WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.160 Welcome to the Deep Dive. Have you ever wondered 00:00:03.160 --> 00:00:06.299 how a song goes from like a simple audio file 00:00:06.299 --> 00:00:09.119 to an absolute hostile takeover of the entire 00:00:09.119 --> 00:00:11.619 music industry? I mean, it is a fascinating process 00:00:11.619 --> 00:00:14.140 to watch unfold. Right. Today, we're looking 00:00:14.140 --> 00:00:16.519 at a literal masterclass in musical mutation. 00:00:17.059 --> 00:00:20.820 We are unpacking a 2013 single by American hip 00:00:20.820 --> 00:00:24.160 hop artist Future. The track titled Shit. Yeah, 00:00:24.539 --> 00:00:26.559 stylized with a dollar sign and an exclamation 00:00:26.559 --> 00:00:29.140 point or, you know, edited for radio as Shh. 00:00:29.210 --> 00:00:32.130 Naturally. And the mission here for you listening 00:00:32.130 --> 00:00:35.829 is to explore exactly how the standard four minute 00:00:35.829 --> 00:00:39.369 and 52 second drop just warped into a massive 00:00:39.369 --> 00:00:42.609 multi -tiered collaborative event. A total cultural 00:00:42.609 --> 00:00:44.750 moment. Exactly. Okay, let's unpack this because 00:00:44.750 --> 00:00:46.789 before we get to the absolute madness of the 00:00:46.789 --> 00:00:48.509 remiss culture that took over the calendar later 00:00:48.509 --> 00:00:51.329 that year. Madness. Oh, complete frenzy. But 00:00:51.329 --> 00:00:53.310 we need to establish the baseline first. We have 00:00:53.310 --> 00:00:55.369 to look to the original blueprint of this trap 00:00:55.369 --> 00:00:57.149 anthem. Right, because the architecture that 00:00:57.149 --> 00:00:59.750 gets built on top of this track later on is just 00:00:59.750 --> 00:01:02.030 sprawling. So understanding the foundation is 00:01:02.030 --> 00:01:04.810 critical here. We are starting in the fall of 00:01:04.810 --> 00:01:08.590 2013, September 24th, to be precise. That's when 00:01:08.590 --> 00:01:10.950 the song officially drops as a digital download. 00:01:11.010 --> 00:01:12.650 Through a whole combination of labels, right? 00:01:12.769 --> 00:01:15.349 Exactly. It's a hybrid release structure. It 00:01:15.349 --> 00:01:18.750 comes out via A1, free bands, and Epic Records. 00:01:18.909 --> 00:01:21.329 OK, so major backing. Major backing. Yeah. And 00:01:21.329 --> 00:01:24.090 it's positioned as the third single from Future's 00:01:24.090 --> 00:01:27.129 second studio album, Honest. Which didn't even 00:01:27.129 --> 00:01:29.760 hit the market until 2014. Right. This is following 00:01:29.760 --> 00:01:33.599 up another 2013 single he had called Ready. But 00:01:33.599 --> 00:01:35.920 there's a crucial strategic move here regarding 00:01:35.920 --> 00:01:38.620 the rollout itself. The official music video 00:01:38.620 --> 00:01:41.480 actually dropped on September 23rd. Oh wait, 00:01:42.099 --> 00:01:44.879 a full 24 hours before the digital audio release. 00:01:44.939 --> 00:01:47.840 Precisely. That is highly calculated. You're 00:01:47.840 --> 00:01:51.810 weaponizing the visual impact to... drive the 00:01:51.810 --> 00:01:53.989 commercial demand. Yeah, build the anticipation. 00:01:54.269 --> 00:01:56.030 Right, you put the imagery out into the culture, 00:01:56.049 --> 00:01:58.310 let it circulate, let the hype build, and then 00:01:58.310 --> 00:01:59.870 the very next day, you open the register and 00:01:59.870 --> 00:02:02.090 say, here's the digital download. It works perfectly. 00:02:02.150 --> 00:02:04.030 And looking at the core personnel for this initial 00:02:04.030 --> 00:02:07.189 track, it's pretty monumental. Yeah, the writing 00:02:07.189 --> 00:02:09.669 credits list, Nevadius Cash, which is Future's 00:02:09.669 --> 00:02:12.689 real name, alongside Michael Williams, universally 00:02:12.689 --> 00:02:15.090 known as Mike Will Made It, and Justin Garner. 