Vibe.com, April 24th, 2006
Case in point was USA Today, which released a feature story entitled, Money in The Mixtape earlier last week.
The article shows how hip hop artists build their street credibility and gain sales via the underground scene by feeding the streets' hunger with mixtapes.
USA Today cites DJ Clue as a pioneer of the mixtape game, dating back to 1990, in which he had and continues to have a knack for breaking exclusive tracks.
However it’s 50 Cent, who is credited for changing the way a mixtape is perceived.
“50 Cent revolutionized the mixtape game,” DJ Drama, who helped introduce stars like T.I. and Young Jeezy with his own Gangsta Grillz mixtape series, told USA Today. “This game has nothing to do with the numbers. It has to do with the streets, and when the streets talk, the labels pay attention.”
The labels started paying attention to ‘Fif after he was shot nine times in 2001 and subsequently dropped from Columbia Records. Instead of shopping a demo at that time, 50 deluged the streets with an incessant arsenal of mixtapes, until Eminem wisely signed him to Shady/Aftermath for $1 million.
Clue vividly remembers 50’s grind to get on.
“50 Cent and Sha Money XL were basically outside the radio station every day trying to get their stuff on the radio when they had no buzz," Clue told USA Today. "We just kept doing stuff, and he was putting out mixtapes of his own that were hot, and a combination of the two was a lethal combination."
Later, the article shifts to detail how artists don’t only utilize mixtapes to get on the hip hop map, but also to stay afloat.
Pusha T of the Clipse explained how mixtapes kept the group’s name in hip hop's current landscape.
The article also includes comments from the likes of Chamillionaire, Lupe Fiasco, Saigon, Havoc of Mobb Deep and even R&B; singer Trey Songz, who uses mixtapes to express feelings other than traditional themes of love.
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