1.
Mixtape
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A mixtape is a home-made compilation of music recorded in a specific order, traditionally onto a cassette tape, though later replaced by CD or MP3 playlist formats. The songs can be sequential, or by beatmatching the songs and creating overlaps, compilations may include a selection of favorite songs, or music linked by theme or mood, perhaps tailored to the tapes intended recipient. Writing in 2004, essayist Geoffrey OBrien called the mix tape perhaps the most widely practiced American art form. Homemade mix tapes became common in the 1980s, but improvements in fidelity finally allowed the cassette to become a major player. The growth of the mixtape was also encouraged by improved quality and increased popularity of audio players in car entertainment systems. These recordings tended to be of technical ability than home-made mixtapes. One 12 October 1974 article in Billboard Magazine reported, Tapes were originally dubbed by jockeys to serve as standbys for times when they did not have disco turntables to hand, the tapes represent each jockeys concept of programming, placing, and sequencing of record sides. The music is heard without interruption, one- to three-hour programs bring anywhere from $30 to $75 per tape, mostly reel-to-reel, but increasingly on cartridge and cassette. Club proprietors, as well as DJs, would often prepare such tapes for sale, throughout the 1980s, mixtapes were a highly visible element of youth culture. The high point of traditional culture was arguably the publication of Nick Hornbys novel High Fidelity in 1995. Some mix enthusiasts also appreciate the potential of the mix CD for extended, continuous mixes, MP3 players have further enhanced track accessibility, though ones without a screen defeat that purpose. Today, websites concerned with electronic music provide mixes in a digital format and these usually consist of recorded DJ sets of live, beat-matched mixes of songs, which are used by DJs seeking to demonstrate their mixing skills to an online audience. Some radio shows worldwide specialize in mix series, including The Breezeblock on BBC Radio 1, The Solid Steel Show, and Eddy Temple-Morris/The Remix on Xfm. Additionally, DJs such as Grandmaster Flash, DJ QBert, DJ Spooky, DJ Z-Trip or DJ Shadow, The Avalanches, and Rjd2 have gained fame for creating new songs by combining fragments of existing songs. This practice is derived from the use of song loops as musical backdrops for an MCs rhymes in hip hop music. Frank Creighton, a director of anti-copyright infringement efforts for the Recording Industry Association of America and this requires the mixtape creator to consider the transitions between songs, the effects caused by juxtaposing a soft song with a loud song, and the overall narrative arc of the entire tape. It also came with an actual CD featuring ten of the songs discussed in the text, many have been so widely distributed that the CDDB has logged and can identify ID3 tags when a disc mix tape is inserted into a PC. In hip hops earliest days, the music existed in live form, so performers music was spread via tapes of parties
2.
Lil Wayne
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Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American hip hop recording artist and author from New Orleans, Louisiana. In 1991, at the age of nine, Lil Wayne joined Cash Money Records as the youngest member of the label, in 1996, Lil Wayne joined the southern hip hop group Hot Boys, with his Cash Money label-mates Juvenile, Young Turk and Lil Doogie. Hot Boys debuted with Get It How U Live. that same year, Most of the groups success came with their platinum-selling album Guerrilla Warfare and the 1999 single Bling Bling. Along with being the flagship artist of Cash Money Records, Lil Wayne is also the Chief Executive Officer of his own imprint, Young Money Entertainment. Lil Waynes solo debut album Tha Block Is Hot, was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America and his subsequent albums, Lights Out and 500 Degreez, went on to be certified gold. Wayne reached higher popularity with his fourth album Tha Carter, which was led by the single Go D. J. and his appearance on Destinys Childs Top 10 single Soldier, that same year. The album was followed by Tha Carter II, as well as several mixtapes, Wayne gained more prominence with his sixth album Tha Carter III, which became his most successful album to date, with first-week sales of over one million copies in the United States. The album won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album and includes the hit singles Lollipop, A Milli, following the success of Tha Carter III, Wayne decided to record a rock-esque album titled Rebirth. The album, released in 2010, was certified gold by the RIAA, in March 2010, Lil Wayne began serving an 8-month jail sentence in New York after being convicted of criminal possession of a weapon stemming from an incident in July 2007. Waynes eighth album I Am Not a Human Being, was released during his incarceration and his 2011 album and first following his release, Tha Carter IV, sold 964,000 copies in its first week of availability in the United States. It includes the singles 6 Foot 7 Foot, How to Love, on September 27,2012, Lil Wayne passed Elvis Presley as the male with the most entries on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, with 109 songs. The record has since passed by other artists. Lil Waynes thirteenth studio album, Tha Carter V has been delayed multiple times and has no scheduled release date, Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. was born on September 27,1982, and grew up in the Hollygrove neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana. His mother, a cook, gave birth to him when she was 19 years old and his parents divorced when he was 2, and his father permanently abandoned the family. Although Wayne and Birdman have a relationship and Birdman calls Carter his son, Waynes biological father. Lil Wayne has also spoken about his stepfather, Rabbit. Carter has a dedicated to Rabbit, who was murdered before Carter became a star. Carter enrolled in the program of Lafayette Elementary School and in the drama club of Eleanor McMain Secondary School
3.
