#TBT: Mixtape Tory Lanez

Tory Lanez's debut album I Told You is due out August 19. Let's take a moment to look back on Lanez's career to date. Let's explore the stretch from 2010 to 2014, the most crucial years in his maturation as an artist, years that included the stunning mixtape run Sincerely Tory, Conflicts of My Soul, Chixtape 2, & Lost Cause.

Click through the gallery to listen to 10 of the best songs from that era. In the process of narrowing this list down to ten songs, the sheer mass of quality Tory Lanez music in existence became abundantly clear. Dozens of songs had to be omitted, but this'll get you started.

These battles actually pre-dated Lanez' mixtape era but they're too good not to include. Back in 2008, when he was 15 or 16, he battled on multiple occasions Tech Rhymes, a.k.a. TOBi, now known as the buzzing Ontario artist who recently released FYI EP.

Lanez low-key got his ass whooped, but he dropped a few gems. "Got gats longer than Shaq's spinal cord."

Tory Lanez has the range. Who else goes from battle rapping to singing like this? "Ayo" stands on the R&B/pop end of the Lanez spectrum, much like the rest of Chixtape, the mixtape on which it appears.

My personal favorite. "Wooden Beads" came out back when Young Money had the rap game in chokehold. The Nicki Minaj/Drake/Lil Wayne's influence is evident in Lanez's flow. No disrespect to Lanez, who straight murdered this. His punchlines are uneven in quality but his flow is unimpeachable.

Canada!!!

Most of Lanez's earlier mixtapes were mixtapes in the traditional sense. The Swave Man rapped over pre-existing beats with the sort of verve he now channels during his live performances. "Swavey in Paris" flips Jay Z and Kanye West's "Niggas in Paris."

Lanez dropped this video during that two-month period in 2011 when it was stylish to keep the the dangling brand tag on your hat. 

This song sounds a lot like "Wooden Beads." This song is Tory Lanez in his (former) wheelhouse, rapping over a more 808-heavy version of what Pharrell would call a "skeleton beat."  

The song's catchy refrain, "Konnichiwa, bitches, from Beijing to Saigon," doesn't take account to "Konnichiwa" means "hello" in JAPANESE, a language spoken in neither Beijing nor Saigon.

Sincerely Tory was maybe the first mixtape where Lanez began to synthesize his rappity-rap side and his panty-droppin' R&B side. Lanez's detractors would point to a song like "Friday the 13th" and argue that Lanez is biting off Drake's style. Lanez's supports would respond that he is doing it better than Drake, hence not biting but building.

A fan favorite, "Icey Dicey" comprises of four and a half minutes of unadulterated bars. The song finds Lanez at his horniest and most reckless, drunk driving through Toronto in search of the next women to seduce. 

One of the most enduring cuts off the absolutely stacked Conflicts of My Soul, "Colt 95" is a song about sexual trust and exploration. Lanez is in peak form, his delivery intensely physical yet ethereal, his melody ambitious yet airtight.

Conflicts of My Soul was the first project where Lanez's current aesthetic properly coalesced, the product of trial and error, of a cornucopia of influences. "Know What's Up" represents his maturation as an artist, and one of DJ Mustard's finest beats.

Produced by the talented trio of Noah Breakfast (fka Xaphoon Jones), Play Picasso, and Lanez, "Gold" represents a turning point in Lanez music. All his career he had had trouble containing his considerable enthusiasm. Here he explores complex themes, exercises melodic restraint, and lets the hypnotic drum wash over him.