DatPiff.com's Top 50 Mixtapes of 2012

ooops gonna ask a mod to move to ilm

Kind of disappointed to find out DatPiff are Childish Gambino stans

i know right!

rich forever

Future, Dom Kennedy or Lloyd Banks.

ross, future, dom kennedy

Ross

ive been trying to build up the willpower to spend some more time w/ the big sean tape

i think i'm gonna skip straight to the album. "guap" is amazing

The Big Sean tape is good.

I thought we were supposed to collectively hate Big Sean?

i'm good w/ the handful of undeniable Big Sean singles where he has someone better to play off of, the idea spending a whole mixtape/album with him still seems like torture though

thanx to whatever mod moved the thread :)

rich forever vs trap back

Great fucking year. I'm probably voting Rich Forever, though that seems like a boring choice since there were so many more interesting mixtapes that were nearly as good

Disappointed Trap God didn't make the list. I've returned to that one almost as much as Trap Back

one of the reasons i thought this list was interesting was a) for the first time in a while this year major label albums generally were more highly regarded than mixtapes by major label artists and b) this stuff is in a weird middle ground because it's pretty contained to those industry type artists and lacks a lot of more marginal goon mixtape favorites.

of these i've only really heard Meek, Future, Gucci, T.I., Ross, and Jeezy, which i preferred in more or less that order.

you really liked that T.I. tape? i thought that was pretty bad (i think the album is alright)

i thought the t.i. tape was underrated too

seriously how can anyone keep these new gucci tapes straight

I was definitely in the "mixtapes are better" camp this year. Some of my favorite releases of the year were the Ross and Meek Mill tapes, which were way better than their albums, and that Big K.R.I.T. tape, which was wonderful and singular in all the ways his run of the mill album wasn't.

T.I.'s tape was better than his album, too, and the Jeezy tape was probably better than TM103, as well. And Gucci didn't release an album this year, but his 2012 mixes were better than any album he's put out since Vs. Radric Davis.

Oh, and Flocka's mix was better too, of course. Salute Me or Shoot Me 4 was awesome.

seriously how can anyone keep these new gucci tapes straight

Trap Back was the weirder, more intricate one, with better Mike Will beats. Trap God was the shamelessly catchy, crowd-pleasy one that would have made a better commercial album. I'm Up was the pretty OK but not very distinct other one.

'i'm up' has some great stuff on it, not sure why it's being slept on other than its generic title

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNSokSYpt9w

T.I., tape was awesome

I'm gonna side with albums over mixtapes this year, but I usually do anyway

you guys are crazy about this T.I. tape. he ruined the best beat on the tape by calling the song 'harry potter'

T.I. was having such a hot streak this year; I thought he was going to pull a Nas and parlay all those reinvigorated guest verses into a pretty solid late-career album, but then Trouble Man happened

first half of trouble man is dope

then ugh

only song i pulled from the tape was the dro one

Most of the teaser songs from Trouble Man were so damn good, I really got my hopes up for it. But that second half is a sinking ship

you really liked that T.I. tape? i thought that was pretty bad (i think the album is alright)

― rap steve gadd (D-40), Wednesday, January 2, 2013 8:29 PM (21 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i didn't "really like" it so much as i liked it more than Runs On Forever

new Jeezy tape is DEFINITELY not better than the album though (which was surprising because the pre-TM103 tapes were pretty consistent)

i didn't "really like" it so much as i liked it more than Runs On Forever

― some dude, Wednesday, January 2, 2013 7:51 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Runs On Forever had songs i remembered for more than 20 minutes after it ended

yeah Stay Snoozing haunts me for sure

way to pick the charting single as your counterpoint

you said songs you remember, that's the song i remember

you guys are crazy about this T.I. tape. he ruined the best beat on the tape by calling the song 'harry potter'

― rap steve gadd (D-40), Wednesday, January 2, 2013 8:39 PM (31 minutes ago) Bookmark

tko capone would like a word

how is 'harry potter' even an egregious rap song title by 2012 standards, have you SEEN what most songs are called now