00:02:15.930 --> 00:02:18.310 And then the production is handled by Mike Will 00:02:18.310 --> 00:02:21.599 Made It alongside Jaybo. Yes. I instantly think 00:02:21.599 --> 00:02:24.199 of this setup like a tech startup, releasing 00:02:24.199 --> 00:02:28.439 their minimum viable product, their MVP. That's 00:02:28.439 --> 00:02:30.840 a great way to put it. It has a clear structure, 00:02:31.180 --> 00:02:33.840 major backing from epic records. But the true 00:02:33.840 --> 00:02:36.159 innovation happens when outside developers get 00:02:36.159 --> 00:02:38.419 their hands on the open source code. Exactly. 00:02:38.780 --> 00:02:40.680 And what's fascinating here is the collaborative 00:02:40.680 --> 00:02:43.439 nature of those writing and production credits. 00:02:43.520 --> 00:02:45.960 Yeah. The synergy between Future and Mike Will 00:02:45.960 --> 00:02:48.500 made it. It isn't just a simple transaction where 00:02:48.500 --> 00:02:50.919 a vocalist leases a beat from a producer. Right. 00:02:50.919 --> 00:02:53.340 They share the core writing credits. They do. 00:02:53.379 --> 00:02:55.340 They built this architecture together from the 00:02:55.340 --> 00:02:57.740 ground up. They intertwine the vocal cadence 00:02:57.740 --> 00:03:01.099 with that real heavy sparse trap production establishing 00:03:01.099 --> 00:03:05.159 that definitive 2013 sound exactly they established 00:03:05.159 --> 00:03:07.419 a foundation strong enough to support the massive 00:03:07.419 --> 00:03:09.979 architecture of what happens next because if 00:03:09.979 --> 00:03:11.939 the original code wasn't structurally perfect 00:03:11.939 --> 00:03:13.960 nobody else would want to touch it exactly but 00:03:13.960 --> 00:03:16.580 because it was flawless it practically begged 00:03:16.580 --> 00:03:19.379 for outside developers to come in and build on 00:03:19.379 --> 00:03:22.300 top of it and man they absolutely did Which brings 00:03:22.300 --> 00:03:24.919 us out of that September major label release 00:03:24.919 --> 00:03:27.979 window and into the wild rapid fire sequence 00:03:27.979 --> 00:03:30.780 of events that took place just three months later. 00:03:31.000 --> 00:03:33.900 December of 2013. Right. Moving away from a standard 00:03:33.900 --> 00:03:36.939 album rollout and into a literal master class 00:03:36.939 --> 00:03:39.919 on how a song's life cycle can be artificially 00:03:39.919 --> 00:03:42.460 extended. Oh, artificially and brilliantly extended. 00:03:42.520 --> 00:03:44.949 Yeah. Here's where it gets really interesting, 00:03:45.490 --> 00:03:47.629 because the timeline turns into a complete frenzy. 00:03:48.189 --> 00:03:50.550 The pacing in December is just relentless. It 00:03:50.550 --> 00:03:53.270 is. So on December 14th, an announcement hits 00:03:53.270 --> 00:03:56.370 the culture that Canadian rapper Drake will appear 00:03:56.370 --> 00:03:58.870 on a remix of the track. Which is massive news 00:03:58.870 --> 00:04:01.349 on its own, a huge crossover event. Right, but 00:04:01.349 --> 00:04:04.050 before the audience can even process that collaboration, 00:04:04.469 --> 00:04:06.830 the very next day, December 15th, the reveal 00:04:06.830 --> 00:04:09.409 expands. The roster just completely explodes. 