Hip hop music
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It developed as part of hip hop culture, a subculture defined by four key stylistic elements, MCing/rapping, DJing/scratching with turntables, break dancing, and graffiti writing. Other elements include sampling beats or bass lines from records, while often used to refer solely to rapping, hip hop more properly denotes the practice of the entire subculture. Hip hops early evolution occurred as sampling technology and drum machines became available and affordable. Turntablist techniques such as scratching and beatmatching developed along with the breaks and Jamaican toasting, rapping developed as a vocal style in which the artist speaks or chants along rhythmically with an instrumental or synthesized beat. The Sugarhill Gangs 1979 song Rappers Delight is widely regarded to be the first hip hop record to gain popularity in the mainstream. The 1980s marked the diversification of hip hop as the genre developed more complex styles, prior to the 1980s, hip hop music was largely confined within the United States. However, during the 1980s, it began to spread to scenes in dozens of countries. New school hip hop was the wave of hip hop music, originating in 1983–84 with the early records of Run-D. M. C. The Golden age hip hop period was a period between the mid-1980s and the early 1990s. Notable artists from this era include the Juice Crew, Public Enemy, & Rakim, Boogie Down Productions and KRS-One, EPMD, Slick Rick, Beastie Boys, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane, Ultramagnetic MCs, De La Soul, and A Tribe Called Quest. Gangsta rap is a subgenre of hip hop that often focuses on the violent lifestyles, in the West Coast hip hop style, G-funk dominated mainstream hip hop for several years during the 1990s. I. G. In the 1990s, hip hop began to diversify with other regional styles emerging, such as Southern rap, at the same time, hip hop continued to be assimilated into other genres of popular music, examples being Neo soul and nu metal. Hip hop became a pop music genre in the mid-1990s. The popularity of hip hop music continued through the 2000s, with hip hop influences also increasingly finding their way into mainstream pop, the United States also saw the success of regional styles such as crunk, a Southern genre that emphasized the beats and music more than the lyrics. Starting in 2005, sales of hip hop music in the United States began to severely wane, during the mid-2000s, alternative hip hop secured a place in the mainstream, due in part to the crossover success of artists such as OutKast and Kanye West. Creation of the hip hop is often credited to Keith Cowboy, rapper with Grandmaster Flash. However, Lovebug Starski, Keith Cowboy, and DJ Hollywood used the term when the music was known as disco rap. Cowboy later worked the hip hop cadence into a part of his stage performance, the first use of the term in print was in The Village Voice, by Steven Hager, later author of a 1984 history of hip hop
4.
