Welcome to Mixdown, an ongoing series where Pitchfork contributors talk about mixtapes and mixes that may not be covered in our reviews section but are worth discussing. Today, we're talking about new releases TDE's Isaiah Rashad, a compilation from Migos' new "label" and our favorite podcast.
Carrie Battan: Jordan, I want to start off with you listing the various reasons why you wanted to throw your computer out of the window after you heard Pharrell’s verse on the new Future song/Twitter bomb, “Move That Dope”.
Future: "Move That Dope" [ft. Pharrell, Pusha T, and Casino] on SoundCloud.
Corban Goble: Jordan, why are you always throwing computers out of windows? Do you have AppleCare?
Jordan Sargent: I buy used Dell laptops on eBay specifically for throwing out of the window when I flip out with joy. I had to completely restock after Chris Davis returned the field goal against Alabama. So with “Move that Dope,” I had to hit pause after “Gandalf hat.” GANDALF HAT. I’m predicting that “Gandalf hat” is going to be the next “surfbort,” and if not, I will try my hardest to make it happen. So that was the first reason I wanted to throw my computer out of the window. But then he keeps on rapping and his verse is completely incredible and dizzying, so that also made me want to throw my computer out of the window.
For the record, this is our first post-Gandalf hat Mixdown. Mixdown A.G.H.
CB: Oh good. For a second I was worried you wanted to throw your computer out the window because you were being contrarian and didn’t like the song or Pharrell's verse. (I wish Juicy J always sounded like Pharrell's Juicy J impersonation.)
Isaiah Rashad: Cilvia Demo
CB: It was really hard for me to stop listening to “Move That Dope” and return to Isaiah Rashad’s Cilvia Demo, which is... less good! But also fine. Rashad is one of Kendrick/Black Hippy's TDE signees, and this project shows how much they’re really trying to maintain a cohesive aesthetic throughout the entire collective. Here you go, TDE loyalists: more of the loping, jazz-influenced sound of conscious rap without its overbearing political messages. It's expected, but not in a bad way.
CG: It seems less grating than the usual stuff that’s like, “No this is real rap, don’t you get it?" Where does Isaiah Rashad fall in the 2014 TDE power ranking?
JS: At this point, Isaiah Rashad might be ahead of Ab-Soul. What’s Ab-Soul up to? This mixtape is very good. It might just be the proximity, but sonically and mood-wise this reminds me a bit of Section.80. It would have definite appeal to stoner teens who listen to A$AP Rocky, but it’s a bit more soulful. Rashad is to TDE what Travi$ Scott is to G.O.O.D. Music, but less reverent of his boss. And that's a good thing.
Isaiah Rashad: "Brad Jordan" [ft. Michael Da Vinci] on SoundCloud.
CB: There have to be at least four guys in dorms in the U.C. system listening to this at any given time. The cover art for this project has a bunch of words crossed off— “Khaki EP”, “pieces of a kid”, “fake trill”, “preacher son”, “strictly 4”, all of which are so patently Black Hippy, and he settled on… Cilvia. WTF is Cilvia?
CG: Is it an allergy medication?
JS: Yeah the cover has a real Joey Bada$$ vibe to me, so maybe this is like if Joey Bada$$ wasn’t totally up his own ass. As for Cilvia, is it an alternate spelling of “Sylvia?” I’m a regular forensic investigator over here. I bet it’s a reference to an ex-girlfriend.
CB: Words “Cilvia” reminds me of: Salvia, Sylvia, indica, sativa, labia, chlamydia.
JS: It wasn’t until like three months ago that someone pointed out to me that Kid Cudi’s Indicud was a horrible play on “indica.” It did not make me like that album any more.
CB: While I was listening to this tape I also had to really hold myself back from listening to the new Desus vs. Mero podcast, which had just been posted. It took a lot of willpower. I’m saving it for a bus ride I’m taking tomorrow. What do I have in store?
CG: It gets off the hook fast. So fast. I feel like I have to look around during it, like I’m sipping a cocktail during the middle of prohibition. It doesn’t feel legal.
JS: For my own mental health and general safety, I have to immediately forget everything about a Desus vs. Mero episode after hearing it. Except the bit about how cheese are Jordans for white people. That I will never forget.
CG: On this episode they call Kevin Durant “Johnny No Swag”, which really proves that Durant should have just stuck with the nickname Slim Reaper and been thankful that it wasn’t worse. I think that’s the only thing I can print here.
JS: I loved Slim Reaper. What is wrong with Durant.
CB: And this concludes the sports segment of this conversation.*
Quality Control: Solid Foundation
JS: Wait! I had a transition! “Speaking of sports...” Migos dropped a mixtape at halftime of the Super Bowl! It was clear by that point in the game that the Seahawks were going to steamroll the Broncos, and as I tweeted at the time (that phrase will be my epigraph, by the way) I was really hoping that Migos would audible (football!) and call the mixtape Black Seattle. Then Percy Harvin returned the halftime kick off and I threw my computer out of the window.
CB: You could say Percy Harvin has a Solid Foundation of skills that he deployed on Sunday... oh look, I’m throwing myself out of the window along with the eBay Dells.
CG: My computer is out the window too. I’m using that Samsung they sent us to listen to Magna Carta Holy Grail on.
Everything about this Migos compilation tape—which features a bunch of other young Atlanta rappers—points to a more measured, toned-down version of the Migos we're used to. Did the consistent energy and infectiousness of YRN invite unfair expectations? There are a few good ones in here—like "Dramatic" and the Gucci Mane-featuring "Get Down"—but they’re definitely pulling back.
CB: I don’t know, I don't mind a dialed-back Migos so much. There’s a joyless, almost resentful air about this one, especially on the handful of new Migos songs. It seems like a necessary little packpedal. This is the sound of of some rappers who’ve crossed the initial hurdle of success and are now in a small ebb of their trajectory where they sound as though they're frustrated with everyone: The plebes who they’ve advanced past but are still forced to deal with, and the industry that hasn’t made them into complete superstars just yet. (“Please stop calling my phone, I DON’T SELL DRUGS!”) There's also some talk of animals that reminds me of Gucci Mane: “The streets is a jungle/ Gotta watch out for koalas.”
JS: Every Migos leak is great, but I’m basically waiting for YRN 2. My brain can only categorize so much on its own. This did remind me, though, that DJ Drama’s last two albums are called Quality Street Music and Quality Street Music 2. “Quality street music” is the perfect way to describe most of what DJ Drama does. Truth in advertising!
CG: I’m still into this. New Atlanta forever.
*MIXDOWN: THE AFTER-SHOW
JS: Carrie, do you like sports more or less now that you're assaulted by me and Corban talking about them all the time here?
CB: More. I always like it when you guys talk about sports because it gives us a corny recurring plot point. You guys talk about sports, I brush you off and pretend to be annoyed and make a joke about how you guys are always talking about sports. It's like a bad network sitcom.
CG: Carrie's like, "Hey, did you guys get the opera tickets I asked you to pick up?" Double collar-tug. "Shit, we were busy watching sports again. What do we do?" Whole episode turns into a scheme to cover our asses and make Carrie like us again so we can write about Chinx Drugz.
CB: And then I accidentally smoke crack in Bushwick.
JS: "Two Guys, a Girl, and a Mixtape Column"