WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.559 Imagine dropping just a massive, heavy -hitting 00:00:04.559 --> 00:00:07.080 club track, like one featuring one of the biggest 00:00:07.080 --> 00:00:08.759 rappers in the world. Right, something designed 00:00:08.759 --> 00:00:10.679 to just completely tear up the radio. Exactly, 00:00:10.779 --> 00:00:12.140 you want to rattle the trunks of cars. Yeah. 00:00:12.519 --> 00:00:15.929 But then... a mere 10 days later, you release 00:00:15.929 --> 00:00:20.230 this raw, super emotional song featuring vocals 00:00:20.230 --> 00:00:22.750 that were literally recorded over a prison telephone 00:00:22.750 --> 00:00:25.910 by your own incarcerated brother. And then just 00:00:25.910 --> 00:00:28.670 to completely scramble the signal, like the very 00:00:28.670 --> 00:00:31.690 next month, you drop a high budget music video 00:00:31.690 --> 00:00:34.570 where you fall hopelessly in love with a sexy 00:00:34.570 --> 00:00:38.369 futuristic robot. It's a lot to process. It really 00:00:38.369 --> 00:00:40.689 is. And now imagine doing all of this while the 00:00:40.689 --> 00:00:43.460 clock is aggressively ticking down to you know, 00:00:43.780 --> 00:00:46.560 arguably the most chaotic, polarized presidential 00:00:46.560 --> 00:00:48.380 election in modern American history. I mean, 00:00:48.539 --> 00:00:50.359 it sounds like a completely contradictory mess 00:00:50.359 --> 00:00:53.200 on paper, honestly. Yeah. You've got this pure 00:00:53.200 --> 00:00:56.159 commercial escapism just colliding head on with 00:00:56.159 --> 00:00:58.579 systemic trauma, and it's all wrapped up in this 00:00:58.579 --> 00:01:01.270 incredibly tense political atmosphere. It is 00:01:01.270 --> 00:01:04.069 the absolute definition of a whiplash moment 00:01:04.069 --> 00:01:07.069 in pop culture. Yeah. And I am so thrilled you're 00:01:07.069 --> 00:01:09.150 joining us for today's deep dive because we are 00:01:09.150 --> 00:01:12.450 unpacking the exact project that managed to capture 00:01:12.450 --> 00:01:14.969 that specific chaos. I'm really glad to be here 00:01:14.969 --> 00:01:16.769 to talk about it. Today, we're looking at a single 00:01:16.769 --> 00:01:18.750 source for you guys. It's a Wikipedia article 00:01:18.750 --> 00:01:22.670 detailing the 2016 mixtape titled Campaign by 00:01:22.670 --> 00:01:25.329 the American R &B and hip hop artist Ty Dolla 00:01:25.329 --> 00:01:28.109 Sign. And it is such a brilliant lens for us 00:01:28.109 --> 00:01:30.750 to look through, right? Because Our mission today 00:01:30.750 --> 00:01:34.549 isn't just to review a track list or play music 00:01:34.549 --> 00:01:37.310 critic. No, definitely not. We are really exploring 00:01:37.310 --> 00:01:39.989 the mechanics of how a commercial music project 00:01:39.989 --> 00:01:42.709 functions as a real -time cultural time capsule. 00:01:42.909 --> 00:01:44.629 Yeah, that's the core of it. We're looking at 00:01:44.629 --> 00:01:47.709 how an artist captures a fleeting, highly volatile 00:01:47.709 --> 00:01:51.049 political moment while simultaneously juggling 00:01:51.049 --> 00:01:53.989 the massive commercial expectations of a major 00:01:53.989 --> 00:01:57.950 record label, mainstream fans, and incredibly 00:01:57.950 --> 00:02:00.280 picky music critics. Absolutely. And, you know, 00:02:00.439 --> 00:02:02.280 before we really get into the weeds here, because 00:02:02.280 --> 00:02:05.739 this project is inextricably tied to the 2016 00:02:05.739 --> 00:02:07.439 election. Right. The whole Trump and Hillary 00:02:07.439 --> 00:02:10.699 Clinton campaigns. Exactly. It's specifically 00:02:10.699 --> 00:02:13.740 about the views of Ty Dolla $ign, his friends 00:02:13.740 --> 00:02:17.300 and his family regarding those campaigns. So 00:02:17.300 --> 00:02:19.659 we really need to set some ground rules right 00:02:19.659 --> 00:02:21.780 at the top. That is