I want you to just imagine for a second that
it is November 7th, 2016. Oh, man, the night
before the election. Exactly. It's the night
before one of the most polarizing and just anxiety
inducing elections in modern American history.
Everyone's nerves are completely fried. Totally.
Their entire country is basically glued to their
screens. The news cycle is at an absolute boiling
point. And the tension in the air is just palpable.
Yeah, you could cut it with a knife. Right. And
into this exact, highly charged moment, a major
R &B artist drops a music video. And it's simply
titled, Campaign. Which is just, I mean, what
a move. It's wild. And you are here because you
want to get past the surface level of cultural
moments exactly like that one. Right. You want
to see how the pieces actually fit together.
Yeah, without having to spend hours drowning
in endless browser tabs and weird industry jargon.
OK, let's unpack this. We are opening up a literal
sonic time capsule today. You really are. The
source material we're looking at is the Wikipedia
page for Tidal Assign's 2016 project campaign.
Which is such a specific snapshot in time. It
is, but we aren't just like reading off a track
list here. We are using this specific 56 minute
collection of R &B and hip hop to really understand
how artists process national chaos in real time.
And maybe more importantly, how they manipulate
the massive slow moving bureaucracy of the music
industry to actually get that art to your ears
before the moment passes. Yes, exactly. Because
reading through this Wikipedia page really is
like unearthing a sealed box. that somebody buried
in the ground during the fall of 2016. When you
pull the lid off, you aren't just finding songs.
You're finding the raw atmosphere of a very,
very specific season. Yeah, let's look at the
timeline. The release date for the full project
was September 23rd, 2016. Put out by Atlantic
Records. Right, a major label. And the title,
Campaign, it isn't some vague artsy metaphor.
No, not at all. The source material explicitly
states that this project features a recurring
theme. It expresses the views of Ty Dolla Sign,
his friends, and his family. on the actual presidential
campaigns. Specifically Donald Trump and Hillary
Clinton. Exactly, and just to be completely clear
for you listening right now, our goal today is
not to validate or litigate the left -wing or
right -wing politics of these tracks. Right,
we are definitely not taking sides or endorsing
anything. No, we are looking at this strictly
as historians. We're observing how an artist
on a major label utilized a commercial release
to... document the immediate anxieties of their
specific community. Yeah, we are analyzing the
mirror being held up to society rather than,
you know, debating the reflection itself. That's
a great way to put it. What's fascinating here
is how commercial art is often utilized as a
real -time documentary. It functions almost entirely
like a musical op -ed. An op -ed, right. Think
about how an op -ed in a newspaper works. It
doesn't just, like, report the raw facts of the
news. It takes the emotional and intellectual
temperature of a community a major event. Yeah,
it gives it a voice. And campaign is doing the
exact same thing. But instead of some political
pundit sitting at a typewriter, it's being delivered
through, you know, high -end production, heavy
bass lines, and melodic hooks. And an op -ed
format forces abstract political discourse into
a grounded reality. It has to have concrete examples.
Exactly. An op -ed is only as persuasive as the
specific examples it brings to the table. So
when you look at the track list for this project...
Which is packed, by the way. But look at the
second single they released it dropped well before
the full tape on July 21st 2016 it's a track
called no justice Yeah, and the featured artist
on no justice is Big TC right and for context
if you don't know Big TC is Ty Dolla Signs younger
brother But the crucial detail here the thing
from the source that completely shifts the gravity
of this track is that Big TC is incarcerated
He's in prison. Yeah Think about the mechanics
of recording that. It's crazy to even logistically
imagine. Right. You have this massive commercial
project backed by Atlantic Records. It's addressing
national campaigns, systemic justice, the whole
future of the country. Heavy stuff. And instead
of just theorizing about the criminal justice
system from some cushy recording booth in Los
Angeles, the artist includes a literal voice
broadcasting from inside the prison system. The
logistics alone of getting a vocal take from
an incarcerated person. over a compressed, static
-filled prison phone line, usually. Yeah. It
creates this stark... sonic contrast to the polished
studio sound of the rest of the track. It completely
anchors the political themes of the project in
an incredibly personal, unavoidable reality.