00:04:09.490 --> 00:04:12.180 Yeah, it's not just Drake. Suddenly we find out 00:04:12.180 --> 00:04:17.339 that Schoolboy Q, Jeezy, Pastor Troy, TI, and 00:04:17.339 --> 00:04:20.480 Juicy J are all jumping on this beat. They announced 00:04:20.480 --> 00:04:23.240 this entire heavyweight lineup in a 48 -hour 00:04:23.240 --> 00:04:26.379 span. It's like a modern blockbuster movie trailer 00:04:26.379 --> 00:04:28.879 campaign. Oh, totally. You know, where a studio 00:04:28.879 --> 00:04:31.040 does those staggered character reveals on social 00:04:31.040 --> 00:04:34.560 media, dropping one poster a day to ensure they 00:04:34.560 --> 00:04:36.879 just dominate the trending topics for a week 00:04:36.879 --> 00:04:38.819 straight. That's exactly the playbook. They didn't 00:04:38.819 --> 00:04:41.040 just dump all the music on the internet at once. 00:04:41.160 --> 00:04:43.519 Right. So two days after that massive roster 00:04:43.519 --> 00:04:46.540 announcement, on December 17th, the first actual 00:04:46.540 --> 00:04:49.589 remix drops. And this one features Drake and 00:04:49.589 --> 00:04:52.370 Juicy J. Okay. Then, two days after that, on 00:04:52.370 --> 00:04:54.589 December 19th, a completely different version 00:04:54.589 --> 00:04:57.430 drops. This is dubbed the ATL Remix. Featuring 00:04:57.430 --> 00:05:00.790 Pastor Troy, GZ, and TI. Right. And then, the 00:05:00.790 --> 00:05:04.050 very next day, December 20th, another new remix 00:05:04.050 --> 00:05:06.410 drops featuring West Coast rapper, schoolboy 00:05:06.410 --> 00:05:09.430 Q, and hip -hop mogul Sean Diddy Combs. It is 00:05:09.430 --> 00:05:11.689 a staggering amount of material in such a short 00:05:11.689 --> 00:05:14.129 window. It is. But I have to ask, and I'm genuinely 00:05:14.129 --> 00:05:16.250 pushing back on this strategy a bit. Okay, go 00:05:16.250 --> 00:05:19.810 for it. Doesn't releasing three completely different 00:05:19.810 --> 00:05:22.449 versions of the exact same song featuring different 00:05:22.449 --> 00:05:25.129 artists all within a four -day window Doesn't 00:05:25.129 --> 00:05:27.649 that risk exhausting the listener you think so 00:05:27.649 --> 00:05:29.910 yeah, I mean by the time we hit December 20th 00:05:29.920 --> 00:05:33.000 Aren't people fatigued? Doesn't this massively 00:05:33.000 --> 00:05:36.879 dilute the impact of that carefully crafted original 00:05:36.879 --> 00:05:38.939 track from September? I see why you'd say that. 00:05:38.939 --> 00:05:41.379 It seems like a recipe for oversaturation. But 00:05:41.379 --> 00:05:43.899 the brilliance of this specific rollout is that 00:05:43.899 --> 00:05:46.759 they aren't diluting the market. They are micro 00:05:46.759 --> 00:05:48.620 -targeting it. Look at the psychology behind 00:05:48.620 --> 00:05:51.360 these specific curated drops. What do you mean? 00:05:51.500 --> 00:05:54.000 Well, on December 17th, they pair Drake with 00:05:54.000 --> 00:05:57.579 Juicy J. Drake brings this unprecedented global 00:05:57.579 --> 00:06:00.519 pop crossover appeal, right? Right. While Juicy 00:06:00.519 --> 00:06:03.420 J anchors the track in deep foundational southern 00:06:03.420 --> 00:06:06.759 rap lore, that targets a very specific listener 00:06:06.759 --> 00:06:09.220 demographic. OK, thanks. But then on the 19th, 00:06:09.220 --> 00:06:11.920 the pivot is geographic. They create a dedicated 00:06:11.920 --> 00:06:15.459 Atlanta version. The ATL remix. Right. By putting 00:06:15.459 --> 00:06:18.079 Pastor Troy, Jeezy, and TI on the same track, 00:06:18.379 --> 00:06:21.000 they are assembling the absolute architects of 00:06:21.000 --> 00:06:23.959 the Atlanta trap sound. Oh, wow. So that version 00:06:23.959 --> 00:06:26.560 speaks directly to the hometown purists. Exactly. 