super important, yeah. You, 00:02:21.919 --> 00:02:24.060 the listener, should know that our goal today 00:02:24.060 --> 00:02:26.819 is just to impartially report on the artistic 00:02:26.819 --> 00:02:29.800 themes exactly as they are documented in our 00:02:29.800 --> 00:02:32.539 source text. Completely impartial. Right. We 00:02:32.539 --> 00:02:36.460 are not taking sides. We are absolutely not endorsing 00:02:36.460 --> 00:02:39.860 or condemning any left -wing or right -wing political 00:02:39.860 --> 00:02:41.960 viewpoints. We're just analyzing the historical 00:02:41.960 --> 00:02:44.419 and cultural record. I want to echo that completely. 00:02:44.599 --> 00:02:47.280 The music here is just a mirror reflecting a 00:02:47.280 --> 00:02:50.800 specific moment in time. Our job today is just 00:02:50.800 --> 00:02:52.780 to examine the glass, not to tell you what to 00:02:52.780 --> 00:02:54.439 think about the reflection. Beautifully said. 00:02:54.740 --> 00:02:56.780 We're strictly looking at the how and the why 00:02:56.780 --> 00:03:00.180 of this project's creation during that highly 00:03:00.180 --> 00:03:03.020 specific window of American history. No endorsements, 00:03:03.159 --> 00:03:05.479 just analysis. Perfect. Okay, let's unpack this. 00:03:05.840 --> 00:03:07.979 To understand the music, we really have to understand 00:03:07.979 --> 00:03:10.099 the architectural framework of the project first. 00:03:10.219 --> 00:03:12.639 Right, the foundation. So, Campaign was released 00:03:12.639 --> 00:03:16.860 on September 23, 2016. by Atlantic Records. It 00:03:16.860 --> 00:03:19.219 clocks in at 56 minutes of R &B and hip hop. 00:03:19.659 --> 00:03:21.680 But the engine driving the entire project is 00:03:21.680 --> 00:03:23.860 this recurring theme, which is the expression 00:03:23.860 --> 00:03:27.360 of raw, immediate views on that looming 2016 00:03:27.360 --> 00:03:29.840 election. What's fascinating here is the deliberate 00:03:29.840 --> 00:03:32.960 choice of the format itself. The source explicitly 00:03:32.960 --> 00:03:35.939 categorizes campaign as a commercial mixtape. 00:03:36.180 --> 00:03:38.639 Right. which sounds like an oxymoron. It kind 00:03:38.639 --> 00:03:40.360 of does. Now, we need to talk about what that 00:03:40.360 --> 00:03:42.680 actually means, like mechanically, in the music 00:03:42.680 --> 00:03:45.419 industry. Historically, a mixtape was exactly 00:03:45.419 --> 00:03:47.180 what it sounds like. Like an actual cassette 00:03:47.180 --> 00:03:49.860 tape. Exactly. A cassette tape of unauthorized 00:03:49.860 --> 00:03:53.039 remixes sold out of a car trunk. Then, by the 00:03:53.039 --> 00:03:55.639 2000s, it meant these free digital downloads 00:03:55.639 --> 00:03:58.099 used to, you know, build street cred without 00:03:58.099 --> 00:04:00.219 label interference. Yeah, dat -piff and all that. 00:04:00.419 --> 00:04:03.870 Right. But by 2016, Atlantic Records is officially 00:04:03.870 --> 00:04:06.569 releasing this commercial mixtape for actual 00:04:06.569 --> 00:04:08.669 purchase and streaming. Which, like I said, feels 00:04:08.669 --> 00:04:11.030 like a contradiction in terms. I mean, if a major 00:04:11.030 --> 00:04:13.150 label is releasing it and they're distributing 00:04:13.150 --> 00:04:15.550 it and promoting it, why not just call it his 00:04:15.550 --> 00:04:18.129 second official studio album? It comes down to 00:04:18.129 --> 00:04:20.750 the timeline and the expectation. Think of a 00:04:20.750 --> 00:04:23.529 major studio album, like a massive cargo ship. 00:04:23.649 --> 00:04:26.060 OK, I like that. It takes like... two years to 00:04:26.060 --> 00:04:28.199 build. You have to plot the course meticulously, 00:04:28.600 --> 00:04:31.920 coordinate global marketing, clear every single 00:04:31.920 --> 00:04:34.779 tiny sample with an army of lawyers. Oh, man, 00:04:34.839 --> 00:04:37.100 the sample clearances take forever. Exactly. 