It's no longer just a talking point on a cable
news panel at that point. No, it's real life.
It takes the macro, like the national election,
and makes it hyper micro. It's a family member
behind bars. Exactly. But then on the complete
opposite end of the spectrum from that deeply
personal, raw track, you have the lead single.
The title track. Right. Campaign. And this one
features Future. Who was and honestly still is
an absolute titan in the industry. Oh, a massive
star. And the Wikipedia page notes that the music
video for this title track premiered on November
7th, 2016. The literal night before Election
Day. The timing is just impossible to ignore.
Totally deliberate. But OK, I have to push back
a little bit on the purity of the artistic intent
here. Let's hear it. Was dropping a music video
called Campaign the night before a presidential
election a profound, calculated political statement
about the state of the country? Or was it just
incredibly savvy, borderline, cynical marketing,
just capitalizing on the biggest news cycle in
the world? Well, the most honest answer is that
it's a masterclass in both. Both. Which is the
tension that makes the music business so endlessly
interesting to study. You cannot separate the
art from the commerce. Especially when the project
is backed by a corporate entity like Atlantic.
Exactly. Think about 2016. The algorithms running
platforms like YouTube and Twitter were heavily
prioritizing trending keywords. Oh, right. Everyone
is searching for the election. Everyone. So by
dropping a video titled Campaign on November
7th, you are essentially hijacking the algorithm.
That's brilliant, actually. Every single person
in the country is furiously typing the word campaign
into search bars. So the project is just sweeping
up millions of eyeballs simply by existing adjacent
to the news. Exactly. It's algorithm hacking
at its finest. But at the same time, because
the song actually is about the political climate,
The marketing trick kind of reinforces the thematic
weight of the art. Right, it's not a bait and
switch. No, it's using a commercial mechanism
to force a cultural statement right into your
feed. And that blend of high -level digital marketing
and weighty conceptual themes brings up a massive
structural dilemma for the music industry. Oh,
so. Well, how exactly are record labels, streaming
services, and fans supposed to categorize a project
like this? Right. What do we even call it? The
source material repeatedly refers to campaign
as a commercial mixtape. A commercial mixtape.
Which feels like a massive contradiction in terms
when you actually look at the track list. Right.
A mixtape is supposed to be scrappy. Exactly.
Historically, a mixtape was decidedly non -commercial.
Yeah, if we go back to the 2000s, the mixtape
era was defined by artists downloading other
people's instrumentals, right? Right, recording
rough vocals over them in a basement somewhere.
Handing out physical CDs out of the trunks of
their cars. Or uploading them to websites like
DatPiff. Yeah, DatPiff was huge. And they were
legally gray because they used uncleared samples.
Totally low stakes, off the cuff, and completely
outside the major label ecosystem. But look at
the heavyweight roster on campaign. It's insane.
There is absolutely nothing scrappy or underground
about this lineup. No. The featured artists include
Migos, Trey Songz, Wiz Khalifa, Meek Mill. And
Travis Scott is on the promo single, Three Ways.
Three Ways, right. That is an unbelievable amount
of A -list talent for a mixtape. And the production
roster is even more staggering. You've got Hitboy,
Mike Dean, DJ Mustard, Frank Dukes, Zaytoven,
and Tidal assigned himself handling the boards.
That's a billion dollars worth of production
talent right there. If we connect this to the
bigger picture, you start to see why the terminology
is completely breaking down. Yeah, the label
mixtape doesn't fit anymore. Hiring producers
like Mike Dean or Hitboy is not a basement operation.
Not at all. These are some of the most sought
-after musical architects in the world. Their
beats cost tens of thousands of dollars. Right.
They require massive legal contracts, sample
clearances, and major label budgets to secure.
You don't just call up Frank Dukes and ask for
a free beat for your underground street tape.
