FKA Twigs has this week released a mixtape: Caprisongs. While listening to it, I thought to myself - why is this being billed as a mixtape, how is it any different to an album?

 

What do you see as the distinction between a mixtape and an album? And as we're in the chart forum - what are the best performing mixtapes you can think of or your favourite mixtape releases?

 

Is there any difference between how a mixtape is expected to perform on the charts vs an album? :thinking:

FKA Twigs has this week released a mixtape: Caprisongs. While listening to it, I thought to myself - why is this being billed as a mixtape, how is it any different to an album?

 

What do you see as the distinction between a mixtape and an album? And as we're in the chart forum - what are the best performing mixtapes you can think of or your favourite mixtape releases?

 

Is there any difference between how a mixtape is expected to perform on the charts vs an album? :thinking:

 

Traditionally the difference is an album is an official release by the artist whereas a mixtape is an official release by fans (in the cassette, CD days)

 

I'm not sure where we went to artists calling official releases mixtapes

These days mixtapes are probably digital only. Otherwise, can't see much difference, because if the mixtape doesn't stream well, neither will the "proper album".

 

It's a habit that other genres have taken from the rap tradition.

I think its just labels being afraid of a flop album

Poor Tinashe

From a 90s dance music perspective a mixtape would be a continuous DJ mix done in one go and wouldn't always just be tunes by the DJ in question. More often than not it would be a recording from a rave or a radio show.

 

I suspect it's used to describe what is basically an album these days because an album is what old people buy and that's not cool. By calling it a mixtape you're telling the kids they're buying something us oldies don't get.

These days mixtapes are probably digital only. Otherwise, can't see much difference, because if the mixtape doesn't stream well, neither will the "proper album".

 

It's a habit that other genres have taken from the rap tradition.

 

I'm like 95% sure this is objectively untrue. This might seem like it logically should be the case but in practice albums almost always do better than mixtapes. (I'm sure there are probably some counterexamples to this if you look hard enough but look at Drake, Headie One and D-Block Europe as examples, the latter two both had their highest peak and greatest longevity with their only 'album', while there's a very clear difference between the impact from Drake's mixtapes and his albums).

 

I think the only real difference between an album and a mixtape - by the current definition Bal is actually referring to, not the archaic concept of a physical mixtape - is the level of marketing. That and I don't think mixtapes typically count to record deals that are for a certain number of 'albums'.

 

'Mixtapes' have also previously referred to free releases by rappers which were typically full of freestyles over other artists' instrumentals or just containing a ton of samples which they weren't able to clear for a commercial release. I think some artists still do these but they're definitely less common than they used to be. But in the last few years a bunch of prominent rappers who released these type of mixtapes have been slowly giving them belated releases on streaming platforms usually with some samples / entire songs removed.

My favourite mixtapes (since Haus asked in the beginning of this thread):

 

Angel's Pulse by Blood Orange

Trilogy by The Weeknd (particularly Thursday)

Sad Night Dynamite by Sad Night Dynamite

Caprisongs is definitely up there

Hi This Is Flume by Flume

Send Them To Coventry by Pa Salieu

I think we’re in an era that is very content driven and about continually releasing and getting music out there. I think framing it as a mixtape is therefore more an excuse (by both the artist and the label) to release more music without having the same level of scrutiny that goes into an album era. If the music takes off, great but if it doesn’t they can just write it off as more of an experimentation/something for the fans until they launch the next proper era. It’s like the halfway house between an EP and an album.

 

It’s also a tool to get artist’s names out there, again without the scrutiny of a debut album. There’s a lot more new artists now getting some form of hit singles and following them up with EPs/mixtapes rather than an actual album. I know that was the intention of Olivia Rodrigo until Driver’s License became so huge it would be impossible not to capitalise on.

I'm like 95% sure this is objectively untrue. This might seem like it logically should be the case but in practice albums almost always do better than mixtapes. (I'm sure there are probably some counterexamples to this if you look hard enough but look at Drake, Headie One and D-Block Europe as examples, the latter two both had their highest peak and greatest longevity with their only 'album', while there's a very clear difference between the impact from Drake's mixtapes and his albums).

But the point is, do listeners really differentiate the mixtapes from albums in these cases? I don't think they do...

Seems like I'm not the only one finding the definition between the two hazy:

 

@1496635379251879941

 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.teenvogue....t-once-more/amp