Drake (musician)
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Aubrey Drake Graham is a Canadian rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. Drake initially gained recognition as an actor on the teen television series Degrassi. Intent on pursuing a career as a rapper, he departed the series in 2007 following the release of his debut mixtape and he released two further independent projects, Comeback Season and So Far Gone, before signing to Lil Waynes Young Money Entertainment in June 2009. Drake released his studio album Thank Me Later in 2010. They were followed by two mixtapes, with the trap-influenced If Youre Reading This Its Too Late, and a collaboration with Future for What a Time to Be Alive, in 2015. The former was certified platinum in the U. S. Drake released his fourth album, Views, in 2016. The dancehall-influenced Views sat atop the Billboard 200 for ten nonconsecutive weeks and its single One Dance topped the chart in several countries, including the U. S. the UK and Canada, where it became his first number-one single as the lead artist. This saw Drake leading the Billboard Hot 100 and the Billboard 200 simultaneously for eight weeks and it achieved quadruple platinum status in the U. S. and earned over 1 million album-equivalent units in the first week of its release. The single Hotline Bling secured him his second and third Grammy win, for Best Rap/Sung Performance and Best Rap Song, Drake released the critically acclaimed multi-genre More Life in 2017. More Life, described by Drake as a playlist, was his seventh number one on the Billboard 200 albums chart. Drake owns several Billboard chart records and he has the most charted songs among solo artists in the history of the Billboard Hot 100, the most simultaneously charted Hot 100 songs in a single week and the most Hot 100 debuts in a week. Drake also has the most number one singles on the Hot Rap Songs, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, alongside his Grammy Award wins, Drake has won three Juno Awards and six BET Awards. Drake has developed other ventures, including his OVO Sound record label with longtime collaborator Noah 40 Shebib, Drake acts as a producer, producing under the pseudonym of Champagne Papi. Using the OVO moniker, Drake has his own clothing line and he is also currently acting as the global ambassador for NBA franchise, the Toronto Raptors. Aubrey Drake Graham was born on October 24,1986, in Toronto and his father, Dennis Graham, is an African American and a practicing Catholic from Memphis, Tennessee, and worked as a drummer, performing alongside country musician Jerry Lee Lewis. Bass guitarist Larry Graham and the late songwriter Teenie Hodges are his paternal uncles, Drakes mother, Sandi Graham, is a white Jewish Canadian who worked as an English teacher and florist. Drake attended a Jewish day school, and had a Bar Mitzvah ceremony, Drakes parents divorced when he was five years old. After the divorce, he and his mother remained in Toronto, as a child, he witnessed his fathers arrest while visiting him in Memphis
5.
Drunk in Love
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Drunk in Love is a song recorded by American singer Beyoncé featuring her husband, rapper Jay Z. The duo along with Detail, Andre Eric Proctor, Rasool Ricardo Diaz, Brian Soko, Timbaland, Jerome Harmon, columbia Records released Drunk in Love as one of the two lead singles from Beyoncé on December 17,2013. The song is dominated by trap beats in chunks and bass and its lyrics, which depict female sexuality, are sung by Beyoncé in a sensual and confident way. Many music critics called the song a follow-up to Beyoncés and Jay-Zs song Crazy in Love, Drunk in Love peaked at number two on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, spending eight weeks in the top ten. It also reached the top ten in France, Ireland, New Zealand, at the 57th Grammy Awards, Drunk in Love won Best R&B Song and Best R&B Performance. The songs music video was directed by Hype Williams and shot in black-and-white in Golden Beach, the visual features scenes of the pair singing the song together. Drunk in Love was performed by Beyoncé and Jay-Z at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards and it was later added to the set lists of the second European leg of Beyoncés The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour in 2013 and the pairs joint On the Run Tour in 2014. Numerous remixes and cover versions of the song were made, most notably the official rework by rapper Kanye West, the music video won Best Collaboration and was nominated for Video of the Year at the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards. Drunk in Love was written by Beyoncé, Detail and Jay-Z, production of the song was handled by Boots and Beyoncé as well as Detail. Drunk in Love was recorded at Jungle City Studios and at Oven Studios in New York City, Detail approached Beyoncé with a beat he had created called Drunk inspired by different situations from being affected by alcohol. Beyoncé further helped in the production of the song, adding elements that Detail had missed and she and Jay-Z later free-styled their verses for the song and Timbaland contributed keyboards. J-Roc, Dre Moon, Brian Soko and Rasool Ricardo Diaz contributed to the production of the song, elaborating on the conception of the song, Beyoncé said, We just kinda had a party. It was so great, because it wasnt about any ego, in 2014, rapper Future claimed that he had previously recorded a demo version of the song. He worked together with Detail who persuaded him to record vocals for the track as it would convince Beyoncé more easily to record it, several days later, Detail informed Future that Beyoncé was in the studio recording Drunk in Love. When Beyoncé released her album, the track was scrapped from the listing of Honest. Drunk in Love was subsequently included on Beyoncés self-titled fifth studio album Beyoncé which was released on iTunes Store with no promotion having taken place beforehand, following the albums release, Billboard reported that Drunk in Love would be sent to urban contemporary radio in the US exclusively. XO impacted CHR, hot adult contemporary and rhythmic radio in the US on December 16,2013 as the first single from the album. Drunk in Love impacted urban radio stations on December 17,2013
6.
