Countless genres and music scenes have had a close history with tapes over time, but no genre has been as closely tied together as rap has been with mixtapes. Unlike most older genres simply adopting mixtapes as the technology of the time, and then moving on to CD’s, then streaming, then (*shudders*) playlists, the growth of rap out of the earliest days in New York was due in large part to the ability to hear tapes custom made by your favorites. That close bond has preserved mixtapes for the generations that have never actually had one in their hands.
Unfortunately, It’s begun to feel like mixtapes have become a lost art for rap in 2024. It’s incredibly rare for older and more established artists to release one, and while some younger rappers (mainly Yeat) have managed to slowly build audiences off their mixtape success, but once that success comes the mixtapes go as the pressure to go viral and stay on top at all times sets in. It’s taken a lot of the individuality out of the genre. Mixtapes used to be a common way for some of the biggest rappers out to further show off how skilled they were, or could be a moment for some teenager you’d never heard of to burst onto the scene and immediately take shit over. Partially due to a mix collapse of the blogosphere (which heavily inspired much of us writing this and the picks we made), streaming services spike in popularity, and shitty copyright laws regarding sampling, things just haven’t been the same.
Because talking about rap is one of our favorite things, we have continued with another chance for some of us at EIN to go back and celebrate a new batch of our favorite rappers’ tapes and some of the tapes that made us love rap so much! Be sure to check out part one if you missed it!
I first heard Joey Bada$$ when my boss, at the time, threw on B4.DA.$$ (2015). This was probably close to when it was released, but I am not exactly sure. I am sure that I loved it and became an immediate fan of Joey. His flow and vibe hit the old head itch I didn’t know I needed scratched. So, I had to check out his earlier work. 1999 was the most lauded of his projects, and it was this mixtape that made me truly rethink the definition of mixtapes, but I wouldn’t hear it until it was released on streaming services in 2018.
Trunk Music Part One covered Chance the Rapper’s Acid Rap, which I had heard and loved, but it didn’t really register to me as a mixtape. The project was so unique at the time, so adventurous with its childlike wonder that, in my head, it was a full-fledged album and remains my favorite Chance project. So, 1999, which contained a lot of beats I hadn’t heard before from Pro Era colleague Chuck Strangers, Statik Selektah, MF DOOM, J Dilla, and Knxwledge, among others, felt like another album, as well.
Though, the giveaway is that 1999 is about bars. The beats are immaculate and catch the old-school vibe even more than B4.AD.$$. did, but there isn’t quite the same chorus and hook game that a true album has. Bada$$ channels Nas as a chameleon through different vibes, frequently, stringing street tales together with mad sequential rhymes, like on the outstanding “Survival Tactics” with Captain Steez, ‘Get your intel right, your intelligence is irrelevant/ But it’s definite, I spit more than speech impediments/ Brooklyn is the residence, the best and it’s evident’ or when the beat drops out and he acapellas until he is almost out of breath, flipping the rhyme scheme as the beat comes back. ‘They sayin’ I’m the best, I’m like, ‘You’re so right,’’ he gloats afterwards
The reverb rich boom bap on “Hardknock” hits like Biggie’s “Warning” albeit less violent, a lament on daily violence in the face of poverty. This time he literally references Nas, ‘I’m out for presidents to represent me.’ This is juxtaposed with a Pinky And The Brain sample on the endlessly fun and upbeat MF DOOM produced “World Domination”, where the funky bassline and lo-fi piano melody nod to Jurassic 5’s bounce. Statik Selektah’s live scratching on “Don’t Front” with CJ Fly elevates the track to a level of Native Tongues era beats.
1999 is a smorgasbord for old heads. Which is even more impressive when you consider that Joey wasn’t old enough to vote when this was recorded. The dude is an ardent student of hip hop, a Flatbush valedictorian, peppering lyrical references going back decades. True to the classic vibes, Bada$$ has the whole Pro Era crew on the 11 minute closer “Third Eye Shit”. This also feels like a response to Odd Future’s The OF Tape Vol. 2, closer “Oldie”, which is also a long-ass posse track, but throwing East Coast conscious rap to Odd Future’s West Coast, edgier delivery. I mean, there aren’t any fart sounds.