No, you definitely don't. The source material
actually includes a quote from Jordan Sargent,
writing for Spin magazine, that perfectly captures
this identity crisis. Oh, what did he say? Sargent
noted that campaign is, quote, a mixtape in name.
that feels not quite like a mixed tape, but not
exactly like an album either. That hits the nail
on the head. It really does. Calling this a mixed
tape is like, it's like a Michelin star chef
opening up a casual pop -up food stand in an
alley. Okay, I like this analogy. Right, like
on the surface, the signage claims to be low
pressure. It says, hey, we're just having fun
here, grab a quick bite. Very casual. But then
you take a bite and you realize the ingredients
are globally imported, the execution is flawless,
and the chef brought their entire elite kitchen
staff to cook it. It's a full -blown production
disguised as a pop -up. Exactly. Campaign is
a 16 -track project. The runtime is 56 minutes
and 47 seconds. And it has the full backing of
Atlantic Records. The label of mixtape in this
context is functioning almost entirely as a psychological
shield. A shield, how do you mean? By calling
it a mixtape, the artist actively lowers the
traditional expectations of a rigidly structured,
highly scrutinized studio album. Ah, okay. That
makes a lot of sense. It gives them the freedom
to be looser, to drop tracks that maybe aren't
perfectly polished radio hits. Right. And to
react to current events without the pressure
of delivering like a career defining masterpiece.
But functionally, commercially and sonically,
it is operating with the full weight of a studio
album. Absolutely. Which creates a really fascinating
problem when release day actually arrives. Because
this project sits in this undefined middle ground,
the Michelin star pop -up How did the consumers
and the professional critics actually judge it?
Well, the commercial metrics are very telling.
What's the other numbers? The source notes that
campaign debuted at number 28 on the U .S. Billboard
200 chart. Okay, top 30. Yeah, it moved 14 ,000
album equivalent units in its first week. And
it hit number 7 on the top R &B hip -hop albums
chart. We should probably quickly define what
an album equivalent unit means here. Big call.
Because 2016 was right in the middle of this
massive shift in how we actually consumed music.
It is the crucial metric of the streaming era
because, you know, fans weren't driving to the
store to buy 14 ,000 physical CDs of this project.
Right. The CD era was basically over. So Billboard
had to figure out how to translate Spotify and
Apple Music streams into traditional sales. Make
it equal. Exactly. So an album equivalent unit
combines physical sales, digital track downloads,
and on -demand streams. Okay. It essentially
means that thousands and thousands of people
were streaming this 16 -track project top to
bottom. Wow. So for a project built as a casual
mixtape to debut in the top 30 of the Billboard
200. It means the fan base was highly engaged.
They were treating it like a major marquee release.
Exactly. The fans accepted the meal regardless
of what the restaurant called it. I love that.
But what about the professional critics? That's
where it gets messy. Right, because if you hand
a music journalist at Pitchfork or XXL a 16 -track
project featuring Mike Dean production and Travis
Scott vocals, are they going to grade it? on
a forgiving mixtape curve. Or judge it as a full
-fledged album. Exactly. The critical reception
highlights that exact friction. What do they
say? Well, on Metacritic, which aggregates reviews
from all the major publications' campaign, earned
a 71 out of 100 based on four reviews. OK, 71,
so... generally positive. Yeah, it was generally
viewed as a strong effort. Scott Glacier over
at XXL Magazine was highly complimentary. He
called it a close runner up to Ty Dolla Sign's
actual official studio album, Free TC, and Winston
Cook Wilson at Pitchfork gave it a 6 .9 out of
10. He specifically noted that it outpaced Ty's
previous mixtape efforts, like nine language
and airplane mode. So XXL and Pitchfork seemed
to be playing along with the premise. They're
accepting the project on its own terms, comparing
it to his past mixtapes and acknowledging the
evolution. They are. But then you look at Mick
Jacobs writing for Pretty Much Amazing. OK. What
did he think? He gave the project a C minus.
Oof. That's harsh. Jacobs wrote, quote, as a
mixtape, I understand why campaign sounds so
derivative, but still I wish Griffin had pushed
a bit further in terms of musical experimentation.