420 (cannabis culture)
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420,4,20, or 4/20 is a code-term that refers to the consumption of cannabis, especially smoking cannabis around the time 4,20 p. m. /a. m. and smoking and celebrating cannabis on the date April 20. The Waldos designated the Louis Pasteur statue on the grounds of San Rafael High School as their meeting place, the Waldos referred to this plan with the phrase 4,20 Louis. Several failed attempts to find the crop eventually shortened their phrase to simply 4,20, hager wrote Stoner Smart or Stoner Stupid. in which he called for 4,20 p. m. to be the socially accepted hour of the day to consume cannabis. He attributes the early spread of the phrase to Grateful Dead followers, April 20 has become a counterculture holiday in North America, where people gather to celebrate and consume cannabis. Some events have a nature to them, advocating for the legalization of cannabis. Events have also occurred in London, United Kingdom, in Hyde Park, snapchat has a 420 face filter option on April 20. The filter shall show the text 420 on April 20 and this filter disappears the day after April 20. Signs bearing the number 420 have been frequently stolen, in Colorado, the Colorado Department of Transportation replaced the Mile Marker 420 sign on I-70 east of Denver with one reading 419.99 in an attempt to stop the thievery. The Idaho Department of Transportation replaced the Mile Marker 420 sign on U. S. Highway 95, just south of Coeur dAlene and that marker was eventually stolen as well, leading ITD to just post the marker with spray paint on the pavement. In Goodhue County, Minnesota, officials have changed 420 St street signs to 42x St, in 2003, California Senate Bill 420 was introduced to regulate medical marijuana use, in deliberate reference to the status of 420 in marijuana culture. An unsuccessful 2010 bill to legalize cannabis in Guam was called Bill 420
7.
Future (rapper)
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Nayvadius DeMun Wilburn, known professionally as Future, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, Wilburn first became involved in music as part of the Dungeon Family collective, where he was nicknamed the Future. After amassing a series of mixtapes between 2010 and 2011, Future signed a record label deal with Epic Records and A1 Recordings. He subsequently released his album, Pluto, in April 2012 to positive reviews. Futures second album, Honest, was released in April 2014, between late 2014 and early 2015, he released a trio of mixtapes, Monster, Beast Mode, and 56 Nights. His next releases, DS2, What a Time to Be Alive, EVOL, FUTURE, the latter two made him the first artist to debut to two albums consecutively at the top of that chart. Future has also released several singles certified gold or higher by the RIAA, including Turn On the Lights, Move That Dope, Fuck Up Some Commas, Where Ya At, Jumpman, nayvadius DeMun Wilburn was born on November 20,1983 in Atlanta, Georgia. He began using his name while performing as one of the members of the musical collective The Dungeon Family. His first cousin, record producer and Dungeon Family member Rico Wade, encouraged him to sharpen his writing skills, Future voices his praise of Wades musical influence and instruction, calling him the mastermind behind his sound. He soon came under the wing of Atlantas own Rocko who signed him to his label A-1 Recordings, since then his work ethic has driven him to his success. From 2010 to early 2011, Future released a series of mixtapes including 1000, Dirty Sprite, the latter included the single Tony Montana, in reference to the Scarface film. During that time, Future was also partnering with a fellow rapper Gucci Mane on their collaborative album Free Bricks, and co-wrote YCs single Racks. Future signed a label recording contract with Epic Records fellow American rapper Rockos A1 Recordings, in September 2011, days before the release of his next mixtape. The mixtape was described by XXL magazine as ranging from simple and it would almost feel antiquated if Future werent amassing hits, or if he werent bringing some subtle new dimensions to the micro-genre. Though Future had told MTV that Streetz Calling would be his final mixtape prior to the release of his studio album, another mixtape. In December 2011, Future was featured on the cover of Issue #77 of The FADER, before his album being released in April 2012. Future was selected to the annual XXL Freshmen list in early 2012 and his debut album Pluto, originally planned for January, was eventually released on April 17. It included remixes of Tony Montana featuring Drake and Magic featuring T. I, according to Future, Magic was the first record T. I. jumped on when he came outta jail
8.