00:06:26.600 --> 00:06:29.879 The core regional fan base that birth the entire 00:06:29.879 --> 00:06:32.740 movement. So it's a localized flex. Yeah. You're 00:06:32.740 --> 00:06:34.560 acknowledging the roots before you, you know, 00:06:34.660 --> 00:06:37.620 take it global. Precisely. And then on a 20th 00:06:37.620 --> 00:06:40.500 they pivot yet again. They bring in schoolboy 00:06:40.500 --> 00:06:43.980 Q to represent the West Coast aesthetic. Right. 00:06:44.180 --> 00:06:46.620 And they pair him with Diddy, who is like the 00:06:46.620 --> 00:06:50.000 ultimate symbol of East Coast hip hop opulence. 00:06:50.399 --> 00:06:54.279 That is wild. They essentially sliced the global 00:06:54.279 --> 00:06:57.839 hip hop demographic into distinct geographical 00:06:57.839 --> 00:07:01.540 and stylistic quadrants. Yes. If they had simply 00:07:01.540 --> 00:07:04.920 forced all seven of these vastly different artists 00:07:04.920 --> 00:07:08.199 onto a single bloated 20 minute track on day 00:07:08.199 --> 00:07:10.079 one. would have caused immediate listener fatigue. 00:07:10.660 --> 00:07:13.399 Exactly. But by grouping artists by geography 00:07:13.399 --> 00:07:15.980 and vibe, they ensure that every faction of the 00:07:15.980 --> 00:07:18.319 audience got a bespoke version of the song. It 00:07:18.319 --> 00:07:20.180 doesn't dilute the original. It creates entirely 00:07:20.180 --> 00:07:23.040 new entry points. Yes, exactly. OK. But so they've 00:07:23.040 --> 00:07:25.560 recorded these three massive hyper -targeted 00:07:25.560 --> 00:07:27.740 remixes. They've got the South, the East Coast, 00:07:27.839 --> 00:07:30.240 the West Coast, the global pop market. But having 00:07:30.240 --> 00:07:32.279 broken down the timeline and the heavyweights 00:07:32.279 --> 00:07:35.019 involved, we really have to shift to where these 00:07:35.019 --> 00:07:37.819 tracks actually live. Yes, the delivery ecosystem. 00:07:38.199 --> 00:07:40.540 Because if Epic Records tries to push three different 00:07:40.540 --> 00:07:43.060 versions of the same single to iTunes in four 00:07:43.060 --> 00:07:45.379 days, they're going to cannibalize their own 00:07:45.379 --> 00:07:47.860 sales data. Oh, they would confuse the market 00:07:47.860 --> 00:07:50.399 entirely. So how do they distribute this mountain 00:07:50.399 --> 00:07:54.100 of audio? Why pivot away from iTunes and official 00:07:54.100 --> 00:07:56.839 label channels where the original September 24th 00:07:56.839 --> 00:07:59.569 single was sold? This raises an important question 00:07:59.569 --> 00:08:02.569 about how the music ecosystem actually operates, 00:08:03.310 --> 00:08:05.670 especially back in 2013. Right, because the sources 00:08:05.670 --> 00:08:08.850 show that the Drake and Juicy J remix from December 00:08:08.850 --> 00:08:11.589 17th didn't come out through Epic Records. It 00:08:11.589 --> 00:08:14.250 was released on DJ Esco's mixtape. His No Sleep 00:08:14.250 --> 00:08:17.930 mixtape. Yeah. And then on December 23rd, Mike 00:08:17.930 --> 00:08:20.610 Will made In Hair. It releases his own mixtape, 00:08:20.769 --> 00:08:23.170 hashtag MikeWillBintroll, which is hosted by 00:08:23.170 --> 00:08:26.620 Future. Yes. And this mixtape contained the ultimate 00:08:26.620 --> 00:08:29.259 culmination of all of this. The mega mix. A grand 00:08:29.259 --> 00:08:31.899 finale. Right. Featuring verses from all the 00:08:31.899 --> 00:08:35.100 guest stars. Yeah. Drake, Jeezy, T .I., Juicy 00:08:35.100 --> 00:08:38.440 J, Schoolboy Q, Diddy, and Pastor Troy all on 00:08:38.440 --> 00:08:41.899 one track. But why put these massive A -list 00:08:41.899 --> 00:08:45.600 collaborations on DJ Esco and Mike Wilmaid? It's 00:08:45.600 --> 00:08:47.980 mixtapes. Because while the original digital 00:08:47.980 --> 00:08:50.720 single serves the commercial album, Honest, feeding 00:08:50.720 --> 00:08:52.600 the mixtape circuit does something else entirely. 