With a daunting cascade of releases spewing from the likes of DatPiff, LiveMixtapes, Bandcamp, and SoundCloud, it can be difficult to keep up with the overbearing yet increasingly vital mixtape game. In this column, we aim to immerse ourselves in this hyper-prolific world and share our favorite releases each month. The focus will primarily be on rap mixtapes — loosely defined here as free (or sometimes free-to-stream) digital releases — but we’ll keep things loose enough to branch out if/when we feel it necessary. (Check out last month’s installment here.)
Kodak Black - Lil B.I.G. Pac
In April, Kodak Black claimed superiority over Biggie and Tupac, sending Old Head Twitter into a frenzy of trash talking and eye rolling, but both Biggie and Pac were murdered before the 19-year-old from Hollywood, Florida was even born. His response on “Big Bank,” “You ain’t gotta like my music but you gon’ respect me.” It’s fitting that Kodak’s Lil B.I.G. Pac features two of the South’s greatest, Gucci and Boosie – between Kodak’s Gucci drawl and Boosie higher-pitched rasp, it could be claimed Gucci and Boosie butted out Biggie and Pac on his own Rap Mount Rushmore. Institution still holds as Kodak’s best, but between Lil B.I.G. Pac, his underground fame trickling into radio, and the correlating XXL Freshman 2016 induction, this is shaping up to be his best yet.