Either way, I fucking love a posse track. Let each emcee flex. It feels like some of the truest love for the art and collaboration to share space with a roomful of rappers. And that’s what 1999 feels like, a love letter to the culture from a bunch of kids trying to stake their claim in the greater world of hip hop. It isn’t the first or the last. In fact, there isn’t even anything overly innovative on 1999, but it is so well executed that the homage feels timeless.
-Broc
Right at the end of 2005, Re-Up Gang would drop the second installment in their soon to be acclaimed We Got It 4 Cheap mixtape series. Re-Up Gang consists of Pusha T and Malice of the legendary Virginia hip-hop duo Clipse and Philadelphia rappers Ab-Liva and Sandman. Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 would both act as appetizers and runways for Clipse to prime audiences for their upcoming sophomore full-length record. Lord Willin’ and Hell Hath No Fury are absolutely essential and unforgettable releases that cemented Clipse as an unforgettable duo in hip-hop history, but sandwiched in between those seminal albums are two volumes of 2000’s mixtape brilliance that left a legacy all their own. We will be focusing on Vol. 2 as that is the superior release of the two, but we can’t move on without mentioning a bit of Vol. 1.
Vol. 1 lays an immaculate foundation for Re-Up Gang to build upon. “Re-Up Anthem” and “You Know My Style” back to back serve as a sweet spot on the tape. These tracks are retoolings of “Shake That (Remix)” by Ray J and B2K, and “You Know My Style” by Nas respectively. Our heroes flow over these beats flawlessly while Clinton Sparks embellishes and fleshes out their instrumentals to better suit Re-Up Gang‘s cold hearted rhymes. They make a point to flip Nas’ hook on “You Know My Style”, rapping, ‘Hate me but you love my style, been getting money since I was a mere child. Bitch hold your breath, eat a dick up til’ there ain’t none left.’ This rolls up everything one needs to know about these tapes. Clinton will embellish and often improve the base instrumentals, our MCs will flow and rhyme over these instrumentals better than their original artists did, and they will do it while aiming to be more cold blooded than before. These are the makings of a hot off the stove tape for the ages.
Vol. 2 flips so many hits of its era that it’s not even funny. Listening to it can often feel like turning into a liminal radio station perpetually stuck in 2005 where the hosts have no reservation about yelling at you through the stereo about the gravitas of their cocaine exploits. I very much get the same feeling from this music as I do popping in a bootleg VHS tape. It is grainy, it is nasty, and it is perfectly stitched together with pieces of simultaneously conflictory and complimentary rags. The tape’s flip of “Hate It Or Love It” and “One Thing” as always prove to outshine the originals. On “Hate It Or Love It” Sandman works in a smooth flow with the bars, ‘I just keep on my grind, heat on my mind, heat on my hip. Eagle the iron, eager to grip, easy to flip.’ These types of nice simple bouncy flows with complementing smooth coke laced rhymes are wall to wall on this tape. I keep this project downloaded on my phone, and whenever I wanna hear either of these two excellent pieces of bling pop production, I always reach for the Re-Up Gang versions before the originals. Aside from interludes, “Zen” serves as the sole piece of original production on the whole tape. Clinton Sparks cobbles together a gorgeously buzzing piece of electronic hip-hop. Claps play together with that crispy zested synth to provide a snapling canvas for the team’s rhymes. Some of the most drug fueled bars on the whole project turn up here and turn it into an excellent centerpiece for the project.
Vol. 3 would be released in 2008 and tie a serviceable bow on the series as a whole. The heights of Vol. 2 were in the rear view mirror and soon Clipse and Re-Up Gang would both be dissolved as an entity. While the perfection of that 2002-2006 era would never be attained again for Clipse, the mark they left upon music history would not be forgotten. We Got It 4 Cheap, Vol. 2 stands as a triumph in mixtape history and an early influence on the gilded age of 2000’s and 2010’s tapes. Without releases like Vol. 2 we may have never gotten to experience the DatPiff gold rush that was soon to inundate low budget music fans. Go find a seedy malware laced forum link to download this masterpiece if you have yet to do so.
