialog covering topics as diverse as what he charged Ghaddafi for a personal performance to the role he played in The Game's regrettable decision to have a butterfly tattooed on his face.)
With 50's success, and the subsequent success of his G-Unit crew, his approach to mixtapes became a blueprint that other up-and-coming artists would follow to achieve mainstream success. Perhaps the most successful was DJ Drama, a dj who made up for his lack of skill behind the turntables with a knack for marketing and promotion. His "Gangsta Grillz" series of mixtapes became so successful that they not only generated hundreds of thousands of dollars of revenue (allegedly), they also turned Drama into something of a Kingmaker within hip hop (proof of which being the fact that his selection of Asher Roth for a Gangsta Grillz feature briefly turned the college fratboy/rap hobbyist into a buzzworthy emcee).
The days of the mixtape being a jumping off point to a successful rap career abruptly came to an end during the late hours of January 15th, 2007, when an Atlanta SWAT team, directed onsite by employees of the RIAA, raided Drama's office and had him and his business partner, and fellow dj, Don Cannon arrested. He was initially charged with owning unregistered firearms - which the national media, seemingly being fed talking points by the RIAA, breathlessly reported as being a stockpile equivalent to that of the Koresh compound's - but the true crime was making money off of mixtapes without giving the RIAA a cut of the profits. Thus marked the end of an era for the mixtape, as the majority of commercial outlets for the tapes shut down within hours in fear of further reprisals; it certainly didn't slow the tide of mixtape releases themselves, as any and every basement emcee with a pirated copy of protools and photoshop began pumping out tapes faster than gmail's spam filter could block them, but it was never again as effective a tool for establishing an artist (Odd Future being a notable, recent exception) or for keeping an established artist within the limelight.
The purpose of my recapping events from the previous decade is twofold: first, to put the recent collaboration between DJ Drama and 50 Cent - Gangsta Grillz: The Lost Tape - into context. Second, and more importantly, is that the history of the mixtape is far more interesting than 50 and Drama's latest contribution to it. What once would have been a significant event, the joining of forces between two mixtape giants, has inspired little more than repetitious, perfunctory blog posts regurgitating the original email blast that announced the release. Deservedly so because, though there are a couple of tracks on The Lost Tape that show signs of the energy and passion for rapping that 50 Cent once had in his Power of a Dollar days, for the most part this offering is utterly forgettable beyond the names that appear on the cover of the tape. It's a watered down version of 50 Cent's previous mixtapes and it's something of an insult, both to the listener and to his former Queensbridge nemesis, that he would jack the title of Nas' album for this. Perhaps the strongest reaction this tape is likely to provoke is a brief bit of bemusement at the cynical decision to tag the AraabMuzik produced song Murder One with "Featuring Eminem," despite the fact that Eminem appears just long enough to mumble twelve words ("I was thinkin'...you should go back to the old 50 Cent").
There are a couple of noteworthy moments on The Lost Tape, however. For those of you who have been around this site long enough to remember our first mixtape in 2005, you'll be excited to know that Precious Paris, the female emcee who recorded a couple of songs for the classic "33Jones Mix-Mas 2005" tape, resurfaces on a track with 50 and Snoop Dogg. Not to pat myself on the back or anything, but let's all take a moment to appreciate the fact that I was seven years ahead of 50 Cent on that one:
50 Cent featuring Snoop Dogg and Precious Paris - Remain Calm (right-click to d/l)
And here's what is perhaps the best cut off of The Lost Tape, which features 50 rapping in his Columbia Records-era flow:
50 Cent - You a Killer, Cool (right-click to d/l)
5/24/2012 3:30:00 AM posted by Fresh