Slept-On Mixtapes Of 2014

Now that 2015 is underway, we have plenty of good music to look forward too, when it comes to both mixtapes (just peep our Upcoming section) and albums. Even in this one-listen-then-on-to-the-next generation, it's still appropriate to bump music that dropped last year, right? Especially because some projects didn't get as much as love as the quality of said projects deserve. By now you've probably seen, commented, debated (and possibly disliked) our Hottest Mixtapes of 2014 list-- by definition, the 'hottest' mixtapes are projects that had a ton of downloads, hype, clicks, fans, and yes, the music and the artist was also hot. But what about mixtapes that had hot jams, but just didn't get any plays? We're digging those ones up today for some of the most slept-on projects of 2014. Slept-on, but dope. Same could be said for any of the artists on this list, actually.

Re-visit these mixtapes or download them for the first time, either way, they're free and worthy of a listen. Let us know your favorites. Keep in mind this list is in absolutely no particular order.

Ro Ransom- RRITF

While Ro Ransom Is The Future was extremely anticipated within Ro’s small-but-growing fanbase, the rest of the world was snoozing. Ro gave us the future, finally, with his new mixtape, entirely produced by RobGotBeats. One producer, one sound, and all around dope style. RRITF is basically a night out in New York with the Young Coyote. We start mid-party with the hyped “Party In The Dark,” and after the build-up things soon come down on songs like “Nightfall.” However the party isn’t over yet, and the energy returns on records like “Anaconda Vise” and “Honor Amongst Thieves.” The rapper dabbles with singing throughout the mixtape’s 14 tracks, all the while offering up tidbits of information about his life, past, present and future. Welcome to Ro Ransom.

Archibald Slim, a member of the buzzing Awful Records collective, released He’s Drunk! quietly at the beginning of September. It didn’t pop up many places, even we were late to the party, posting the mixtape in October. Thus is checks all the right boxes for ‘slept-on’. Slim offers up a dark (the cover art alone isn’t the most uplifting thing) project, with weird rhymes and a conversational flow. It’s an intriguing project, with an array of production that includes jazzy/soulful samples, however, Slim shines most on records like the introductory “He’s Drunk”, “Needs” and “Politics.”

Rome Fortune’s career is in a pretty interesting (read: weird) place right now. From a critical and industry insider perspective, he’s on point, he’s respected and dope. However the 'fans' aren’t necessarily following suit. Nonetheless, the Atlanta rapper continues to show and prove with each free release (and there are plenty of them), and hopefully widening his fanbase with each new release. 2014 found three new projects from Rome, which is definitely more than your average internet rapper. Drives, Thighs & Lies, with producer Dun Deal, may have been the most over-looked. I might be inclined to say it was better than his Small VVorld mixtape, which had more hype surrounding its release, and by extension was less slept on. Dun Deal killed the hollow yet ambient production found through out Drives, Thighs & Lies, and Rome kept everything lady-friendly.

Rome Fortune - Drive, Thighs & Lies

Will 2015 be Nikko Lafre’s year, finally? We’ll have to wait and see. He set the tone right recently with his stripper-enthusiastic single “Pro,” and if you want more like that, you should actually peep what came prior: MPLS: West End Stories. It could very well be the most cohesive project you didn’t hear in 2014. MPLS could also be Nikko’s best project to date, he’s found himself a specific sound thanks to sticking to the same producer, K-Beatz, 99% of the time. Rappers should take note re: one producer to help develop your sound. The result for Nikko is tingly, dark, slightly trap-driven production with Nikko’s deep slur often relaying stories over it, from “Geechi’s Story” (x2) to “Hometown Love.” This is a slow-moving mixtape, as slow-moving as you can get without being chopped & screwed. It’s night time music, but, don’t sleep.

QuESt quickly became an HNHH fan-favorite leading up to his Searching Sylvan release, and although a lot of HNHH fans came through to download the tape, it’s safe to say it was otherwise slept on from the rest of the e-world (and real world). After a few years of struggle rapping, QuESt has finally found his own lane and his own home with Visionary Music Group. With help from VMG, QuESt released his strongest project to date and, at the same time, gave fans a close look at his come-up and the trials he went through. The whole project is intertwined by skits with QuESt and his mom, as QuESt (regretfully) moves back home after getting evicted—this is where we start, and as the tape progresses we get deeper into QuESt’s past. Most of the backing soundtrack for QuEST's story is smooth, musical production, but every now then the rapper turns up a notch, like on the unrelenting “Automatic” and equally aggressive “Hunger.” Now we just need a few more fans to find to Sylvan.