-Bryson Chapman
Only two mixtapes can do it. With both of them inextricably linked, the rap duo of Heems and Kool A.D. (trio if we’re being real ‘cuz Dapwell is the fuckin’ man) had so many shining moments, it’s hard to forget. With their debut only having a few standout tracks, and the split soon after, the bonafide New York spitter, and West Coast art-rap weirdo exude so much irreverence, clever word play, borrowed one liner homages, and couple that with shining moments from other up and comers (shout out Lakutis and Despot), and rap veterans alike. Heems has since come back into the fold, aiming to become another New York legend; which should be an easy path since back then he shined the brightest on every single tracks with bars like ‘I’m for cop killin’ / never killed a cop, tho/ more the type to burn a spliff and eat a bag of nachos/ More the type to read a novel, maybe bout Navajos / On a sunny day I’m on the block in a poncho,’ and ‘India Jones, nice with mine plus the punchline/ On the lunch line I munch mines when it’s crunch time/ Dumb rhymes, flow for days, yes I got several raps/ Mixtape was just us but now we work with several cats.’
Included are New York rap legends both back alley/street corner preacher El-P on one of their best tracks, “Sit Down, Man” where El-P lays everything to waste in one of his underappreciated gems of a feature, and the finesse king himself Roc Marciano on the aptly titled “Roc Marciano Joint” on a gritty as fuck Mike Finito beat that has all three in prime position before DR fell apart for good.
Aside from Dapwell’s adlibs, Heems murder everything flow, and Kool A.D.’s working out his idiosyncrasies, while finding new ones in realtime, another shining spot was always Lakutis’ clever and slick wordplay, ‘with the Nautica jacket, from like ‘96 or something, (that shit is fly, dawg)‘ absolutely murdering his features on both tracks “Rapping 2 U” and “Amazing”. Both are examples of what could have been had my fellow long haired rhyme bro didn’t fade into the void.
It was a fun detour in the socially conscious meets street grit, with a fresh air perspective from two new voices that had a lot of fun shit to say. Heems stays committed to the craft, and is still top tier. Wherever Dapwell is, I hope that hype man finally got his hype man from being so hype, man, and I hope Kool A.D. found peace. Slacker rap ain’t ever been the same since.
R.I.P Das Racist
-Daniel Reiser
So I went more artistic and large-scale on the last part, now it’s time to get fucking GRIMY and VIOLENT with ILLFIGHTYOU. I’m excited because a lot of people don’t know about this trio from Tacoma, WA. Made up of Khris P (who also produces music with his brother LOU SWANG as the duo KReamteam), UGLYFRANK, and EvergreenOne (called Glenn now), they make some of the most ridiculously confrontational and barred-up rap that I can’t help but compare to greats like Onyx and Sean Price. If you know me, you know those are two of the highest compliments I can pay to any rapper and it’s well deserved.
Two self-titled tapes materialized from the trio like a federal court case last decade, the first in 2013. The cover is a collagey mess of famous faces (shout out Tia Carrere), guns, drugs, gold chains, and more, an amalgamation of not only the themes of the tape, but also the mayhem captured by the trio. If you like hardcore, rough-ass rap with cool production, just play it and evaporate your furniture – you won’t need me to tell you why this shit rips.
ILLFIGHTYOU had an incorrigible, insatiable thirst for violence, money, and women; three dudes on full lizard brain mode moving through life like they were in a video game without a care in the world and a fuck and/or shit to give. They’re the sonic equivalent of tossing a cooked grenade into a house party just for fun. It wasn’t just the energy though, they were all improbably good rap technicians. I imagine not all of Khris P’s production will vibe with all people, but it has a delightful layer of dirt on it. Sometimes it has these weird futuristic synth touches like on “BATCAVE” from their first tape, elsewhere it’s sinister piano rhythms that sound like the motif for an evil cartoon character like on “‘92”.
