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.)
Adamn Killa + DP Beats - Mr. 650
Cushioning the sturdy drill delivery of his native Chicago with the same thermal bundle of fleece-lined synth drones and reverb insulation employed by Swedish tourmates/collaborators Yung Lean and Bladee, Adamn Killa’s Mr. 650 mixtape is a transatlantic affair. Longtime Chief Keef affiliate DP Beats is brought along for the voyage, packing a briefcase with 14 fittingly oceanic instrumentals that loft Adamn’s buoyant bars like gently rolling waves. Theirs is a chemistry not unlike the ionic bond that seamlessy fuses 21 Savage’s stoic stanzas with Metro Boomin’s ethereal soundscapes. Syllabically frugal, Adamn whispers gravelly hooks as if to avoid fracturing the delicate, wafer-thin arrangements provided by his producer. Mr. 650 is too tight, too catchy to work as an incidental study soundtrack, but it isn’t quite suited for backseat slam-dance sessions either. It cruises down its own lane late at night, watching Arby’s signs and blurred taillights pass by. It’s lowkey heat.