Labor of Love

So as you may know, sometimes I have mixed feelings about mix tapes.  A lot of times for me, they become really irrelevant quickly.  Its pretty rare to have a classic mix tape.  After two weeks its pretty much forgotten, especially since most of the time an artist is using other people's beats.  However, and its happening more frequently over the past year, mix tapes have become a major tool in an artist's success, even if they don't stand alone as a huge part of their career.  Trey Songz can thank a lot of his success to them.  T.I. obviously knows that its a necessary move in order remain the King of the South. But, as Drake says in this interview, songs on mix tapes can no longer be songs that you don't feel are good enough for your album.  They must be thoughtful, and I even would dare to say stronger than an album song.  When an album comes out, it has to be somewhat commercial and I would say sometimes under less scrutiny than a mix tape.  I feel like the underground shows no mercy on a mix tape. If its bad, the internet will be buzzing immediately on how much its sucks.  I appreciate the role mix tape play in present day hip hop, it keeps an artist hungry and humble.

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