All three members pack extendo mags when it comes to ways to describe criminal activity (jokingly of course!) and the different flows to deliver it all. Every song is loaded and you’re never wanting for quotables that are clever and fun, brutal and edgy, or all of the above. Glenn’s dedication to nihilistic violence song after song proves that every rap group like this needs a wild white boy that’ll say just about anything. Dude mentions Columbining someone’s mom with a sniper and suicide bombing Coachella in two different songs. And yet, he can get pretty candid about struggling with depression and soothing it with alcohol on his “MIDNIGHT” verse. It’s all part of the game, but he can always add a sense of levity to it – ‘Take me fuckin’ serious, my favorite person’s Lil B’.
Where Glenn is consistently the most unhinged, Khris P and UGLYFRANK tend to incorporate more wordplay in their verses. FRANK has a more stream-of-consciousness flow fitting a lot of words into a small place like Rock from Heltah Skeltah if he were from the PNW and getting tricky with his vocab, but sometimes the simple stuff hits the hardest (‘I’m tryna swerve a Ferrari and get the fuck out this Jeep/I whip the work ’til it’s rocky, sorry my partners gon’ eat‘). Khris is generally a bit slower, more deliberate, and arguably has the smoothest flows of the three. The members complements each other extraordinarily well, the point where for a fan like me, it’s hard to listen to any of their solo work (it’s still good though).
ILLFIGHTYOUTOO was an interesting sequel. Clotheslining your entire shit in 2020 when we were all already emotionally compromised, you could hear the advancements made to the production game. This sounds a little brighter and varied with better sampling, but retained that broken glass, used condom in the gutter feel from the first tape. The trio still sound tight on the mic as well. My favorite track is a close race, but “F***WASHINGTON” rises above with its righteously pissed off hook from Khris P in a post-George Floyd police state evoking the same feelings people have had for decades:
‘I say no justice, no peace, I just bought a new piece
Pistol in my hand, boy, middle finger for the police
Eeny meeny, watch it blow, which piggy will it eat?
Blood spillin’ in the street, no justice, no peace’
ILLFIGHTYOU just had the energy of a night of GTA with cheats on and all the chaos and unpredictability that it comes with, a permanent maximum wanted level on their heads whenever they got on the mic, similar to Odd Future, but for (and by) a different crowd entirely. ‘Top ten Tyson knockout rap’ as Glenn says on “DDT”. Both of their tapes are astounding dedications to deviance, the kind of thing that would get Congress eternally butthurt if they came out in the early ‘90s. And I love it. Let’s enjoy what we got because it’s probably all we’ll get.
Tyler, The Creator looms large over Earl Sweatshirt’s debut mixtape. Tyler released Earl on Tumblr and his is the first voice heard rapping on the short intro track. Earl is everything you would expect from the protégé of one of the most purposefully offensive and divisive artists in a genre known for the same. But it’s important to remember that in 2010 when this mixtape dropped, Earl was just sixteen years old. Launched forward by Odd Future and Tyler, Earl displays a daunting amount of raw talent and potential for maturity. Which would absolutely come to fruition by the time Doris released just three short years later.
Earl’s apathetic delivery is laid back and syrupy. He has all of the oozing flow of mumble rap with the introspection and piercing intellect they sorely lack. Self-described on the tape as ‘Smart mouthed and quick witted.’ and laying down ‘Verses written with scalpels.’ His wordplay is sarcastic and cutting. Earl employs an intricate rhyming strategy carefully crafting lines, presenting biting disses and grotesque imagery with subtle but powerful hesitations and shifts in tone.
The music video for “Earl” showcases a blender of drugs, skate punk antics, and blood. Lots of blood. The song itself is an obvious highlight and its inclusion up front is a welcome invitation. Pitched low and repetitive the Hodgy Beats feature “Moonlight” begins with the classic one liner- ‘Started thinking about a normal life has got me suicidal’ only to unravel into ‘Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight.’ On “Couch” Tyler and Earl trade bars. Tyler ‘kills him on his own track.’ Which notion Earl challenges successfully on the next track “Kill”. “Stapleton” closes out the mixtape strong boasting ‘There’s only one sweatshirt / make ’em bow down till their mother fucking necks hurt.’
