Mixtapes land deals for new generation of rappers
By Mariel Concepcion @ reuters.com
NEW YORK (Billboard) - Detroit rapper Hayes takes inspiration for his mixtapes from -- of all things -- magazines.
"I want to give people a little taste of what a Hayes album would be like," he says. "It's like getting a trial subscription to your favorite magazine -- you get my music for free, you get to know me, and then hopefully you'll appreciate me enough to come back and support me." Tellingly, neither of Hayes' two mixtapes -- 2006's "24 Songs of Power" and 2010's "The First 48" -- traffic in two staples of the form: beats lifted from other official songs ("jacked beats," in mixtape parlance) and DJ scratches.
"I have my own format," Hayes says. "I like to use original beats. I
call my mixtapes 'street albums' -- I don't like to rap over other
people's beats."
Hayes' self-reliance is about to pay dividends: Two months ago he signed to Interscope through a joint deal with producers Timbaland's Mosley Music Group and Dr. Dre's Aftermath Records.
"For Tim, it wasn't just Hayes' lyrical prowess but his craftsmanship that really caught his ear," says Rick Frazier, Hayes' manager and vice president of Mosley Music Group. It was the entire package, Frazier says -- from lyrics to the original production by his in-house team, the Breakfast Club -- that got Hayes noticed.
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Hayes' self-reliance is about to pay dividends: Two months ago he signed to Interscope through a joint deal with producers Timbaland's Mosley Music Group and Dr. Dre's Aftermath Records.
"For Tim, it wasn't just Hayes' lyrical prowess but his craftsmanship that really caught his ear," says Rick Frazier, Hayes' manager and vice president of Mosley Music Group. It was the entire package, Frazier says -- from lyrics to the original production by his in-house team, the Breakfast Club -- that got Hayes noticed.
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