50 Cent finally dropped The Kanan Tape yesterday, and with it he gave us the visuals for “Too Rich”: a track where 50 seems to have found the fountain of youth. His delivery doesn’t seem forced, as many OG’s in the game sound when they try to assimilate to the sonics of today. Atlanta super-producer London On Da Track is behind the boards on this one, and 50 sounds as comfortable as ever.

The tape itself features Post Malone, Boosie, and Young Buck with production from Alchemist, Sonny Digital, Illmind, Bandplay, Colt 45, and Scoop Deville. It’s a dope 7-track project that shows the world that Fif hasn’t fallen off and he plans to be a major player as we zoom into 2016. Check out this new wave of 50 content below.

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The California Sweetheart is back at it again with a brand new mixtape packed with this Bay Area girl’s latest sassy tracks. Li’l Debbie, the Oakland-raised baddie who was one third of the White Girl Mob (alongside V-Nasty and Kreayshawn), just dropped Young B!tch—an in your face kind of record that speaks to her “I don’t f*** with you” mentality.

This is the artist’s third release in eight months—she released her debut album, California Sweetheart, in two parts between March and August of this year. This chick has been hard at work, cranking out a full mixtape since then. The tape is all her, with just one feature (“Boom” feat. Aliky). This should come as no surprise. The cocky, weed smokin’ princess has generally boasted that her music stands for herself.

You can download the full tape at DatPiff.com, and check out the cover art and full track listing below:

1. Don’t Hate

2. Fleek

3. Me And You

4. Trap Lust

5. Too Bad

6. Zonin1

7. Boom Feat Aliky

8. Good Head

9. Castle Bricks

10. Party On My Dick

11. Bay 2 LA

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The Recording Industry Association of America is a powerful organization. As the primary outlet through which music sales are certified and tracked, it has the power to make or break careers. Yesterday, the RIAA announced that after a year of internally tuning its methodology for tracking music, its gold and platinum rankings will now include streaming services. This update had an immediate impact: over 30 singles were instantly propelled into the upper echelon of music sales, giving the songs some prestige and granting the artists some [more] visibility.

On one hand, this is a positive development that rewards the artists who circumnavigate the traditional outlets for selling and distributing their music by selling it on the internet. For these artists, the internet allows the gap between fan and artist to be dramatically shortened. Rather than forcing purchases to be mediated through a label, then then through a distributor, then through a wholesaler, then through a store and so on, the internet shortens the chain of mediation and strengthens the artist-fan link via hyperlink. How could that be a bad thing?

The issue with this “positive development” is that the internet is now one of the traditional outlets that it was formerly an alternative to. There certainly was a time where fans and artists were more closely interlinked (For some artists and fans, this is still the case), but at the collective level, the industry-wide level, this was a brief moment. As the vibrancy and potency of the internet was gradually realized, all of the mediating chains that existed outside of it were slowly absorbed into it. Labels, stores, wholesalers, distributors and all the other groups and individuals comprising the music industry weren’t out of the loop for very long. And now, after years of being back in the loop, the chain of mediation is just as long as it used to be.

Despite the professed power of the internet, it is clear that the-already-powerful reap the greatest benefit. For instance, even though Spotify is free, alongside all this free music are ads endorsing certain artists. Put more critically, these ads endorse the artists who can afford ads.

What does this all have to do with hip-hop?

Everything. For the artists who can’t afford ads and labels and publicists, i.e., most hip-hop artists, with the exception of Youtube (which has its own limitations), the streams that they use will simply flow into the vast ocean of the internet, probably to be forgotten forever. In other words, none of the artists who use Soundcloud, Datpiff, Bandcamp, Livemixtapes,Vimeo or their own blogs to release their music are counted in the new streaming update unless they also utilize the limited list of streams that the RIAA tracks (Note that many of these streaming services require artists to pay a fee to be hosted).

One could argue that perhaps hip-hop should just branch out and use more diverse sites, but that would just be a response to the RIAA rewarding artists with gold and platinum certifications, not a cause. Plus, other genres with large swaths of broke artists will feel similar effects.

In the end, though the RIAA is not the only organization tracking and publicizing the success of songs, its methods for tracking don’t affect all genres and artists equally, which can have big effects, like last year when Billboard’s change in method put Psy at the top of the rap charts for “Gangnam Style.” For the big hip-hop artists, this update to its methods is awesome, but for the smaller artists who are more vulnerable to the tides of the music industry, the RIAA is doing a grand disservice. As fans of hip-hop, a genre with an abundance of such vulnerable artists, we should celebrate cautiously, if at all.

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Kansas City’s pride Gee Watts has just dropped his second official mixtape, Watts Up. Watts clearly understands the importance of consistency and cohesion; the tape is nearly bulletproof. The production is always solid, particularly shining on the dark “Watts R.I.O.T.” and the somber “Trust Nobody.” Gee Watts more than holds up his end of the bargain, supplying thoughtful, genuine rhymes ripe with fresh wordplay and personal truths. The only concern is whether Watts’ voice will prove distinctive enough to become a breakthrough artist or if he will have to depend on hardcore hip-hop heads for all his support. Also, there is the occasional misfire on the hook front, but other than that, the tape is is superb. Stream and download Watts Up, featuring appearances by Kendrick Lamar, Dre Harmony, and Adrian Truth, as well as production from DA, Mike Hurst, sounwave, TheGhost816, Tee Ohh, FL Goon, and MG. Shout out to Datpiff for the link.

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The Chef has dropped brand new visuals for “To The Top” from his January mixtape, Lost Jewelery which you can cop free of charge at Datpiff. Maino, who features on the opening verse, appears alongside Rae in both tagged up stairwell and a basement lounge playing as they play chess, a Wu-Tang staple.  The clip, directed by Mazi O., juggles a stickup storyline and a it’s-still-the-90’s-and-we-just-spittin’ type of vibe. Peep the smooth grit of “To The Top” below.

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