On the Download: The Industry, The Musician & The Internet – Part II

By Alif Omar Mahfix  •  in Features
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A$AP MOB
Arguably the most prolific hip hop crew to emerge out of nowhere next to Odd Future. Heck, they might just be better than them. A$AP Rocky’s LiveLoveA$AP was released online to universal acclaim, leading to him getting a rumoured $3 million record deal with label Sony/RCA. Meanwhile, crewmember SpaceGhostPurrp has built himself as a cult figure with a decidedly throwback west coast meets southern rap image on YouTube and super lo-fi mixtapes. Like Odd Future before them, A$AP Mob has gotten instant sponsorship and coverage just through one free digital download.
www.asapmob.com

BLU
After securing a major record deal with Warner Bros., indie rap veteran Blu saw it dissolving when, NoYork!, his vision of a major label debut, involves production that is more FlyLo than Swizz Beatz. Rather than go independent again, Blu did the most sensible thing MCs today would do – he released NoYork! on Soundcloud for streaming and later for free download. While this move hasn’t translated to a physical release or a turnaround from Warner Bros. just quite yet, NoYork! is still one of the most overlooked albums of 2011, conveniently ignored by most music publications online and offline. Shame.
www.soundcloud.com/earmilk/sets/noyork

NILA KUMIS
Full disclosure; JUICE doesn’t really know who NiLA KUMiS is. As we understand it he was an early ‘90s rapper from Philippines (or some other South East Asia country) whom local rapper HQA chanced upon on YouTube and contacted. They then collaborated, put up a few tracks online, and released mixtape NiLA KUMiS CREW CLAN COLLECTIVE Greatest Hits Vol. 3, consisting of old tracks by both him and HQA, on DatPiff for free download. While NiLA KUMiS hasn’t reached genre compadre SpageGhostPurrp’s cult status, we’re hoping we could change that.
www.youtube.com/nilakumis

GRAMATIK
Slovenian producer Gramatik’s Beatz & Pieces Vol. 1 was one of last year’s best electronic albums, topping a lot of electronic aficionados’ Best of 2011 lists. Unlike a lot of other free digital downloads though, Beatz & Pieces Vol. 1 was released through Gramatik’s label Pretty Lights Music on their website with the option to donate. Being a rising electronic producer – he has sold over 80,000 tracks on Beatport and was number 1 on the HypeMachine chart at one point – Gramatik could have easily chose to sell his album, it would be the wise business decision. Yet he put it up online for free download anyway, making us think that there’s got to be something to releasing free music.
www.prettylightsmusic.com/therecordlabel/gramatik.html

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