Welcome to Mixdown, an ongoing series where Pitchfork staffers and contributors talk about mixtapes and mixes that may not be covered in our reviews section but are worth discussing. Today, we're looing at Austrailian producer Flume's guest-heavy mixtape, TM88 and South Side of 808 Mafia's new collection of hard-hitters, and Mac Miller's mixtape as his pitched-up vocal alter-ego Delusional Thomas.
Flume: Deluxe Edition Mixtape
Jordan Sargent: My only thought about Flume before this has been, "Wait, why is this guy named after a Bon Iver song?"
Corban Goble: Flume is one of Lorde’s favorite producers. I try to phrase anything in terms of Lorde these days. Degrees of Lorde.
Carrie Battan: You and everyone else. My first thought about this is that it sounds exactly the way I imagine French people imagine rap music. I do like it, though.
Flume: "Space Cadet" [ft. Autre Ne Veut and Ghostface Killah] on SoundCloud.
JS: Maybe this is confirmation bias considering his contribution here, but if you had told me "Autre Ne Veut has put out a rap album under an alias," I would’ve believed you.
CG: So, Flume is one of Australia’s biggest young artists. His solo stuff is pretty EDM-y, so I expected this to be a little more… fun? It kind of scans to me as a taken-a-touch-too-seriously crossover bid. Throwing Autre Ne Veut and Ghostface on a spacey slab… not sure it stacks up to the sum of its parts. And, like, I don’t know if I need to hear Freddie Gibbs rap on this lush, warm-sounding thing.
Flume: "Holdin On" Ft. Freddie Gibbs on SoundCloud.
I like the How to Dress Well thing, though, less chilly than his usual stuff. Thoughts?
CB: You know, the Freddie Gibbs track on here is one of my favorites, and I find Freddie Gibbs painfully boring in general. I think this kind of lush, rainbow-bright beat suits him well.
JS: I think the R&B stuff (the How to Dress Well song, ANV’s hook) are the best things here. Tonally, those moments remind me a bit of, like, Jamie Lidell’s electro-soul. I don’t think the rappers really sound all that good over these beats. M.O.P. in particular just sound really out of place, like a bad Soundcloud remix.
CB: I guess I need to come face-to-face with the fact that I’m someone who likes bad Soundcloud remixes right now.
TM88 & South Side: Crazy 8 X It's A Southside Track 3
CB: A reader of this column recently suggested to me that we make it a little bit more servicey by giving specific track reccomendations—the argument being that the mixtapes are generally really big and unwieldy and bad, but that there are usually a few standouts that are worth revisiting. This tape, from two producers of the Brick Squad-affiliated 808 Mafia production crew, is above-average across the board, but there are definitely some things that could go on a highlight reel. Like Rich Kidz' exuberantly warped "Gangsta Party". (Other column suggestions from the same reader: "Get Rembert in the mix! Throw Tom in there!")
CG: Yeah, "Gangsta Party" is great—definitely one of the more exciting tracks Rich Kidz have done in a while. Also, I am someone who enjoys Future on something uptempo, so I like "Chosen One". And Young Thug’s "Danny Glover". And of course Domani Harris, T.I.’s son. Would it be fair to say Domani’s track outshines his dad’s track?
JS: Domani’s track is good. I like that there’s a baton-passing element to his inclusion... not because T.I. is also on a song here, but because Rich Kidz started out as squeaky-voiced rappers themselves. Now they’ve grown up and make richly melodic tracks about parties—at some point, we’ll hear Domani Harris belt through Autotune and that will be a good day.
CB: T.I. with his son on this mixtape—which is a good representation of the center of Atlanta rap right now—is an apt contrast to his song on the Lady Gaga album, which is called "Jewels ‘N Drugs". T.I. will do anything this point and he’ll sound exactly the same on all of it.
JS: Three more things about the 808 Mafia tape before we move on: 1. The best beat is on the Ca$h Out song. Do with that what you will. 2. On DatPiff at least, the Ace Hood song is titled as "Prey For Me", which is a typo that would make a decent concept for a song if Ace Hood was creative. 3. There is a rapper on here called "Nephew Texas Boy", who fits perfectly into my favorite game: Put "Got Bandz" at the End of Every Rapper’s Name.
CB: Just want to make sure I’ve got this straight: Delusional Thomas Got Bandz?
JS: Delusional Thomas has all of the bandz.
Mac Miller: Delusional Thomas
CB: Wait, I just want to find this comment from the DatPiff page for the Delusional Thomas tape:
"All the people who said this was wack definitely doesnt get the breakdown of the mixtape. It sounds the way it does because Mac's alter ego, who is Delusional Thomas is rapping. Thats why on the last track it says 'feat. Mac Miller' and he raps in his own voice. Try understanding the tape before you judge it idiots"
Agree or disagree, you guys?
JS: This entire mixtape is Mac Miller rapping in a chipmunk voice. You guys may or may not be aware of this, but Mac Miller does a lot of drugs.
CG: Also, this mixtape definitely has the most instances of the rapper threatening to shit in my mouth. At least that I’m aware of.
JS: Someone send this mixtape to Richie Incognito then. The rapping on this is pretty good; from a lyrical standpoint it’s an indication that Watching Movies With the Sound Off isn’t a fluke. But, there’s the whole thing about the chipmunk voice, so the replay value is extremely low.
CB: The takeaway from this mixtape is just an updated version of Jordan's game. The rules are now: add "Delusional" before anyone’s name in addition to adding "Got Bandz" to the end. Until next week, Delusional Jordan Got Bandz, Delusional Corban Got Bandz...