I know this sounds like a dumb question, but is that Ace Hood mixtape any good? I have a couple of friends who insist I need to give that guy another chance

that mixtape was surrounded by a lot of vaguely positive chatter and a surprising lack of "lol ace hood's existence" but i never heard it -- and i liked his first album and most of his non-embarrassing singles

i despise the term "struggle rapper" but it and all the negative connotations seem to fit ace hood to a T

haha wtf is a struggle rapper

tko capone would like a word

― dead cera (J0rdan S.), Wednesday, January 2, 2013 8:12 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

how is 'harry potter' even an egregious rap song title by 2012 standards, have you SEEN what most songs are called now

― some dude, Wednesday, January 2, 2013 8:13 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

TKO Capone is a bad pt of comparison.

was about to make a joke like "if young jeezy called one of his songs 'underground king koopa' i'd have issues too" but that example is probably a bad one

you really liked that T.I. tape? i thought that was pretty bad (i think the album is alright)

― rap steve gadd (D-40), Wednesday, January 2, 2013 8:29 PM (21 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

didn't you give it a 7 on pfork

ha yeah i wouldn't have even scored it that high!

i cant recall what the deal was w/ the score on that one but my review pretty clearly state the problems i had w/ it

I know, which is why I was hella confused

idk i hate doing scores for album reviews & generally there you're always trying to balance 'rap is undervalued' w/ the averageness of a record, or a major artist's overarching talent w/ the underwhelmingness of a late period record, cant recall if there was discussion about the score on that one or not either

^^

Definitely not as good as Can't Get Enough (Even though J Cole did his best to ruin it)

Either give me great hits or transcendent stuff that could never become a hit. The rest is silence and I am drunk.

here here

Either give me great hits or transcendent stuff that could never become a hit. The rest is silence and I am drunk.

― dyslectic Christ Brown (longneck), Saturday, January 5, 2013 10:21 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

or ace hood

Yes. Ace Hood at his best tends to work wonderfully in a club environment, which would be the third option (now that I'm sober).

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Hay y'all, Ace and Hood... errr.... Ace and Meek just dropped a collabo track.

http://digitaldripped.com/jan/7/2013/ace-hood-ft-meek-mill--goin-down

they're supposedly doing a whole mixtape together (according to ace hood's wikipedia, anyway)

Ha. I thought they were sub-beefing.

Actually pretty tough,

Curren$y & Styles P - The 1st 28 (Only 5 tracks but contains the best Fela sample I've heard in a long time)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6D6-m9IK4E

Big K.R.I.T. - 4eva N a Day (All the things that made it great can be used to explain why the album was so disappointing)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9kc_0BfRrk

Action Bronson & The Alchemist - Rare Chandeliers (Masterclass in taking a ridiculous persona to its natural extreme with awesome/hilarious effect)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2AHvZWojSc

I'm sure if Gunplay hadn't snubbed Datpiff with 601 & Snort it would be listed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QdE6aNuX5Y

Dreams & Nightmares is by no means infallible but i feel like most of the criticisms of it itt are kinda off-base. if i'd made a list 6 months ago of likely pitfalls for Meek's major label debut there'd only be a couple i'd be able to check off, and like even the Mary J. song is straight, which is a miracle. it ain't an album of nonstop "I'm A Boss"/"House Party" bangers but what it is instead of fine imo.

I agree that it was graded on an unfair curve, but I don't understand how anybody can listen to that staid album after Dreamchasers, and even Dreamchasers 2, and not think "I was robbed."

i still listen to it more than DC2

Could someone who really likes it please try to tell me (again) why I should listen to it? I guess I haven't given it a proper chance but it just feels so... flat. Sorry.

Man I really like the Joey Bada$$, so I'd probably vote for that off this list, with the Meek Mill and Big K.R.I.T. up there. My favorite mixtape of 2012 was Tree's though.

And with that I'll go back to lurking on goon threads...

Tree tape was my favorite as well. Fell asleep about halfway through the Joey Bada$$ tape and am still asleep iirc.

MTV Jams keeps playing a Joey Bada$$ video that's just the boringest thing ever

buh buh buh he's only 17! and the raps! and the booms! and the baps!

