Lil Wayne, Jadakiss, Fabolous and more Hip Hop heavyweights will appear in a forthcoming documentary about mixtapes that has finally gotten a release date.
Mixtape: The Movie, directed by Omar Acosta (Stretch and Bobbito: Radio That Changed Lives), is “about the story of mixtape culture and its role in spreading Hip Hop around the world … about the outlaw DJs who, for the love of the music, turned a criminal enterprise into a creative and commercial backbone of the music business.”
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Just in time for Hip Hop’s 50th birthday, the doc will arrive on Paramount+ on August 1 in the U.S. and Canada and August 2 in the U.K., Australia, Latin America and Brazil.
The first official trailer was released in March 2022, giving fans a glimpse at the slew of guest appearances from iconic rap figures whose careers are synonymous with mixtapes. In addition to the aforementioned names, DJ Green Lantern, A$AP Rocky, 2 Chainz, DJ Khaled, KRS-One, DJ Drama, Jeezy and many others will also make appearances.
You can view the latest trailer below:
https://youtu.be/gT1xT8DUbco
“Hip-Hop is 50 years old and I can’t think of a better way to celebrate its journey and contextualize its evolution than through the story of the mixtape,” Acosta said in a statement. “Every voice in this film played a critical role, especially the DJs who, as KRS-ONE says beautifully in the film, risked everything to ‘bring us the music.'”
Tony Touch, who’s a producer on the film, added: “It’s an honor to be involved in this film and to help tell the real story of the mixtape, its origins, its impact, and its on-going relevance for the culture.”
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Mixtape: The Movie was first announced in 2019 by Eminem‘s longtime manager Paul Rosenberg during his tenure as chairman and CEO of Def Jam. “[The mixtape is] a vital part of the history of the culture and the genre we don’t feel has been really examined thoroughly and properly enough or given its day,” he told Variety at the time.
In related news, Lil Wayne’s Dedication 2 mixtape is finally coming to digital streaming platforms later this year, and it’ll include new music as a bonus treat for fans.
DJ Drama announced the news during an interview with the Rap Radar Podcast, where he explained the fan-favorite mixtape will be available on DSPs very soon.
According to Drama, Dedication 2‘s bevy of samples and borrowed music has made it difficult to get the project cleared, but he promised it will be available on major platforms in 2023.
“It wasn’t original music, so it couldn’t go on streaming platforms, and I just feel like today, in 2023, if we going to do it, let’s do it, and it might take a little bit of time and be done,” Drama said.
“We are dropping Dedication 2 on streaming platforms this year, and it’s gonna have some new music along with it. That’s pretty exciting.”
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Dedication 2 was released in May 2006 and remains one of the most acclaimed entries in DJ Drama’s legendary Gangsta Grillz mixtape series.
The 25-track offering hears Lil Wayne tear through beats like 2Pac’s “Ambitionz Az a Ridah,” Rick Ross’ “Hustlin’” and Three 6 Mafia’s “Poppin’ My Collar” alongside features from T.I., Juelz Santana, Pharrell, Curren$y and more.
Dedication 2 was one of the first mixtapes to be financially successful thanks to it being sold on iTunes and at retail stores, and even cracked the Billboard charts.
