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A mix featuring songs that have been carefully choosen, mixed and recorded onto an analog or digital medium. The name Mixtapes is used because they were originally mixed and recorded onto cassette tapes by DJs in the 70's 80's and 90's. DJs later recorded Mixtapes onto CD which gave them their second name Mix- CD Mixtapes still prevails over the term Mix- CD as the main word used to describe DJ mixes of this nature. Unfortunately in the late 1990's the term Mixtapes became associated erroneously with many artist compilation, which featured little or no actual dj mixing. Romantics call compilations they put together for Loved ones Mixtapes because it is more romantic than Compilation Album.. Usually when giving Ballad Mixtapes to loved ones, there is a thought process on the selection of songs and the arrangement of the playlist. Many people, even "so called DJs" claim to make mixtapes but don't put any real thought into the creation process. They slap a bunch of popular songs together with no thought of the order or flow of the songs. That is definitely not a Mixtape. Lets face it, If I wanted a bunch of songs played randomly without purpose, I would just hit shuffle on my I-Pod. To make it simple Mixtapes should be mixed, everything else in reality is just a compilation.On Gucci Mane‘s latest mixtape ‘Gas,’ which is part three of his three volume series ‘World War 3,’ the Atlanta rapper teams with producer 808 Mafia for a 20-song offering. Some of the guest features include Wooh Da kid, OJ da Juiceman and Waka Flocka Flame of course. In fact, Waka appears on three separate cuts, offering something slightly different each time. Like on the song ‘What You Mean,’ where he delivers a striking chorus alongside Gucci’s lazy styled flow. On ‘Drummaguwopuhhh,’ Gucci teams with Kandi Burruss, of The Real Housewives of Atlanta fame, for a remake of the World Class Wreckin Cru’s 1988 hit, ‘Before You Turn off the Lights.’ And 808 Mafia chooses to use a stripped down beat on the cut ‘Bad B—,’ which gives Gucci the opportunity to spit a bouncy flow that fits particularly well. Lyrically, he even talks about female empowerment. But he does it the Gucci way. “Got a tax service and a beauty parlor/she go to school she’s a Rhodes Scholar/to a young girl she a role model,” raps Gucci. But probably the most ear catching song on ‘Gas’ is ‘Bill Cosby Skit,’ where Gucci goes hard at rapper T.I. On the diss-track — that stretches a little over three minutes — Gucci seems eager to tell the self-proclaimed King of The South how he feels about him. “Tell T.I that he needs to step it up a little cause boy too little and his bones too brittle,” spits Gucci, after issuing a few other verbal taunts and flat-out insults. Other noteworthy moments on ‘Gas’ include the sexually charged ‘Superhead,’ where Gucci seems to be getting closer to carving out his own subgenre of Hip-Hop called porn-rap. Of course talking about one’s sexual escapades is pretty common in rap circles, but Gucci does it with a seeming higher level of explicitness. But is ‘Gas’ worth your listening time and money? Because it isn’t a free download. You’ll have to purchase or stream it. The one thing that keeps it from living up to the other two Mixtapes in the ’World War 3' series is that many of the tracks sound the same, which is one of the risks a rapper takes when he works with one producer for a whole project. Many of the beats fit the bill in terms of overall quality, but 808 Mafia uses the same piano sounds with very little variation. In addition, on certain songs it sounds like Gucci and 808 are battling each other, meaning at times Gucci’s vocals don’t mesh well. However, this problem doesn’t make ’Gas’ horrible, it just keeps it from reaching the same creative level as Gucci’s other two Mixtapes in this series, ‘Lean’ and ‘Molly.’ And unfortunately, that takes away from the whole series just a little bit. It’s safe to say the days of the Rick Ross-led Maybach Music Group dominance has ended. Recent singles like ‘No Games’ off Ross’ upcoming ‘Mastermind’ made very little splash and the ‘Self Made, Vol. 3’ album came and went. The end of MMG’s reign was essentially marked by Meek Mill’s presence last year, not that the label’s decline is necessarily his fault. Last summer’s ‘Dreamchasers2’ was pretty much MMG’s last claim to car stereo-thumping, chart-topping relevance. While Meek Mill did make a name for himself with hits like ‘I’m a Boss’ the previous year, his obscene amount of energy in cuts like ‘Burn’ and ‘Amen’ was infectious. Kendrick Lamar unintentionally brought Meek Mill’s — and consequently MMG’s — momentum to a halt when he released the canonized ‘good kid, m.A.A.d city.’ Meek doesn’t really change up his strategy on his new mixtape, ‘Dreamchasers 3,’ despite the circumstance. Instead, he’s going to pound you with hit after potential hit with the subtlety of a heavy machine gun. Some shots might miss, but when they hit, they hit hard. The Philadelphia rapper trades in the borderline helter skelter energy on the predecessor to ‘Dreamchasers3' for a more focused assault. It all feels darker too, and the vitriol-laced stunting by trash talk extraordinaires Birdman and Diddy on the album opening ‘I’m Leanin’ sets the tone. A good part about why some of the tracks hit so hard is the heavy artillery Meek Mill brings along on ‘Dreamchasers 3.’ The features include producers Key Wane (‘All Me’) and Boi-1da (‘F—WithMeYouKnowIGotIt’) and artists including Nicki Minaj, Ross and Fabolous. Some of the production just manages to sound sinful, especially in the first half. Birdman says, “See we started trap, before we was rap” on ‘Im Leanin’; the beat supports his lines to cathartic effect. The threats of those dense keys on the easy mixtape highlight ‘Dope Dealer’ is easily one of Key Wane’s finest productions, and Minaj violently steps on all in her path in this backdrop. “So go get off my testicle, pardon my decimal, bitch / Check up my resume, I’m upper echelon rich,” she rhymes. The keys on ‘I B On Dat’ sting like daggers and buoys the track to a DJ playlist mainstay. Coincidentally, Minaj has a pretty solid showing here too, declaring herself Nicki DiBiase. Meek Mill has some good verses on the less club-ready tracks. He leaves the VIP lounge and the iced Ciroc bottles for a trip back to Philadelphia in the fast-paced ‘Hip-Hop.’ “S—‘s getting tow up, as she watch me grow up / Right in front of the kids, she f—ing her nose up / She’s thinking like so what,” he raps. After including a recording of the late Lil Snupe performing a verse, Mill pays tribute to his fallen protégé on ‘Lil N—– Snupe.’ The record succeeds because it shoots to sober rather than be heartfelt: “They killed my lil n—- Snupe, my lil n—- was they truth / And all he wanted was a coupe.” But ‘Dreamchasers 3’ has the same problem as its predecessor: it’s far too long. Plus, it can be hard for some hip-hop fans to listen to a rapper with a high-volume manner of performing over variations of percussion hi-hats for a long period of time. Then again, Meek Mill isn’t necessarily focused on making a cohesive mixtape. He’s shaking you by the shoulders and forcing you to hear him, and if you end up in the club afterward, it’s a mission accomplished. As a mixtape aficionado, I prefer Mixtapes to actually be mixed. DJ Mixed Mixtapes are the only real mixtapes out there, everything else should be called a compilation.
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