Research: Mixtapes

Taken from Wilkipedia -  "In hip hop's earliest days, the music only existed in live form, and the music was spread via tapes of parties and shows. Hip hop mixtapes first appeared in the mid-1970s in New York City, featuring artists such as Kool Herc and Afrika Bambaata. As more tapes became available, they began to be collected and traded by fans. In the mid-1980s, DJs, such as Brucie B, began recording their live music and selling their own mixtapes, which was soon followed by other DJs such as Kid Capri and Doo Wop. Ron G moved the mixtape forward in the early 1990s by blending R&B a cappellas with hip hop beats (known as "blends"). Blend tapes became increasingly popular by the mid-1990s, and fans increasingly looked for exclusive tracks and freestyles on the tapes. Also since the 1990s, it describes releases used to promote one or more new artists, or as a pre-release by more established artists to promote upcoming "official" albums. In the hip hop scene, mix tape is often displayed as a single term mixtape". 

Angel released a mixtape on the 17th August 2012 called "Any Minute Now". I think this was a good name for the mixtape and it leaves his fans anticipating for the release for his debut album "Time After Time" due to be released some time this year. It is a four track mixtape less than the one he did previously this year, which was titled "7 Minutes Before Time". On this mixtape urban UK artists such as Maxsta, Wiley, Temps, Giggs, Scorcher, Cleo Sol & G FRSH were featured. By having such known artists on his mixtapes builds up his reputation and makes him more well known. Whilst making these mixtapes he was still signed to Island Records (still is now), which probably shows however that he had the power to get such artists due to being signed which involves being connected to prominent people in the music industry. I would imagine that being an independent artist would involve a lot more of their contribution only due to not being signed and not having all the equipment or connections to produce a mixtape that has a variety of artists featured. 

There are sites that provide fans to download mixtapes from artist of their choice. For example, "DatPiff.com" (US) and "HoodTapes.com" (UK). 

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