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

is Trap Back the consensus '12 Gucci tape or did it benefit from being the only one here? i was kinda torn on it vs. I'm Up (w/ Trap Gourd a distant third).

it's definitely the best one

if only cos it has the most Mike Will

buh buh buh he's only 17! and the raps! and the booms! and the baps!

― tsrobodo, Monday, January 7, 2013 4:51 PM (31 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yeah he can flow. Need to see what he is gonna do with original production and which production route he'll take. Like if he is just gonna go for like 2nd tier Statik Selektah type of stuff then idk, I'll probably stay asleep.

trap back is only slightly better

Agreed. He's still very much an unknown quantity, though I hear Premo is producing his next single which doesn't really bode well.

oh god who voted for childish gambino

also if joey bada$$ doesn't end up being this decade's termanology i will be shocked

haha TWO childish gambino votes

so who's really into the styles p/curren$y tape? it surprised me that they got together at all, can't really picture how their uhhhh styles would mesh but i should probably check it out

I really liked the latest Styles album (I mean it was what you'd expect), didn't hear the mixtape tho.

so who's really into the styles p/curren$y tape? it surprised me that they got together at all, can't really picture how their uhhhh styles would mesh but i should probably check it out

― thomp ynchon (some dude), Tuesday, 8 January 2013 02:46 (33 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Posted a youtube link somewhere above, I'd highly recommend it. Wish more rappers understood the beauty of a tight thoughtfully constructed 5 track EP.

good to see Trap Back up top, some of the year's best beats were on there. does no one else feel Rich Forever was horribly overrated tho?

no

i actually think joey badass is OK in a kind of middling throwback-y way, i mean, i could see him ending up having a career like as the rap frankie beverly and maze or something

pro era = maze in this scenario obv

He is ok yeah, I'm hoping his best is ahead.

that comparison is unkind to frankie beverly imo

i mean, idk, i love some frankie beverly joints but were they ever really a new sound in soul or something? idk i think of them as fairly comfort food 70s R&B (w/ great songs but joey's only a single album deep and i actually kinda like this one)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51e1gIkzHgk

i guess i should say, i see that as a believable potential career path for them, if i'm feeling inclined to be optimistic

I think I've said this before but I do think the whole thing about these kids trying to reinvent a sound they weren't there to experience in the first place is pretty interesting, at least in theory. What's disappointing is mostly that the things they try to recreate are pretty narrow in regards to the sounds and styles that were in fact circulating in the period they are trying to recreate. But on the other hand, they're the youth so it's their privilege to do it their way and not mine.

deej that makes no sense! Maze's music was maybe not cutting edge but it was contemporary to the era they were making it in!

Yeah, there's no way they were "retro" like Joey Badass is.

I'm taking back the bad things I've said about Ace Hood. Salvation 2 is wonderful. He's not a perfect rapper, but he raps with way more conviction and substance than I gave him credit for; and I'm actually moved by all his verses about his grandma and his daughter. He feels like a real, well-rounded person in a way a lot of his peers don't. Plus the tape's got some cool production surprises. Very satisfying release.

Exactly. #wecareaboutacehood

there appears to be ~ 350,000 datpiff mixtapes now available on the internet archive: https://archive.org/details/datpiffarchives

48.7 Terabytes of Datpiff...
Not sure where to start...
Can someone recommend the top five gigabytes...

....seriously though, any tips?

this is kinda wild, thanks for the tip blue6ave. I don't think I engaged datpiff at all any later than 2008 so anything I could recommend is gonna be pretty anitquated...I bought this one as an actual mix CD back when we had an actual rap-only store here in town, blessed days, the guy who ran it would get on the turntables when a customer came in. it was a big deal to me at the time, haven't listened in forever but when I cued it up now woooow those CANNONS drops, that was a time in my life. This Bone Thugs meets Memphis tape is absolutely beautiful but I'm like the target market for a Bone Thugs Memphis style thing. This UK one is from way later but if that's your thing this is really cool

daaaaamn

the S. Carter Collection mixtape which came packaged in his sneakers is one of Jay's best albums

https://archive.org/details/datpiff-mixtape-m5d64ff4

Thanks all, that'll get me started!