Mixtapes have been a part of hip-hop since hip-hop started, although back in the early 60s they were called “party tapes”, when club DJ’s would record the hot club tracks because people just had to listen to them at home. U can say DJs like Grandmaster flash and the furious five, African bambataa and others were the ones who pioneered the mixtape act. Mixtapes were born for the same reason they still thrive today: To feed the streets. Mixtapes are normally hosted by Djs, where they feature artistes who rap on a couple of beats, including beats of already released (especially) hit singles.
Now fast forward a couple of years and lets see why an artist should release a mixtape today, I can think of 2 reasons
Just for the love of hip-hop
In this case the artist isn’t trying to gain commercial success, just mainly street credibility. Here, the artist normally jumps on instrumentals of already released singles and not too much effort is put into the production and promotion of these mixtapes. Mainly for already established artists though
To gain exposure
Some artists release mixtapes to gain exposure, mainly unsigned acts looking to get their music to the ears of record company executives
Now in naija, as an artist especially upcoming artists who want to release mixtapes, lets take a look at some key points, shall we
HOW EFFECTIVE IS A MIXTAPE
How effective is a mixtape in naija right now for an upcoming artist? We look at distribution, not many upcoming Nigerian artists would get a distribution deal for a hard copy mixtape (it’s quite hard to get for an album sef) so they upload their mixtapes on the internet and appeal to blogs and sites to advertise their music. How many people have internet connections or are willing to spend more than 30 minutes and use a few Megabytes off their limited data plans to download a mixtape from an artist their not even sure of, it’s much easier to pay 150 for an album even if it’s not worth listening to. A lot of people seem to forget that the most effective means of getting ur music out there is THE RADIO. How many radio stations would agree to play a mixtape track? Or how many artists would be willing to go through the hassle of trying to distribute a mixtape track through radio stations especially when you have to settle some of the presenters? When u think about it, u’ll be like “men,all dis stress for mixtape, how much I dey make from the thing sef”. I don’t know what a mixtape can do for you commercially, but I know that even already established artists don’t get more than 30, 000 downloads on a mixtape, then imagine selling just 30, 000 albums or having just 30, 000 people listen to your music (and that’s being optimistic)
HOW EFFECTIVE IS A SINGLE OR STRING OF SINGLES
A lot of acts have made millions and built careers off the success of just one single (especially here in naija), if u think about it, all the effort in making a mixtape, the bars written, the money spent on studio time and featuring other artists, if u channel all that energy and produce a smashing single, I bet it’ll do you more good than 10 mixtapes, both commercially and otherwise. A lot of artist who say they not trying to sell out, that they doing real hip-hop, but the truth of the issue is that you can combine both. How are you going to feed when you’ve chosen to be a professional artist but ur music isn’t doing shit for u.
LET THE RECORDS SHOW
Let’s take a look at some artistes who started their careers by releasing mixtapes and those that did with singles
Mode 9: while he’s one of the most respected hip-hop artists in Nigeria, I don’t think mode 9 has achieved that commercial appeal he deserves, while at a time he seemed to be getting the shine he deserved, he dimmed out again. He started his career by releasing the Malcom IX mixtape. Do you know that mode 9 has like 4 mixtapes, u wey dey claim hip-hop and mode 9 fan, how many u get?
I would love to mention more people who started their careers by releasing mixtapes, but honestly I haven’t still heard their shit and they’re out here I tell u.
M.I: we all love and respect m.i, word has it that m.i released a couple of projects before we heard crowd mentality, but that just goes to prove my point because, most of us haven’t heard tracks from any of the projects. But once m.i dropped “crowd mentality” and then “safe”……….well u can see where he is now
Naeto-C: dropped “sitting on top”, then “u know my p” then “kini big deal”……………now he’s 10/10
Do you know how many people are waiting patiently for ice prince’s album to drop…….i bet he does a million in his 1st week, u might say dis because of his monster single “oleku”
CONCLUSION
Mixtapes are important for hip-hop, I love mixtapes, but as an upcoming artist u should ask yourself whether releasing a mixtape is the best move for you, because hundreds of mixtapes go unnoticed, all that time and effort just to have only your closest friends and a few people listen to your music.
Speaking of mixtapes though, some very dope mixtapes have been released, one of my personal favorites is “clone wars” by show dem camp. Check out our mixtape page for some highly recommended naija mixtapes, I assure you they are worth the 30 mins and mega bytes.
Let’s know what you think too, Class Dismissed!!!