In a crew like Odd Future it can be difficult to get a moment to yourself. Bravado, banter, and trash talking abound and surround OF whether on group projects or when they venture off on ‘solo’ endeavors. When there’s a feature on nearly every track and shared production credits, what even is solo? But the collective forges strength and peak performances through a continual breaking down and building up.
Somehow through all the blatant homophobia and misogyny, Earl’s charm shines through. He’s endearing and entertaining despite the crass content. It would be overly simplistic to dismiss all the antics as simply horrorcore, there’s a depth between the lines no matter how offensive. Maybe there is something to the juxtaposition of sloppy beats and silly bullying counterpointed by incredible rapping and distorted synths allowing Earl to go both low and high. Switching up the punches for a harder impact.
Especially in hindsight Earl feels beyond rough around the edges to the point of feeling kinda unfinished. If not necessarily rushed maybe more so put out as-is. Presented raw for consumption without comment. Like much of Earl’s work the mixtape is painfully short. The sound is jarring in sections and it’s inconsistent as hell. “Moonlight” is emblematic of the mixed bag nature of the mixtape overall. But still there is something to all the amateur fumblings that offers a glimpse of greater things to come. At the end of the day this mixtape is a youthful display of toxic fun.
In the almost fifteen years since this tape came out Earl has brilliantly transitioned from rapper to poet. Watching his progression over time has been the highlight of Odd Future‘s rise, explosion, and dissolution. Looking back now at this humble beginning it only makes it more awesome how Earl has stepped out of OF’s shadow and grown into his own. As Tyler proclaims in the introduction ‘Earl, say something / Trust me guys he can rap / Just say something.’ Earl has plenty to say. Listen.
-Adam P. Terry
A tape that highlights probably some of the most notable bits of SGP’s fortes, NASA Gang is a tape that really put Markese’s name on the map. Released on September 11th, 2010 (ouch that edge), SpaceGhostPurrp’s NASA Gang became quickly identifiable for its distinct production value, use of experimental ideas and samples, and just an overall tone that became a trademark for the notorious rapper upon its release. While SpaceGhostPurrp is considered quite a controversial figure, with many strange stories having gone around shortly after multiple feuds with figures such as A$AP Mob, there is no denying his music made an impression on the underground hip-hop community, even if only briefly. There doesn’t seem to be much more spoken about his career past 2017, but this write-up hones in just a little bit on what I suppose one could consider his heydays, if you will.
Drenched in ‘90s nostalgia, sometimes considered an early precursor to the first usage of the term ‘phonk’, and a myriad of aggressive lyricism, NASA Gang goes hard on intergalactic levels. One of the more popular tracks from the tape, “Friday (Strip Club)” hits instrumentally like a vaporwave track, with plenty of tropes of trap hip-hop layered overtop. Tracks like “For The Love of Money” and the titular “NASA Gang (#Swag)” vibe like popular club bangers of the mid-to-late ‘90s scene, as well, with the kind of energy that finds a steady balance between dance and grit; Getting the bodies gyrating as well as the adrenaline pumping. Even with the lo-fi mud of the mix, somehow every song feels authentically crafted with a unique power, as opposed to just a cheap cop-out for not being able to afford a more expensive sound engineer – the whole tape is delightfully raw in this way.
Though lyrically it seems to be all about callouts, money, weed, and women, SGP sounds like he’s just having the time of his life from start to finish on each track. There’s a particular simplicity radiating from the tape that makes it both accessible but still cut to its very own path. I won’t say any song you hear on here is meant to, nor will, raise your IQ, but it does make a great soundtrack to cruise up and down Miami to during a nice sunset. Even as fierce or intimidating as SGP’s persona and subject matter tends to lean, somehow the whole aura of NASA Gang is one that seems to lower the blood pressure; but this is certainly no snooze fest.
It’s something about this era of 2010’s trap hip-hop, which pays so much tribute to the Memphis scene while still managing to expand the boundaries, that feels oddly wholesome. Sure, we may not all look back on this tape or similar records with the best light, nor without at least a slight shudder of cringe here and there, but sometimes it’s nice to put on an oldie with a good beat that you don’t have to think too hard about. SpaceGhostPurrp, controversial as he may be, had a way with stylish hooks and flows, not to mention a unique ear for beats that made for some of the more interesting instrumentals to hit this subsect of the genre. All in all, this debut feels like we got introduced to a semi-charmingly unhinged man who knew how to make a really fun record.
