Opinion: Mixtapes from artists before they became big
As fans we forget that our favorite artist had to come from somewhere and for many of them it took years before they honed in their sound. From Kendrick Lamar to SZA here is some of the early work of some renowned artists.
While it sometimes seems that artists burst out of thin air, that is not usually the case. They must cultivate their art and test their limits. Here is some of my favorite early work from four popular artists before their sound resonated to the masses.
Many know this R&B singer for his sensual and sleek yet toxic trap soul. However, the “Mercedes” artist did not always sound like he does now. Before projects “F*** the World," “Sonder Son” and “A.M. Paradox,” there was “Black Child EP."
The second project Faiyaz ever released is filled with hard style rapping and glimpses of the artist to be. Just like his music now, the EP has a cold and dark essence. Of course, the entirety of this album is not rap tracks. The track "Love Thing” is an early demonstration of the singer we know now.
The songs that highlighted this tape were “Down Forever," “Love Thing” and “City Lights/Worst in Us."
The TDE superstar known as SZA was working on her craft long before “CTRL'' was released.
If you take the time to deep dive on the streaming service Soundcloud, you will find a surplus of her music whether that be older, unreleased or used under hidden accounts.
One of SZA's most well known mixtapes titled “S” is only eight tracks long, but the entirety is an eventful joyride. The project has SZA still using her common topics of insecurities and relationships, but through a much more foggy production. With fazerdaze/indie influence, the production of this album creates a dream-like sense. All her tapes up to “Z” all have this similar flow, but “S” has less dynamic range in her vocals.
The entire EP is worth listening to from interesting interludes with Eartha Kitt, productions from Odd Future's Brandun Deshay, and unique samples from Fleetwood Mac.
Ari Lennox has played a key role in the development of the new age R&B over the past few years. However, this journey started in the 2010s when she released her “Five Finger Discount” tape.
This was by far the hardest mixtape to find out of this bunch, because not even Soundcloud streams it. However, obscurity doesn't equal inability. When listening to this tape it showed early on that Ari had plenty of skill and a capable voice, but was missing direction.
This album had a different mood than her more recent material and elements like her flow, production and energy had a divergent style. Yet, it was still enjoyable from tracks like “Random Heartbreaks” that is quite similar to John Legend’s music or “Industry Agitation Song” that incorporated live instruments. Overall it’s truly interesting to see the musician much she has grown since this album.
In the early 2010s Kendrick was not always the Pulitzer Prize winning rapper we know and love. Originally, he went under the moniker K.Dot and was obviously influenced by the likes of Lil Wayne.
This mixtape was one of the first milestones in launching Kendrick to his legendary status as it received a cosign from Wayne himself. The project in general is very rough, but has plenty of bright spots throughout. The raspy voice and use of autotune is not as polished as the current Kendrick is. The rapper himself even notes how the song “B*tch I'm In The Club" was pretty amateur.
Listening will put you through a wave of emotions ranging from surprise to discontent as you have no choice but to compare it to Kendrick's current abilities. The top tier songs of this tape are “A Milli," “Play With Fire” and “Friend of Mine.”
In general, it is amazing to see how much these artists have grown since their start and how fast they have risen to stardom.