Christina Milian
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Christine Flores, better known as Christina Milian, is an American singer, songwriter and actress. At the age of 19, Milian signed a contract with Def Jam. In 2004, Milian released her studio album Its About Time, which provided her first major U. S. hit, Dip It Low. Whatever U Want was released as the second single. Both singles charted within the Top 10 of the UK chart, in 2006, Milian released her third studio album So Amazin. The album produced one single, Say I, which peaked in the Top 30 of the US Billboard chart, a month after the release of So Amazin, Milians representative confirmed that she had left Island Records due to creative differences. Milian signed with Interscope Records in 2009, a single, ballad Us Against the World, was released in October 2008. In 2012, Milian signed to Young Money Entertainment, which will release her studio album. Although Milian is best known for her career, she originally wanted to be an actress. Her first lead role was in the 2003 film Love Dont Cost a Thing, and she subsequently had roles in Be Cool. Milian has since been cast in the 2010 ABC Family Original Movie Christmas Cupid, alongside Ashley Benson, on September 4,2009, Milian and R&B singer-songwriter The-Dream eloped in Las Vegas, and she gave birth to their daughter, Violet, on February 26,2010. Milian and The-Dream announced their separation on July 12,2010, Milian was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, and is Cuban American. She was born to parents Don Flores and Carmen Milian, and raised in Waldorf, Flores changed her name and adopted her mothers maiden name in the hopes of landing a wider range of acting roles. The oldest of three sisters, including Danielle and Elizabeth, she moved with her family to Waldorf, Maryland, soon after her birth. Milian was four years old when she showed an interest in business. As a child, Milian was very imaginative and very creative and they inspired her to have fun, and she convinced her parents that she did not want to be inside the TV, although it took some time to convince them. By the time she was nine years old, Milian had begun auditioning with talent agencies, shot commercials for Wendys and Honeycomb. Milians mother noticed her daughters potential and left her husband and moved to Los Angeles with her three daughters when Milian was 13 years old and her father had to stay in Maryland and divorced her mother soon after the move
9.
Pitchfork (website)
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Pitchfork is an American online magazine launched in 1995 by Ryan Schreiber, based in Chicago, Illinois and owned by Condé Nast. The site generally concentrates on new music, but Pitchfork journalists have also reviewed reissues, in late 1995, Ryan Schreiber, a recent high school graduate, created the magazine in Minneapolis. Influenced by local fanzines and KUOM, Schreiber, who had no writing experience. At first being Turntable, the site was updated monthly with interviews and reviews, in May 1996, the site began publishing daily and was renamed Pitchfork, alluding to Tony Montanas tattoo in Scarface. In early 1999, Schreiber relocated Pitchfork to Chicago, Illinois, by then, the site had expanded to four full-length album reviews daily, as well as sporadic interviews, features, and columns. It had also begun garnering a following for its coverage of underground music and its writing style. In October, the added a daily music news section. Pitchfork has launched a variety of subsidiary websites, Pitchfork. tv, a website displaying videos related to many independent music acts, launched in April 2008. It features bands that are found on Pitchfork. In July 2010, Pitchfork announced Altered Zones, a blog devoted to underground. On 21 May 2011, Pitchfork announced a partnership with Kill Screen, Altered Zones was closed on November 30. On December 26,2012, Pitchfork launched Nothing Major, a website that covered visual arts such as fine art, Nothing Major closed in October 2013. On October 13,2015, Condé Nast announced that it had acquired Pitchfork, following the sale, Schreiber remained as editor-in-chief. On March 13,2016, Pitchfork was redesigned, some publications have cited Pitchfork in having played a part in breaking artists such as Arcade Fire, Sufjan Stevens, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Interpol, The Go. Conversely, Pitchfork has also seen as being a negative influence on some indie artists. A dismissive 0.0 review of former Dismemberment Plan frontman Travis Morrisons Travistan album led to a sales drop. On the other hand, an endorsement from Pitchfork – which dispenses its approval one-tenth of a point at a time, up to a maximum of 10 points – is very valuable, indeed. Examples of Pitchforks impact include, Arcade Fire is among the bands most commonly cited to have benefited from a Pitchfork review
10.
Exclaim!
