DJ Drama Says Streaming Is Making Mixtape DJs Irrelevant

DJ Drama spoke with fans and media en masse on Monday during his Twitter Q&A and shared some interesting opinions on streaming and DJs.

DJ Drama, who has over one million Twitter followers, fielded questions about everything from his new artist Lil Uzi Vert to if he’s really Black.

He answered each of them honestly and even entertained the obviously silly ones. One question he kept it all the way 100 for was when he was queried on the impact that streaming sites like Spotify, Apple Music and Tidal have had on DJs and if they can benefit from them at all.

HipHopWired.com Senior Editor Maurice Garland posed the question:

Do you see DJs being able to capitalize from these streaming music wars in any way?

DJ Drama replied:

The landscape has changed. It’s a new way for artists to get their music to the people. So the streaming and various platforms have made the mixtape DJ somewhat irrelevant, to be honest. Things are changing. That’s why I went and got me a record label.

Photo: Instagram

Seeing as how DJ Drama is easily one of the most successful, recognizable mixtape DJs ever this revelation does hold weight. While websites like DatPiff, Spinrilla and LiveMixtapes continue to flourish as avenues for mixtape DJs to promote their projects, the platforms have also leveled the playing field and made it easier for artists to bypass the DJ and just promote the music themselves. Add that to the growing demand for “No DJ” editions of mixtapes among fans over the last few years, the mixtape DJ has not only approached irrelevance like Drama said, but have almost become a nuisance.

Now, with Apple Music using their muscle to secure permanent and temporary exclusive deals with rappers like Drake, Future and Chance the Rapper, all of whom started their careers off mixtapes, the mixtape DJ may just be getting squeezed out of the equation. Which indeed is why we see more and more DJs venturing out of the mixtape world, if not leaving it altogether.

DJ Drama, as he said, has his record label Generation Now. DJ Khaled, the man who brought you some of Lil Wayne’s classic underground material, is more of a social media star than he is a mixtape DJ nowadays. Not to mention he too is a label owner and is dropping music exclusively on Apple Music as well.

So, again the question must be asked, are streaming services threatening to make mixtape DJs irrelevant?

“It is but I still think you need both [streaming and mixtape DJs],” says “Nate” manager of popular mixtape DJ, Lil Keem. “There’s two or three artists that we worked with last year that blew up off mixtapes. [2016 XXL Freshman] 21 Savage is one of them. Mixtape DJS are definitely a factor. I think everything needs to be incorporated because there’s two different fanbases. Livemixtapes is going to have more of the streets while Soundcloud has more of the EDM kids. I still think more is better.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/BFM57JlOyrG/?taken-by=hoodrichkeem&hl=en

T.I., who partnered with DJ Drama in the early 2000s to build the beginnings of his superstar career, revealed that he has a similar stance on how he approaches streaming. Though he is a co-owner of Jay Z’s TIDAL platform, he insisted that he would not make his new album The Dime Trap a TIDAL exclusive like Beyonce or Kanye West because he’s not sure if his core fanbase lives there.

“This is an album that’s dedicated to my core fans,” he said in an radio interview with Ed Lover. “The people who went out there the first week Trap Muzik came out, so I’m basically dedicating this album to them and making the music that I know they want to hear me make. So I know those people all of them can’t necessarily afford TIDAL. So we will have some exclusive content and exclusive components. I don’t know if the entire album will be exclusive.”

Spotify recently gave DJs in general a lifeline in the streaming wars when they announced they will allow DJs to post mixes and radio shows featuring other artists music. Being penalized for posting music not belonging to them had long been a roadblock for DJs on platforms like Soundcloud, that became notorious for taking down links containing such material.

The irony of Chance The Rapper’s song “Mixtape” featuring Young Thug and Lil Yachty is that he may indirectly be one of the artists driving mixtape DJs into irrelevancy. None of his three mixtapes featured a DJ on it while his Coloring Book “mixtape” became the first streaming-only project to hit the Billboard 200.

To borrow from the question he posed on the song’s hook, “Does anybody still give a f*ck about a mixtape DJ?”