Lucki Eck$ dropped off his second project in the fall of 2014, Body High. The mixtape explored familiar themes from the rapper, from the initial high to the come down, to the ‘should I pop this Xanax or nah?’ Basically, Body High sounds like when you’ve smoked a little too much weed and you feel yourself melting into the couch. You can replace the word ‘weed’ with your vice of choice. Everything’s slowed down and slurred in Lucki Eck$’ trippy world (Lucki himself was probably tripping while he recorded this), and the beats follow suit. If you want to get fucked up, and then just sit there and reflect, this is the tape to do it too.

It’s not like we have a ton of rappers putting on for New Orleans right now, apart from already established figures like Curren$y. Pell is up for the job. The NOLA native officially introduced himself to the world with his free debut album Floating While Dreaming. Don’t expect some straight up Bounce shit on here though, instead, Pell gets influences from soul and jazz. His cadence is a bit similar to Chicagoian Chance The Rapper, but that’s about the only way these two rappers overlap. Whereas most rappers, even new ones without a dollar to their name, are focused on big upping the trap, bad bitches, stacks of cash etc, Pell puts his energy towards more positive things. This mixtape isn’t about getting fucked up, it’s about getting your dreams.

Ugly Frank’s Bobby Hill EP most likely slipped under your radar. So here we go. The rapper is a member of three-man crew ILLFIGHTYOU, and remains relatively unknown. With a crew name like that, and a rap name like ‘Ugly Frank,’ you probably expect a bit of belligerence from this rapper a la Tyler, The Creator. You would be right. It’s not over the top Waka Flocka-like belligerence, but Ugly Frank definitely has an alluring energy about him that will make you want to turn up. His creative flow is another plus, and the range of production he tackles within the seven tracks is a sure sign of versatility. Nonetheless everything has an underlying West Coast vibe, despite Ugly Frank hailing from Washington State. But we all know geographical boundaries mean nothing anymore.

Before every rapper and their mother was rapping about how fucked up they liked to get (on drugs), there was Ricky Hil. Ricky Hil’s long-standing Limos mixtape series got a refresher at the beginning of 2014, when he dropped, out of nowhere, Lost Limos 5. Now Ricky Hil has put out a lot of free music in the span of his career, especially early on, and there is a lot of crap you have to wade through to find the gems from Rich, no lie. But the gems are there (Limos Were Cool In The ‘90s being another classic Ricky Hil tape). Apart from his exceptional free debut album Support Your Local Drug Dealer (which deserves a most-slept-on list of its own), Lost Limos 5 is evidence of that. At times Ricky Hil may get a tad too experimental for the average listener, but Lost Limos 5 is just the right amount of whiny-singing and experimentation, just the right amount of Rich Hill-drug-addled depression, and the production to match. Nonetheless, it’s doubtful Ricky Hil will ever be “your favorite rapper” (you might be biased because his dad is Tommy Hilfiger, or maybe ‘cause he’s dating Rita Ora), and chances are he doesn’t give a fuck, he’ll just pop another Xanax. 

There have been several rappers from Chicago who are bordering on mainstream success, however King Louie isn’t one of them. Despite an appearance on Kanye West’s Yeezus (my personal favorite track “Send It Up”), and a possible deal with OVO, King L remains decidedly underground. Nonetheless he keeps the fans fed with a steady stream of mixtapes, including the summer release Tony. His growl of a flow is paired with beats from Bobby Johnson, C-Sick  and Jay Storm, as he offers up his own style of trap/drill. It’s not necessarily as abrasive as the average Chicago drill music, in fact, Louie holds a melody pretty often. Melodic drill, if you will. It’ll be really interesting to see Drake’s influence on King L if that rumored OVO deal pans out.

Mickey Christmas dropped off his ironic-ly titled Is This Art? mixtape at the very beginning of 2014. Just like the project’s title, much of the project dwells in irony, or at least humor, as does Michael Christmas as a person. The Boston-bred rapper offers up a chilled out and funky flow, unorthodox rhymes and feel-good beats, so what’s not to like? Cuts like “Michael Cera” got him a healthy buzz going, and no doubt appealed to the hipster realm of Cera lovers (or maybe that was five years ago), and once again iterated his sense of humor. Track titles like “Overweight Drake” and “House Cleaning Music” were equally hilarious. Who doesn’t need some good ol’ house cleaning jams? His underground status was further cemented by fellow underground appearances from Alex Wiley, Mr MFN eXquire and Rome Fortune.