00:08:52.840 --> 00:08:55.169 What does it do? It empowers the producers and 00:08:55.169 --> 00:08:57.850 the DJs. You have to remember, the commercial 00:08:57.850 --> 00:09:00.509 spaces, like the official label channels in iTunes, 00:09:01.129 --> 00:09:04.610 they are rigid. Very corporate. Right. The original 00:09:04.610 --> 00:09:07.250 drop was inventory meant to prime the pump for 00:09:07.250 --> 00:09:09.870 the album. But the mixtape circuit, it operates 00:09:09.870 --> 00:09:11.850 on a different set of rules. It's a parallel 00:09:11.850 --> 00:09:14.809 distribution economy. Exactly. Feeding the mixtape 00:09:14.809 --> 00:09:17.090 circuit keeps the artist's street credibility 00:09:17.090 --> 00:09:20.230 high while building hype outside the rigid confines 00:09:20.230 --> 00:09:22.570 of traditional retail. Oh, that makes sense because 00:09:22.860 --> 00:09:25.759 Clearing the paperwork, the legalities for seven 00:09:25.759 --> 00:09:27.740 of the biggest artists in the world to appear 00:09:27.740 --> 00:09:29.700 on an official retail single. That would take 00:09:29.700 --> 00:09:33.000 months. Right. It would completely kill the spontaneous 00:09:33.000 --> 00:09:35.679 momentum of that December advent calendar rollout. 00:09:36.059 --> 00:09:38.899 Exactly. By moving the remixes to the digital 00:09:38.899 --> 00:09:41.710 mixtape circuit. They bypass the bureaucracy. 00:09:42.070 --> 00:09:43.970 They move at the speed of the internet. And by 00:09:43.970 --> 00:09:46.429 placing these massive cultural moments on DJ 00:09:46.429 --> 00:09:50.070 Esco and Mike Wohl's mixtapes, Future is actively 00:09:50.070 --> 00:09:52.970 elevating his immediate circle. Ah, sharing the 00:09:52.970 --> 00:09:56.350 wealth. Right. Esco and Mike will gain immense 00:09:56.350 --> 00:09:59.269 cultural capital by being the exclusive distributors 00:09:59.269 --> 00:10:01.710 of these tracks. It's an end run around the corporate 00:10:01.710 --> 00:10:03.850 structure. Yes. OK, so that brings us to the 00:10:03.850 --> 00:10:06.769 metrics. We've established the monumental lineup 00:10:06.769 --> 00:10:09.950 of talent and this really innovative distribution. 00:10:10.409 --> 00:10:14.220 Right. How did the traditional metrics measure 00:10:14.220 --> 00:10:16.879 this cultural event? Well, the traditional metrics 00:10:16.879 --> 00:10:18.799 are actually quite fascinating when you compare 00:10:18.799 --> 00:10:21.220 them to the sheer cultural noise. Right, because 00:10:21.220 --> 00:10:23.559 according to Billboard, the US bubbling under 00:10:23.559 --> 00:10:27.899 Hot 100 peak was 17. Yeah. And its peak on the 00:10:27.899 --> 00:10:31.179 US Hot R &B slash hip hop songs chart was 34. 00:10:31.639 --> 00:10:33.759 Exactly. So what does this all mean? Because 00:10:33.759 --> 00:10:35.720 to a casual observer, you know, a song with Drake, 00:10:35.860 --> 00:10:38.519 Diddy, T .I., and Jeezy, it didn't even crack 00:10:38.519 --> 00:10:40.740 the main Billboard Hot 100. It was just bubbling 00:10:40.740 --> 00:10:43.860 under. I equate this to a critically acclaimed 00:10:43.860 --> 00:10:46.720 indie film. Oh, how so? Like, it may not have 00:10:46.720 --> 00:10:48.940 had the highest box office gross of the year, 00:10:49.320 --> 00:10:52.940 but every single A -list actor wanted to be in 00:10:52.940 --> 00:10:56.039 it. Oh, that is a fantastic analogy. Yeah. Because 00:10:56.039 --> 00:10:58.379 if we connect this to the bigger picture, it 00:10:58.379 --> 00:11:01.200 becomes clear that chart placement is only one 00:11:01.200 --> 00:11:03.600 metric of success. It's just tracking retail 00:11:03.600 --> 00:11:06.850 sales. Right. The sheer volume of hip hop royalty, 00:11:07.409 --> 00:11:09.529 eager to jump on a Mike Will made it beat for 00:11:09.529 --> 00:11:12.389 a Future track, that proves the song's immense 00:11:12.389 --> 00:11:14.889 industry respect. Yeah, it's cultural gravity. 