Ante Up: Mixtapes That Went From Free to a Fee
The-Dream isn't the first to repackage Web leaks for sale.
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Ante Up: Mixtapes That Went From Free to a Fee - The-Dream's long-delayed Love IV MMXII still isn't on the horizon, but he's making it up to fans—sort of. Instead of a new album, The-Dream will be releasing his lauded 2011 mixtape, 1977 (released under his birth name, Terius Nash), in December as a commercial album, featuring two new tracks. It's not an unprecedented path for a mixtape to take though—many artists have re-released their online leaks as for-sale projects. Read on to see other mixtapes that went from free to a fee. —Alex Gale (Photo: Christopher Polk/Getty Images for Gucci)
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Drake, So Far Gone - Drake's So Far Gone, released in February 2009, broke through like few mixtapes ever before. "Best I Ever Had" became a major radio hit and landed a Grammy nomination, and Drake signed a deal with Young Money in the aftermath. A stripped-down EP version of So Far Gone was released in September to capitalize on the buzz, eventually going gold. (Photo: Young Money)
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Yelawolf, Trunk Muzik - Yelawolf dropped his Trunk Muzik mixtape in January 2010, which helped him ink a deal with Interscope two months later. In November of that year, Yela reupped with his major-label debut, Trunk Muzik 0-60, an EP that featured six songs from the OG mixtape and six new ones. (Photo: Interscope)
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The Weeknd, Trilogy - The Weeknd major-label debut, Trilogy, which dropped Tuesday, combines all three of his earlier free releases—House of Balloons, Thursday and Echoes of Silence—into one album, along with three new tracks. (Photo: Universal Republic)
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Wale, The Mixtape About Nothing - Wale's 2009 pre-MMG album, Attention Deficit, may have flopped, but his mixtapes were holding him down. In May of the year before, Wale dropped the acclaimed, Seinfeld-themed The Mixtape About Nothing for free; just three months later, he was (and still is) selling it on iTunes. (Photo: MMG)
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