Unfortunately, it seems like BJ The Chicago Kid may forever be held in that slept-on realm. The singer was on one of the biggest hits of 2014, ScHoolboy Q’s “Studio,” but it’s done little to help him from get out under that rock. We’re not knocking him though, cause he’s obviously talented. With little fanfare, the singer dropped a free mixtape The M.A.F.E. Project in 2014. It contained re-works from Justin Timberlake (“Strawberry Bubblegum”) as well as Kanye West (“Can’t Hold My Liquor”). While it may be hard to outdo the original tracks, BJ does a good job at creating an entirely new (and dope) listening experience for each. We also got original records on M.A.F.E., all of which had a classic r’n’b flare—BJ isn’t hopping on any trends or bandwagons here. He’s doing him.

Tunji Ige is a relatively new figure in the rap game, but he’s already making his mark. His recently released The Love Project may have been his debut effort, but it showed off a mature sound and style, not to mention skills. Tunji Ige can drop a bar and sing with the best of them, and he often does this alongside quirky instrumentals. The mixtape opener “For Us” is a very good indication of Tunji Ige— a mix of the upbeat and melancholy, of rapping and singing, of philosophical gems and ignorant tendencies. As the project continues, we get a bit of all these things, from the downtrodden “Kingdom” to the more funky “Pieces of Soul.” Nonetheless the majority of the project has a low-key feeling; Sunday afternoon chilling with that special lady kinda vibes.

After quite a lengthy wait (and a name change) Amir Obe finally dropped off Detrooklyn last summer. The free project offered up a new side of the rapper, and took influences from just about everywhere—it would be hard to pinpoint one exact sound from Amir. At times, he borders on r’n’b and experimental, and everything has this overall low-fi quality (like the cover art). Another striking feature about this mixtape is the fact that there are no features. Most rappers can’t drop a tape these days without tapping whatever affiliate or celebrity rapper they can grab, but Amir keeps Detrooklyn as a world of his own. Detrooklyn doesn’t need to be mainstream rap, indie rap, backpacker rap or whatever other box you want to put it in, because it doesn’t actually exist.

Canei Finch is a name you probably recognize, even if you can't exactly pinpoint it. He's a producer who's already worked with some dope rappers, including J. Cole, Yo Gotti, T.I. and plenty more. So it's safe to say he's an established man behind-the-scenes. Nonetheless, he took a step into the spotlight at the end of December with his free EP Morning Music. We already know he's a talented producer (if not, well, now you know), but the dude can also rap. Nonetheless the production may outshine the bars on this. The opening track "Morning Song" will put anyone in a good mood, it's definitely the kind of song you should use an alarm. As the short mixtape continues, we are given more of that feel-good, care free musicality. It was definitely a slept-on release though, although we hope that changes in 2015.

Tory Lanez definitely made a splash in 2014, but he's still get a bit to go before his name holds the same weight as fellow Torontonian Drake. Nonetheless, he's on his way with mixtapes like Conflicts of My Soul, and last year's Lost Cause. Tory Lanez has a similar situation as QuESt, in that he had a sufficient amount of buzz within the HNHH community, but generally, he's being slept-on, same goes for Lost Cause. Lost Cause harbored a dark style of r'n'b melded with rap, as Toronto artists seem warrant to do these days, however, Tory can actually sing. And he can actually spit. Plus, he gets points for using underground producers like Play Picasso and Noah Breakfast (formerly of Chiddy Bang) to create a smooth backdrop for all his Toronto nights.

Vince Staples- Shyne Coldchain Vol. 2

Vince Staples debut EP, Hell Can Wait was such a fiery display of Vince Staples' talent and importance that it completely overshadowed his full length project from 2014, Shyne Coldchain Vol. 2. The tape does not pack the same slap in the face that HCW does, but instead slowly reveals Vince as a gifted and nuanced narrator, pairing him with No I.D. for 6 of the 10 songs, and making it a good companion piece (and arguably superior work) to Common's surprisingly effective Nobody's Smiling (which he also guests on). While the new-school bomb squad production of the EP elevated Staples' voice to a higher level, Coldchain proves that he can also take a more reserved approach to storytelling, and it's no less effective.