Mixtapes to Albums...

“But he could spit, though…”


“I don’t understand why he hasn’t blown up yet.”

~ Countless Mixtape Fans

written by Just K

Rappers that break into the game via mixtapes often don’t really break into the game. They drop mixtapes, we download them, we celebrate a few of the hot bars, and we keep it moving. Mixtapes are usually filled with rhymes about swag, tossing money made from hustling rocks, and putting hot lead through a n***a while sexing up his hoe. These topics aren’t particularly difficult or original and they’re a million different ways to cover them. If almost anyone can cover these topics, what separates one mixtape rapper from another? Why does one artist that goes the mixtape route end up dropping real albums that go gold or platinum while another mixtape regular remains a dirty worm in the underground scene? For your perusing pleasure, I present From Mixtapes to Mainstream – Your Map to the Above Ground.

A mixtape is a mixtape is a mixtape, or is it?

The problem is that almost all mixtape tracks sound the same. Same topics, same random DJs yelling random sh*t, same random crewmembers all over the same tracks when we never even heard of the featured artist. What can a mixtape artist do to separate his project from the next guy’s? First of all, get some fresh artwork that has absolutely nothing to do with Barack Obama. Next, come up with a slick, intriguing title (that has absolutely nothing to do with Barack Obama) that’ll grab the average person that’s surfing the web for mixtapes. If you can manage getting an important person in the industry to host your mixtape without yelling and busting gunshots are over your songs, now you’re cooking. See how much work goes in before you even put your vocals on a track? At this point, your beat selection should be a variety of original beats, hot beats that people have forgotten about, and a VERY small selection of popular beats that are in current rotation. And finally, you get to rap. Sure you tread through well-worn territory, but you really need a few concepts that are outside of the norm. Or, at the very least, a different approach to the norm. Do something irregular, please! Excite the people. Catch them off guard. Furthermore, at least one of the songs on your mixtape should have some radio potential. By the way, the homeys don’t get on ‘til later.

You’ve got me hooked. Don’t let me go

It’s a very sad thing when your favorite mixtape MC is ripping bars to shreds on his underground work, but then drops some corny “I’ll make it rain on you before we f**k ‘cause I love you girl” radio crap. Do not alienate the people that have been running with you that long by dropping a hot pile of doo doo for the radio. Even worse, if you don’t know how to properly put a radio song together, you won’t gain any new fans. Olds fans gone, new fans not coming. Where does that leave you? Uh-huh. Back on the mixtape grind. Speaking of songs…

A few 16s and a HOOK!

Call it a stereotype if you want, but a lot of the cats that haven’t blown yet simply do not know how to write songs. The most important thing you need is a hook. Simple, easy to sing along to, but it does not have to be geared for the club. Now obviously, this hook should focus the song topic. The lyrics in your verses should still be clever without having a million punch lines and similes. Please don’t dumb it down so much that we don’t recognize the guy from the street albums. And the flow shouldn’t be too difficult to follow. As shocking as it seems, your lyrics don’t have to be extra simple and watered down. However, the hook should be easy to sing along to and the flow should be simple enough to follow. Perfect example of a first single, “Kick, Push” by Lupe Fiasco. Another solid example is “Focus” by Joe Budden. Oh yeah, don’t pick a whack beat, man! It’s hard to balance a hit single with artistic integrity, but get it done. You’re an MC. It’s your job.

Gassed out.

Your best material should be on a CD. If you put out all your heat on the mixtapes, there’s no point to even dropping an album. More difficult than release a solid radio single is releasing quality mixtapes, then releasing albums of higher quality. And the trick is….

hold back a bit on your mixtapes. (Gasp!) If you’re that good, we shouldn’t notice you’re holding back at all until we see you elevate your game on the album.

The purpose of Tuesday

Deliver a solid album. Establish yourself as an artist. Pick quality beats and make quality music. It’s that simple. Stay true to yourself and if your life and/or perspective on the world is interesting, you’re set. Consumers will do more than just buy the album; they’ll buy into the artist.


Simple, right? Yeah, not so much. I can understand how someone can get lost in the cold, cold world of mixtapes. Please, take this map with you on your journey. May you navigate around the pitfalls of the underground on your rise to stardom.