OK, wait. I have to jump in here and really question
the fairness of that specific critical approach.
Oh, for it. If an artist explicitly waves a flag
and tells the audience, hey, this is a mixtape.
This is not my grand experimental studio opus.
This is a collection of vibes and thoughts documenting
this specific political moment. Is it fair for
a critic to penalize them for a lack of profound
musical experimentation? Like, are we judging
the art for the function it was designed to serve,
or are we judging it for what we selfishly want
it to be? It is the eternal struggle of music
criticism in the modern era. This is so frustrating.
Frustrating. Yeah. Because the boundaries between
formats have completely dissolved. Well, the
critic at Pretty Much Amazing is essentially
arguing that a label is just a label. OK. They're
saying, I don't care if you call it a mixtape.
When I see Zaytovin... DJ Mustard, and Future
on the track list, the sheer density of talent
should yield something boundary pushing. So they're
looking at those premium pop -up ingredients
and demanding a revolutionary meal. Exactly.
But the artist stated his intention. The intent
was to capture a moment in time. Yes. It was
to speak on the anxiety of the 2016 campaign,
to feature his incarcerated brother, and to drop
a soundtrack for that specific autumn. Not to
reinvent the wheel sonically. Exactly. It was
designed to hold up a mirror. This raises an
important question, and it is really the central
thesis of why this Wikipedia page matters so
much today. We do. Why go through the trouble
of calling it a mixtape at all if you are going
to put major label money behind it? Campaign
serves as a perfect case study of how artists
use these flexible, ill -defined formats to bypass
the staggering bureaucracy of the traditional
music industry. This is the hidden mechanism
of the whole story, isn't it? It really is. Think
about the timeline of a traditional studio album
in 2016. It takes forever. Right. If Ty Dolla
Sign wanted to release this as his official sophomore
album, the label requires a massive runway. Months
and months. You need months to clear every single
sample legally. You need months to schedule the
pressing of physical vinyl records. Oh yeah,
vinyl delays are notorious. And you need a 12
-week marketing rollout with magazine covers,
talk show appearances, the whole nine yards.
And if you adhere to that bureaucratic timeline,
you miss the moment entirely. Completely. If
he started that formal album process in the summer
of 2016, a studio album wouldn't have actually
hit the shelves until the spring of 2017. Exactly.
And by the spring of 2017, the election is over.
The moment has passed. The raw palpable anxiety
of November 7th is gone. The cultural conversation
has completely moved on. So the commercial mixtape
format is a loophole. It's a hack. Yeah. It allows
an artist backed by millions of dollars to maintain
the agility of an underground rapper. That's
fascinating. It lets them bypass the vinyl pressing
plants and the rigid marketing schedules, just
upload the tracks to streaming services. and
speak directly to the anxieties of that exact
month. So what does this all mean for you listening?
It means that understanding the mechanics of
the music industry like actually knowing the
difference between an album rollout and a mixtape
drop is the key to understanding how modern history
is documented. It really is. These pop culture
artifacts aren't just trivia. When we look back
at Campaign, we aren't just looking at a collection
of songs that charted on billboards. No, we're
looking at a real -time sonic photograph. A photograph
of a very tense American autumn. It shows us
how artists were scrambling to process the chaos
in the moment, using every algorithmic trick
and industry loophole at their disposal to make
sure their voices were heard before the polls
opened. It proves that the most accurate historical
documents aren't always found in textbooks or
news archives. Right. Sometimes they are buried
in the track list of a 56 -minute R &B project.
Which leaves you with something pretty fascinating
to chew on as you go about the rest of your day.
Think back to that time capsule metaphor we started
with. Yeah. Take a look at the media you're consuming
today. Right now. Look at the casual stuff on
your phone. The stuff you don't even think twice
about. Exactly. Decades from now, what— Seemingly
disposable piece of pop culture, a loosely defined
mixtape, a viral video, or even a highly specific
meme format will future historians dig up and
use to decode the political and social anxieties
of our current year. It's a wild thought. It
makes you look at your own playlists and your
own timelines a whole lot differently.