XV Attempts to Break Through to the “Popular Culture” (Mixtape Stream & Download)

Posted by Nathan S. on 06/15/12 | Filed under Downloads, Mixtapes, XV

Tell me if this sounds familiar? Rapper builds a loyal fanbase with his unique style. Signs to a major label, celebrates!!! Months pass, nothing happens. Rapper slowly realizes the label isn't going to do anything for him. Goes back to doing the same shit he was doing before he was signed (except now the label's taking a cut of everything.)

I can literally name hundreds of examples, and XV's definitely one. When he signed to Warner Bros. he undoubtedly thought big things were just around the corner, but after more than a year without even a whisper of a release date on his "Kid With the Green Backpack" album, he's clearly gone back into "fuck the label, I'm going back to doing this shit myself" mode. And that's not just me gossiping and speculating, Vizzy directly and indirectly says "fuck the label" throughout his new project "Popular Culture".

It's probably no coincidence then that "Popular Culture" is one of the best projects of his career, if not the best. (I'm gonna have to marinate on it for a minute.) There's no doubt about it, the dude can fucking rap. So will Warner Bros. ever really push the Kansas native? Who knows, that's the game, and it's nearly impossible to predict the game. But in the meantime I'm going to just going to enjoy some dope music.

UPDATE: XV smartly paired this mixtape release with a pre-order of his upcoming "Awesome" EP.

Download link and stream are below the tracklist. Enjoy:

INSERT KEYWORDS