Too cool for school? Not Drake!
On Friday the 13th of February, a day usually associated with bad luck, Drake fans were feeling pretty lucky after Drizzy suddenly dropped If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late.
In an article for Billboard, Erika Ramirez refers to the release as an album, while in an article for The Washington Post, Soraya Nadia McDonald refers to the release mostly as a mixtape, except for when she refers to the release in the context of it being on iTunes, in which case she calls it an album. The Diamondback’s own Matt Schnabel dubbed it “a haymaker of a surprise album-mixtape hybrid.”
So, what is it? Is it a mixtape or an album?
For one thing, it’s certainly not a tape, a fact that can be forgiven considering the evolution of technology. After all, people still say that they “taped” a TV show even when there was no actual VHS tape involved.
For another thing, if the release had never gone up for sale on iTunes, would there still be a debate over what to call this collection of songs? Does a release have to be free to be considered a mixtape?
Dictionary.com defines a mixtape as “a recording on a cassette tape, CD, or digital medium, consisting of music or songs selected by a single person.” However, the definitions of mixtape on urbandictionary.com, on which anyone can submit a definition, include words like “homemade,” “underground” and “remixed.”
In the ’70s, mixtapes were commonly made by DJs at popular clubs. They would contain new mixes of whatever was being played that night. As the mixtape evolved, it became a way for upcoming rap artists to get their music out to the people. Mixtapes were given away for free on the street. They were recordings of popular gigs. They were innovative and personal and provided an outlet for artists to display nuanced music and ideas in the rap community.
“A mixtape can’t be the songs that don’t make your album, or songs that aren’t good enough to make your album make your mixtape — unless you’re that good. There aren’t that many people that are that good. I’m not that good,” Drake said in a 2010 interview with MTV News.
At the time, his mixtape So Far Gone was dominating the rap music scene, and young Aubrey Graham was ascendant. Now, as If You’re Reading This posits, he’s a king. Does this make a difference?
By Drake’s definition, a mixtape involves songs that wouldn’t necessarily be on an album yet are still good tracks that the artist is proud of. A mixtape isn’t a compilation of extra songs the artist wanted to get rid of, but a collection of tracks that are all their own.
Taken that way, a mixtape is a message. A mixtape is a different perspective. It’s Donald Glover breaking away from the loner pop-rap of Camp with the guttural, posse-heavy cuts of Royalty. It’s Nicki Minaj asserting her cultural dominance with Beam Me Up, Scotty a year before the release of any sort of proper album.
It seems that, with its multiple definitions, the mixtape can’t be bogged down with specifics. But maybe that’s what makes it amazing. The mixtape is what the artist wants it to be. It’s not an EP but not quite an album. It’s a musical entity all its own, and, like 2015 Drake, it commands respect.