00:11:15.350 --> 00:11:18.750 Exactly. If you look at Future's vast discography 00:11:18.750 --> 00:11:21.509 in the source material, it's massive. Oh, yeah. 00:11:21.769 --> 00:11:24.090 dozens of singles across multiple albums. Right. 00:11:24.350 --> 00:11:27.269 From Pluto all the way to mixtape Pluto. And 00:11:27.269 --> 00:11:29.669 this track sits in a specific collaborative era 00:11:29.669 --> 00:11:33.269 in 2013 alongside songs like Ready and Real and 00:11:33.269 --> 00:11:36.009 True. Right. It serves as a pivotal ankle point. 00:11:36.250 --> 00:11:38.649 It proved future possessed the leverage necessary 00:11:38.649 --> 00:11:40.970 to command the attention of the entire industry. 00:11:41.450 --> 00:11:43.330 The Billboard charts are essentially tracking 00:11:43.330 --> 00:11:45.470 how many tickets were sold to the general public, 00:11:45.649 --> 00:11:47.950 which wasn't a record breaking amount. But the 00:11:47.950 --> 00:11:50.679 guest list for the remix. That proves this was 00:11:50.679 --> 00:11:53.019 the most important party of the year for industry 00:11:53.019 --> 00:11:54.779 insiders. Everyone wanted to be in the room. 00:11:54.980 --> 00:11:57.139 Right. So to summarize all this for you listening, 00:11:57.659 --> 00:12:00.600 we've seen how an initial September release became 00:12:00.600 --> 00:12:04.100 a literal December mixtape phenomenon. Through 00:12:04.100 --> 00:12:07.519 staggered localized remixes. Right. And strategic 00:12:07.519 --> 00:12:10.419 collaborations. I highly structured major label 00:12:10.419 --> 00:12:13.379 single, basically mutated into a month long event. 00:12:13.639 --> 00:12:16.019 It's incredible. And before we wrap up, I want 00:12:16.019 --> 00:12:18.600 to leave you, the listener, with the final concept 00:12:18.600 --> 00:12:21.379 to really mull over. OK, let's hear it. Looking 00:12:21.379 --> 00:12:24.580 at the absolute mountain of future songs, albums 00:12:24.580 --> 00:12:28.279 and features spanning from 2011 to 2025 in the 00:12:28.279 --> 00:12:31.580 source material. You have to ask yourself, if 00:12:31.580 --> 00:12:35.019 a single song can spawn its own cinematic universe 00:12:35.019 --> 00:12:38.019 of regional remixes ending in a massive megamix, 00:12:38.830 --> 00:12:41.230 At what point does a track stop being a single 00:12:41.230 --> 00:12:43.330 piece of music and start becoming a platform? 00:12:43.529 --> 00:12:46.289 Oh, wow. So it ceases to be just audio and becomes 00:12:46.289 --> 00:12:49.090 an environment. Exactly. Where exactly is the 00:12:49.090 --> 00:12:51.009 line between the original art and the remix? 00:12:51.269 --> 00:12:53.409 When does the original song become the operating 00:12:53.409 --> 00:12:57.070 system and the guest artists are simply the applications 00:12:57.070 --> 00:13:00.330 running on it? That is exactly the kind of conceptual 00:13:00.330 --> 00:13:03.330 shift that makes these deep dives so rewarding. 00:13:03.480 --> 00:13:05.519 It really changes how you look at a release. 00:13:06.159 --> 00:13:08.320 Absolutely. Thank you for joining this deep dive. 00:13:08.679 --> 00:13:10.179 If there's one thing you take away from this, 00:13:10.379 --> 00:13:12.700 remember that true understanding comes not just 00:13:12.700 --> 00:13:15.120 from looking at the charts, but by looking at 00:13:15.120 --> 00:13:17.539 who shows up to the party. Catch you next time.