-Dylan Nicole Lawson
‘Mac ain’t make it to twenty-seven
Pac ain’t make it to twenty-six
B.I.G. ain’t make it to twenty-five
It’s only right that I gotta get rich’
Ten years ago it’d seem insane for someone like Denzel Curry to consider putting Mac Miller in the same verse as legends like Pac and Biggie. Mac’s early music has some enjoyability, and as a lifelong fan I’m sentimental for it, but it can be childish and unrefined (because Mac was a child when he made it) and he was fairly put in that Asher Roth frat-rap trashcan. Unfair, was the extreme reluctance many had to let Mac grow out of that trashcan despite his improvements on Macadelic, WMWTSO, and producing Vince Staples’ breakout mixtape.
Faces was the turning point for how many perceived Mac. GO:OD AM, Swimming, and Circles are all excellent albums; and Mac was improving as a rapper and producer, and may have topped it but Faces was Mac at his most creative, open, and passionate.
I could fill the rest of this listing musicians’ works that gained an allure when their creator died young, and in many ways Faces exemplifies them. It’s hard to hear Mac talk about his life as he made the tape and not describe Faces as a suicide note. His openness about how quickly his drug addiction was spiraling, and both a fear and an unusual and uncomfortable acceptance of death was alarming.
For a while some of the feelings of dread you got hearing him flippantly joke about overdosing on PCP and dying on “Polo Jeans” were subdued by the fact you could remember that unlike other artists that made projects in this vein Mac recovered, got (California) sober, was dating Ariana Grande, loving life, and because he was okay you could be okay and enjoy Mac and Earl Sweatshirt’s killer verses. It’s not fun anymore.
If I had to say what Mac’s greatest skill was as an artist, it would be his ability to get listeners to share whatever headspace he was in when a project was made. Whether he was head-over-heels in love, or 17 and just graduated high school, or in the depths of depression, he’d open up and share, and Faces is Mac’s best demonstration of his best skill.
I love the movies and music Mac samples throughout Faces to show what he’s been up to. Some didn’t make the cut to the streaming version that came out after his death, Mac was a very avid sampler, but other than the loss of “Diablo” which had to be reworked, (OG “Diablo” is above) and the Gummo dialogue on “Polo Jeans”, much still made it. I couldn’t imagine “It Just Doesn’t Matter” without Bill Murray’s monologue to prep you for Mac’s best rapping (‘I’m on drugs all my new shit wack remember that/I ain’t shit but a fraud/but everyone I know ain’t nothing to god’) ever.
As bleak as Faces is, Mac’s unrelenting gallows humor keeps this closer to black comedy than tragedy. You will never hear more creative ways to describe a debilitating coke habit. ‘Snowflakes keep falling on my expired debit cards’ is one of Mac’s best lines on “Friends” and ScHoolboy Q’s lovably annoying ‘MILLER MAC’ hook is a delight. I love Mac and Sir Michael Rocks‘ back and forth on “What Do You Do”, it’s a great showing for both their senses of humor. Both parts of this feature have no shortage of Earl love, and I would add that I think Earl’s verse on “New Faces v2” is his best. Mac always brought out Earl’s best.
“Happy Birthday” pelts you with Mac’s isolation but the humor wraps it in a decadent bow as to never make you feel uncomfortable – it doesn’t last though. There’s just an overwhelming feeling of despair on “Apparition” (‘I’m line dancing again’) and “Funeral” where it’s painful to hear Mac detail his spiral and his mix of longing for something to pull him out of it and acceptance that nothing will. “Malibu” switches some of the passivity to active thoughts of suicide. And then the tape’s closer, and the song Mac believed would be his last, “Grand Finale”.
‘Let us have a grand finale
The world will be just fine without me
The clown got a smile on his face
It’s goin’ down, we goin’ out with a bang
Are you ready for the fireworks?
It was a silent night ’til the fireworks’
Mac lied.
RIP Mac Miller
-Alex Eubanks