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Exclaim. is a monthly Canadian music magazine that features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with special focus on Canadian and cutting-edge artists. Content is based on the print publication, publishes 11 issues per year. Exclaim. began as a discussion among campus and community radio programmers at Ryersons CKLN-FM in 1991 and it was started by Ian Danzig, together with other programmers and Toronto musicians. The goal of the publication was to support great Canadian music that was otherwise going unheralded, the group worked through 1991 to produce their first issue in April 1992, with monthly issues being produced since. Ian Danzig has been the publisher of the magazine since its start, similarly to an alternative weekly newspaper, the magazine is distributed as a free publication at campus and community radio stations, bars, record stores, libraries, and coffee shops. The magazines website features reviews, interviews and profiles not found in the print publication and it includes a news page that is updated with the latest in music and music-related culture. The site reaches 211,000 unique users every month, TV, which includes weekly instalments of video interviews with musicians, as well as a section titled Click Hear where readers are guided to the latest music released on the Internet. As well as music, exclaim. ca reviews films, DVDs, music DVDs, concerts, exclaim. ca is also increasing its coverage of film festivals, such as the Toronto International Film Festival and the Sundance Film Festival. The magazine also covers smaller Toronto festivals such as the Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival, Hot Docs Documentary Film Festival, the magazines website also has contests where readers can enter for a chance to win various music-related prizes. These artists are featured on the cover of Exclaims monthly issue, x3 artists of the month have included Knaan, Malajube, Thunderheist, Japandroids, Apostle of Hustle, You Say Party. We Say Die. and The Rural Alberta Advantage
11.
Dedication 5
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Dedication 5 is a mixtape by American rapper Lil Wayne. The mixtape was released on September 1,2013 and it is the fifth installment of Lil Waynes Dedication series, following its predecessors The Dedication, Dedication 2, Dedication 3 and Dedication 4. Its also the fifth installment of Lil Waynes Gangsta Grillz Pentalogy, the mixtape features guest appearances from The Weeknd, Chance the Rapper, Jae Millz, Future, Birdman, Mack Maine, T. I. Vado and Kidd Kidd among others, on June 10,2013 Lil Wayne released a freestyle over Ace Hoods hit ”Bugatti” instrumental featuring fellow Young Money artist Boo, which was later confirmed to be the first song from Dedication 5. Later that day DJ Drama confirmed on his Twitter that the mixtape is coming by stating, hinting that the mixtape was still in development. Mack Maine intensified the topic when he tweeted D5 hinting the tape would be soon released, on August 14,2013, Lil Wayne hinted on his Twitter account that the mixtape would be finished in 10 days after he was asked by a fan. On August 25,2013, it was announced the mixtape would be released on August 30,2013, the mixtape was later pushed back two days and was released on September 1,2013, at 12AM PST. The graphic artwork of Dedication 5 was made by the graphics team OllyCarterzGFX, Dedication 5 was met with mixed reviews from music critics. William E. Occasionally, the YMCMB head honcho shows that he still has a portion of the skills that earned him his spot among rap’s elite, if he can find recapture the consistency from that same era, he won’t have to apologize to his fans for much longer. Brian Josephs of XXL gave the mixtape an L, saying Surprisingly, on one of the final tracks, Lil Wayne is asked if he considers himself a living legend. He doesn’t know, but he concludes by saying being Lil Wayne is “amazing. ”Is this just contentment or a positive outlook on things to come, like the entertaining, but flawed Dedication 5 is. Fans could speculate, but it’s much easier to realize how refreshing it is to hear Lil Wayne sounding like he gives a damn, corban Goble of Pitchfork Media gave the mixtape a 5. But with both recent mixtapes as well as recent projects, Wayne has set the bar very low, it’s hard to know until the artist himself decides, but Dedication 5-- a release whose DatPiff page earnestly reads Welcome back Mixtape Weezy”-- shows that some gears are still moving. He’s got a way to go before he’s ever the Best In The World again. Good to have ya back, Mr. Carter, Wayne has stumbled hard in recent years, but with Dedication 5 he seems to have temporarily caught himself. He even apologized to fans on Twitter recently and promised to work harder, Dedication 5 is not the best Lil Wayne mixtape ever. It’s not even in the Top 5, but it is the best that he’s released in four years, more importantly, it’s evidence that Mixtape Weezy still exists in some form, if Wayne can stop cashing checks and doing skateboard tricks long enough to let him out. On December 23,2013, XXL ranked it at number 16 on their list of the best mixtapes of 2013
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