Re: Question from an old man

Well, I'm not that THAT old (53), but I'm definitely out of touch with a lot of the newer music, especially if it's outside of the genres I like. I've noticed on Pitchfork that a number of releases by R&B or rap/hip-hop artists are described as a "mixtape." I've never bothered to try to understand this until today when I saw this summary for a review by the singer George Riley:

"The London R&B singer’s new mixtape shuffles through retro sounds faster than a TRL lineup, marrying early 2000s bubblegum pop with UK garage and dance."

So, clicked the link and read the article. From what I can tell, all of the music is Riley's. So, where is the "mix"? And it's not literally released on a tape, is it?

I seriously don't understand this. Can someone please explain this to the old guy who just purchased a new vintage receiver and quality speakers to better enjoy my '80s new wave records?

Mixtape in this usage generally means an unofficial album - something an artist releases on their own, often for free, usually without going through a label. Sonetimes the artist is working through changes to their sound and the "mixtape" is sort of a preview of work in progress, like a few years ago when Charli XCX released her Pop mixtapes, where she was transitioning from a straight-uo dance pop artist to an auto-tune deranged "your speakers are shredded" distorto-synth hyperpop thingamajig.

I have no idea why "mixtape" came to be the official name for "this is an album but for some reason we don't want to call it one."

Thanks, man. That explains it I guess, except for why it's called what it's called. Seems like it's neither a mix nor a tape. And for those of us of a certain age, the term "mixtape" means something else entirely.

The lingo emerges from hip hop, where initially a "mix tape" was an unofficial release of an unsigned musician's work, including uncleared samples and collaborations, that was sold on cassette, and later CD or MP3, without going through a label. When things migrated online, websites like Datpiff became the primary vehicles for distributing mixtapes (note that the space got lost between the two words, distancing them from actual tape!). Then, like most things that emerge as underground Black culture, it became more of a commercial enterprise adopted even by major label artists, going immediately onto streaming services without the promotion of an album cycle.

I always laughed when I heard something like "Drake mixtape" because I remember putting "Northern Sky" on a cassette for my then-girlfriend (now wife) in the early 2000s. A very different Drake, a very different mix tape.