Top 10 Mixtapes of 2011

2011 felt like an amazing year for hip hop. The year kind of felt like watching one empire fall while a new one began to emerge from the rubble. Watching the old kings of hip hop flop around like fish on dry land, gasping for air while trying to find a new puddle to pollute was kind of pitiful. The bloated excess of Kanye West and Jay-Z's collaboration was particularly alienating, their diamond-crusted and gold-plated grasp for relevancy sounded like Marie Antoinette saying "Let them eat cake." In the face of recessions, deep-seated poverty, and Occupy Wall Street protests they released an album that was filled with Donald Trump style arrogance.

Thankfully, a lot of other voices emerged this year who refuse to be limited by the old barriers that divided up the hip hop world. Not only that, but a lot of the amazing music that was released this was for free. This list is by no means definitive and if you have any suggestions for what I've missed feel free to leave your suggestions down below. Also, I have provided download links for almost all of the mixtapes, but there are a couple mixtapes that aren't being given away for free anymore, for those ones you will have to figure out your own way of getting ahold of them.

10. Kendrick Lamar - Section.80 
Section.80 is probably the only 2011 hip hop album you will listen to that is framed as a critique of Ronald Reagan's economic policies. Kendrick Lamar has the unique talent placing himself within the stream of events, often avoiding many of the typical problems that 'conscious rap' runs into.  He never sounds like he is lecturing or sermonizing, instead he simply makes observations about himself and his generation. A.D.H.D is probably the best example of this strategy, where Lamar places himself as both an observer and a participant of a party. In between lines about doing drugs and having a good time he intersperses his observations about the erosion of values within his generation. A flirtatious encounter with a women becomes an opportunity to critique the war on drugs, or the intake of drugs is used as a way to explain generational apathy. While Lamar always situates gangster culture as a product of economic and cultural forces he also raps about the influence it has had on himself and the youth around him. "I used to want to see the penitentiary, way after elementary, thought it was cool to look the judge in the face when he sentenced me," he raps on Poe Man Dreams. The narrative depth on Keisha's Song is as interesting as the plot of a novel and the twists and turns are heart-breaking and chill inducing. Section.80 isn't without its problems though, and Lamar can go from sounding like a young prodigy to embarrassingly immature in matter of a few sentences. Certain parts of Section.80 are cringe-inducing, whether it is the over earnest skits or his attempt to make a political statement out of a high-elevation sex fantasy. These stumbles are forgivable, partially because Section.80 is clearly designed to be a mixtape. One of the most fascinating aspects of this album is watching Lamar try out different styles and voices, and his growth and experimentation as an artist is already clear.

9. AraabMuzik - Electronic Dream

Electronic Dream is essentially a collection of remixes that seem relatively simple until you try and explain them. AraabMuzik has taken Top 40 style club songs and cut them up into what could best be described as electronic shoegaze hip hop.  Even though most of the songs feature vocal tracks, the majority of them feel like instrumentals. The world that AraabMuzik inhabits reminds me of what The Weeknd has done this year, though their music is extremely different in style and method they have both created sonic worlds that are insular, dangerous, and nocturnal. It probably isn't hard to tell that I am struggling to describe this album and I think it speaks to how familiar yet unique this album sounds. This is an album of paradoxes, warm yet chilly, paranoid yet comforting, accessible yet challenging. Araabmuzik strips down dance songs to their melancholy cores, revealing the dark heart of club music.

Download at this link:
http://hulkshare.com/f0rgsyvjaekf

8. Death Grips - Exmilitary
Exmilitary begins with a sample of Charles Manson ranting over an ominous base line. To hear Manson say "the game is mine, I deal the cards" is blood-chilling but that statement is also the easiest way to describe the rest of the following album. Its a chaotic, noisy, challenging, and uncomfortable listen that challenges every genre convention of a dozen musical genres. I've heard this album called punk hip hop or punk rap and while those labels have a certain amount of accuracy, for me it brings up unfortunate images of nu-metal or other rap-rock creations. Exmilitary doesn't really fit into any genre, instead the Death Grips seems to use and discard genres for a purpose that lies outside all genres. Their vision seems to be an extremely aggressive one that mixes mythic metal style imagery with sludge and industrial rock. Except this is a hip hop album that regularly samples classic rock and punk rock. "Cold blood night of serpent's breath exhaled like spells from the endlessness," the MC yells at the top of his lungs as he declares "I am the beast I worship." Listening to Exmilitary can be exhausting but the determined listener will find a lot that is rewarding here.

Download at this link: 
http://thirdworlds.net/exmilitary.php

7. The Weeknd - Echoes of Silence
Over the course of the year, The Weeknd has released an entire careers worth of material. Not only was it all free, but the quantity seemed to have little to no negligible affect on the quality. This plus, The Weeknd's disturbing material and his ambiguous and low profile made him one of the most talked about artists of the year. Echoes of Silence has its fair share of disturbing material, some of it, including songs about gang-rape and emotional abuse is easily the most disturbing ground he has carved out yet. But at the same time Echoes of Silence includes some of The Weeknd's most accessible moments. Songs, that if they are taken out of the context of the album, can be listened to without the moral balancing acts that The Weeknd often forces his listeners to do. Not only that, but some of these songs, including the superb Montreal, are beautifully created pop songs. Echoes can certainly be viewed as part of a series of mixtapes, but it also deserves to be evaluated on its own. Unlike The Weeknd's sophomore act, Thursday, Echoes is a piece of the puzzle that is even more interesting when viewed outside of its larger concept.

Download at this link: 
http://the-weeknd.com/

6. Keys N Krates - Blackout EP
Including the Blackout EP on this list definitely stretches my definition of a mixtape, so while this is an EP I think the fact that it is legally free hip hop music is justification enough for it to be on the list. Also, Keys N Krates is a really interesting band that deserves to be written about and they fit in but stand out from the revitalized instrumental hip hop scene. Keys N Krates is a Canadian live remix band from Toronto that consists of a drummer, keyboardist, and a DJ for live sampling. While the results aren't always as interesting as one would hope, certain songs stand out as some of the most exciting music of the year. Uncle Otis takes the Otis Redding sample that Kanye and Jay-Z used on Otis and uses it in a much more creative and interesting way. The sample grunts and yells over top of malicious-sounding synthesizers. The sounds of old and new juxtapose violently which makes Redding's vocals sound aggressive and intimidating. The best song on the EP is easily Luv To Luv You which initially sounds like a long lost Daft Punk hip hop cut before it bursts into triumphant pop styled chorus with epically pounding drums and cut up trumpet and pop-diva samples. The manipulation of these samples is a masterwork as the band uses the same sample cut slightly differently to convey different emotions and layer complexity. Like their peers in the instrumental hip hop...(I hesitate to call it a scene, maybe more of a movement or trend) Keys N Krates are hard to define and deftly maneuver through genres with songs that defy them.

Download at this link: 
http://www.toflo.com/category/all/music/download-keys-krates-blackout-ep/

5.  Cities Aviv - Digital Lows
Digital Lows bounced around my top ten list in the making, at one time sitting in last place and another time sitting in first place. Digital Lows is a frustrating and rewarding listen that constantly confounds expectations. Beats unexpectedly lurch in between smooth jazz and industrial beats built out of Depeche Mode samples. Sweet love songs are sandwiched in between misogynistic shock-rap songs. Cities Aviv is fairly representative of the change that was felt in hip hop this year. Artists seemed to reject the expectation of conscious, gangster, club rap or any other cultural or musical expectations. It seems to have come out of the necessity to not be pigeon-holed to one subject or to one type of material. Instead rap music this year has been messy, expansive, unpredictable and most of all exciting. Digital Lows is exactly that, an album that will keep the listener on their toes, never allowing the listener to completely relax or settle into a groove. Digital Lows is mostly about everyday living whether you are negotiating cultural expectations or just trying to stay alive for another day. While there are fantastical elements and hilarious brags such as "in this eight-bit world I'm Bowser," but Cites Aviv's raps mostly sound like he is walking through the city making observations. The journey that he leads us on through this "beautiful hell" is profound and fascinating.

Download at this link: 
http://citiesaviv.bandcamp.com/album/digital-lows

4. The Weeknd - House of Balloons
With the release of House of Balloons this year, The Weeknd created one of the most fascinating anti-heroes in an artistic culture that has recently been populated with many Walter Whites and Don Drapers. The Weeknd's character stands out partially because the world he inhabits is gorgeously created that seems to be an intentional subversion of the current themes that are being played out in popular music. But also partially because he is one of the most despicable and least sympathetic anti-heroes to stand apart from the sleazebags that inhabit HBO dramas. House of Balloons starts with one of the catchiest/creepiest songs I have ever heard, High For This. The song mostly consists of The Weeknd advising a girl that she will be able to better deal with the horrible things he is about to do to her if she was high. From there on in, things don't get any less despicable, but The Weeknd never seems to try and get our sympathy or glorify his party life style. The Weeknd truly sounds miserable when he describes the parties he is at. The title track has him singing "this is fun" on the chorus but he sounds like he is trying to convince himself as much the listener. At the end of the night on Glass Table Girls, the cocaine comes out and he sounds desperate and trapped, looking for escape. The music stutters and shakes and when he sings "bring out the glass tables" there is the sound of fear in his voice. There have been many critics who have condemned the actions and situations that The Weeknd describes on his trio of mixtapes but I'm pretty sure that is the very point.

Download at this link: 
http://the-weeknd.com/#

3. Big K.R.I.T. - Return of 4Eva
Return of 4Eva is a mixtape that you will probably see in second or third spot on a lot of top ten lists this year. Part of that has to do with the fact that Big K.R.I.T has created a mixtape that sounds more like a complete statement than any other mixtape released this year. It doesn't sound like a mixtape, it sounds like an album. It also speaks to the level of professionalism that K.R.I.T. brings to his work. It makes his work more accessible and often more satisfying than a lot of other indie rappers but at the same time it makes him less exciting and more predictable. But K.R.I.T. also refuses to stick to one genre or musical statement like his indie peers he mixes conscious raps with club bangers. The perspective as a black rural southerner is one that is fairly novel. Musically, Return of 4eva is gorgeously produced southern hip hop, but not necessarily anything that breaks the mold. A lot of criticism around Big K.R.I.T. and this album has been based on the idea that as an artist he doesn't necessarily do anything that truly stands out or breaks the mold. And for the most part that is probably true, but it also ignores the fact that K.R.I.T. is mixing old and new hip hop sounds and themes to create a sound that stands out as  different from both.

2. Danny Brown - XXX
Danny Brown claims that 50 Cent wanted to sign him until he saw how tight his jeans were. Whether this story is true or not, it is one of the most telling stories about Brown, rap's most fascinating weirdo. Brown is charismatic and clever, but also disgusting, violent and scary. He can sound silly yet scary, often at the same time. Danny Brown is most interesting when he is describing growing up in poverty in Detroit. In Fields he describes being mugged for food stamps or being beaten up for living in the wrong area of town. In the chorus he describes the areas of Detroit that are rapidly becoming ghost towns, "and where I live it was field, field, house..." "Sitting on porches of abandoned couches or sitting on the field of bed bug ridden couches. Its like they all forgot, man, nobody care about us," he raps, describing the plight of living in an area most of us will only see on Google Maps. His observations from this point of view allow him to note that the no wins "the gun games" and only the mothers lose. On Scrap or Die he describes the process of stripping abandoned houses for scrap metal, these desperate measure rarely seem to help though because he is either ripped off by construction companies or busted by the police. Most of XXX is populated with some of the most vile and disgusting shock raps you will ever hear. Brown's narritive is one that always contains the threat of violence, even when he is at his most charismatic or silly. The perspective that he brings to hip hop is a fascinating one and the way he describes poverty is realistic and brutal.

Download at this link: 
http://www.foolsgoldrecs.com/xxx/ 

1. Clams Casino - Instrumental Mixtape
Clams Casino is a producer who before this mixtape had done some notable work with Lil B. Instrumental Mixtape removes the mostly inane rapping of Clams Casino's collaborators and lets his music breathe and come to life. The result is easily one of the most beautiful and atmospheric records of the year. The samples used on the mixtape are mostly unrecognizable and Clams Casino has kept mostly tight-lipped about them, but the source hardly matters because the songs that he has created here have become something entirely different from their ambiguous sources. Clams Casino has the incredible talent of taking a sigh, a breath, a tiny vocal sample and then echoing it through the entire song, using distortions, reverb, and filters to build an entire narritive out of the smallest pieces. To me, the album evokes the experience of wandering through a fog covered ghost town. The music is cloaked in mystery but also filled with emotion. If nostalgia had a sound, it would be similar to this album, the strange mixture of joy and pain that makes up the process of looking back on one's memories. Instrumental Mixtape has made Clams Casino the new face of instrumental hip hop and arguably the most important artist within the genre.

Download at this link: 

http://hulkshare.com/10nsi8mxqvzw