Earlier this week, irreplaceable mixtape archive DatPiff had a scare, causing many to fret that its repository of 2000s and 2010s era hip-hop would be lost. While representatives for the site promise it will return, the prospect of its demise is a timely reminder that the online mixtape is its own art form. Over the past decade, superstar rappers would put out releases on major labels that, on streaming platforms, seemed indistinguishable from "albums," and audiences, myself included, would sneer. But DatPiff, at the peak of its history hosting free-to-download mixtapes, had encouraged the creation of an archetype we still live with, and New York was arguably at its center—the New York mixtape became its own musical institution.
On albums, New York's rappers tend towards bombastic gestures and grasped for radio airtime. On mixtapes, rappers come out to play, minding the burden of legacy a little less, using uncleared samples (the freedom a free download buys!), brazenly cribbed instrumentals from the radio hits of the day, and, sometimes, random dudes just yelling over the whole thing. The informality allowed conversations across genre, era, and idiom.
Because what's Nicki Minaj’s "Beam Me Up Scotty" without the voices, accents, dancehall flows, and riddims all being hosted by the Atlanta DJ Trap-a-holics? Forget the "Monster" verse, if you can—the outro to "Itty Bitty Piggy" is the moment the Nicki Minaj we know today was born. The maniacal cackle that follows the instantly immortal coda that begins "I don't even know why you girls bother at this point," is soundtracking fancams on TikTok to this day. If A$ap Rocky's 2010 debut "Live.Love.A$ap" was just a guy doing acid and pitching down his vocals over Bone Thugs-N-Harmony beats, it would have still ruled, but his unmistakable Harlem accent and flow practically invented the geographic agnosticism of the decade that would follow.
And though we give sample drill shit now for building Ice Spice songs around Spongebob instrumentals, remember "Drake ft. Peter Bjorn and John"? If you needed further proof that sample drill’s ridiculousness isn't just for the kids—the title track of Jadakiss's "The Champ is Here" was built around a sample of Will Smith yelling in the Muhammad Ali biopic. And it goes insanely hard.
The leading edge of New York rap isn't posting to DatPiff these days (they're on YouTube), but while DatPiff represents a past era now, the mixtapes it hosts still allowed rappers to find the sounds of their futures. If its archive survives, perhaps that trove of experimentation will inspire futures yet to come.
And some links to ponder:
- The Yankees charge their players for Wi-Fi on the team plane??
- Like a lot of outlets (NOT us though!), Buzzfeed is trying a "fewer people, more articles" strategy in their newsroom.
- NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell is trying a "don't punish even half of the cops that the Civilian Complaint Review Board says have perpetrated misconduct" strategy. She also opposes cops having to live in the city they serve. She herself lives in Nassau County, "like six or seven blocks in." Speaking of police misconduct, Gothamist reports that "New York City has agreed to pay $75,000 to one of the protesters struck by an NYPD cruiser during the 2020 protests against police brutality."
- Here's a headline from the Daily News: "Mayor Adams' inaugural arm allegedly accepted $15,600 in ‘prohibited donations,’ but dodges fines for now"
- HAHAHA.
- Guo Wengui, an exiled Chinese billionaire and Steve Bannon's pal, was arrested at his New York apartment.
- Queens Assemblymember Juan Ardila is facing a lot of calls to resign after two women alleged he sexually assaulted them in 2015.
- And one of the many women who alleged that Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed her has filed a new lawsuit against the state.
- The City may soon begin evicting older homeless New Yorkers from the hotels that housed them during the pandemic.
- Christopher Swain, rejoice! One of the City's projects to contain pollution in the Gowanus Canal has begun.
- Vendors in Flushing are protesting Councilmember Sandra Ung, who called for a crackdown on folks just making a living.
- Why do we need McKinsey to study waste containerization again?
- "Dog poop. How do we enforce that?"
And finally:
