The Data-Dump Album

Migos goes long to game spotify

- Craig Jenkins

RAP IS BROKEN, and it’s Young Money’s fault. First, Lil Wayne’s bounteous aughts free-mixtape streak powered the New Orleans rapper to the top of hip-hop’s A-list through force of sheer ubiquity. A decade later, Drake figured out that the Recording Industry Association of America counts ten-song downloads as a full download of an album and charted dramatically on the 20-song Views and the 22-song More Life. The influence of Wayne’s strategy cannot be overstated: Free music is the de facto pathway to rap stardom now. The changes Drake’s moves kicked up in their wake are only just coming into focus. The next Rae Sremmurd project is a triple album comprising a solo apiece from brothers Swae Lee and Slim Jxmmi and a full album from the group. The new album Culture II, by Georgia rap trio Migos, is about as long as Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs. Wayne, not to be upstaged, released Dedication 6, his latest mixtape, in two installments, clocking in at a combined two and a half hours. These developments feel retrograde, like tech informing culture when it should be the other way around.