00:04:37.100 --> 00:04:39.600 You just slowly turn the wheel. You cannot react 00:04:39.600 --> 00:04:42.040 quickly. But a mixtape, even a commercial one 00:04:42.040 --> 00:04:45.259 in 2016, functions way more like a speedboat. 00:04:45.439 --> 00:04:48.279 Ah, OK. The artist can literally record a track 00:04:48.279 --> 00:04:50.639 on Tuesday, skip the massive corporate buildup, 00:04:50.639 --> 00:04:53.399 and release it on a Friday. So Ty Dolla Sign 00:04:53.399 --> 00:04:55.399 leverages the mixtape tape structure because 00:04:55.399 --> 00:04:58.079 he wants to act as a real -time diary. That makes 00:04:58.079 --> 00:05:00.279 so much sense. Yeah. It allows him to capture 00:05:00.279 --> 00:05:03.779 those immediate raw reactions to a polarized 00:05:03.779 --> 00:05:06.500 political climate right before the November election. 00:05:06.819 --> 00:05:09.560 He completely bypasses the bureaucratic red tape 00:05:09.560 --> 00:05:12.019 of a traditional album rollout. You know, that 00:05:12.019 --> 00:05:15.399 real -time, unpolished diary aspect, it really 00:05:15.399 --> 00:05:17.300 makes me think of how we actually communicate 00:05:17.300 --> 00:05:19.279 during a crisis. What do you mean? Well, the 00:05:19.279 --> 00:05:21.720 somatic structure of this mixed tape operates 00:05:21.720 --> 00:05:24.519 essentially like a musical group chat. Oh, that's 00:05:24.519 --> 00:05:27.279 a great way to put it. Think about it. When you 00:05:27.279 --> 00:05:29.060 and your own tight -knit group of friends or 00:05:29.060 --> 00:05:32.199 family are processing a chaotic news cycle, you 00:05:32.199 --> 00:05:34.899 aren't drafting formal essays, right? No, definitely 00:05:34.899 --> 00:05:37.180 not. You're just firing off texts in the moment. 00:05:37.180 --> 00:05:39.439 Right. Like, you share a news link that makes 00:05:39.439 --> 00:05:41.779 you anxious, then someone cracks a joke to break 00:05:41.779 --> 00:05:44.160 the tension. Right, a meme or something. Exactly. 00:05:44.620 --> 00:05:47.540 Then someone else expresses genuine fear about 00:05:47.540 --> 00:05:50.129 their livelihood. Listening to this project, 00:05:50.370 --> 00:05:52.870 based on how the source details the contributions 00:05:52.870 --> 00:05:55.689 of Tizen or Circle, it's the audio equivalent 00:05:55.689 --> 00:05:59.009 of scrolling through that intimate multi -voice 00:05:59.009 --> 00:06:02.250 group chat during a turbulent time. That group 00:06:02.250 --> 00:06:04.689 chat dynamic is crucial, I think, because it 00:06:04.689 --> 00:06:07.490 explains the lack of a singular preachy narrative. 00:06:07.649 --> 00:06:10.550 Yeah, it's not a lecture. Right, it's not a politician 00:06:10.550 --> 00:06:13.529 at a podium delivering a polished stump speech. 00:06:14.000 --> 00:06:16.259 It's just a collective of people figuring it 00:06:16.259 --> 00:06:18.860 out in real time. And because the project is 00:06:18.860 --> 00:06:21.019 tied so intimately to the ticking clock of the 00:06:21.019 --> 00:06:23.420 November election, the traditional rules of how 00:06:23.420 --> 00:06:25.660 to market and release music were completely thrown 00:06:25.660 --> 00:06:28.060 out the window. Right. The transition from the 00:06:28.060 --> 00:06:30.920 recording booth to the public wasn't just standard 00:06:30.920 --> 00:06:33.560 music marketing. It was heavily weaponized to 00:06:33.560 --> 00:06:36.459 match the political calendar. Let's look at the 00:06:36.459 --> 00:06:38.500 mechanics of this promotional rollout because 00:06:38.500 --> 00:06:41.699 it's wild. It really is. The lead single is the 00:06:41.699 --> 00:06:45.420 title track, Campaign. It drops in July of 2016. 00:06:46.060 --> 00:06:48.560 It features a massive guest verse from the rapper 00:06:48.560 --> 00:06:51.240 Future. Huge feature at the time. Oh, massive. 00:06:51.660 --> 00:06:54.399 It is the definition of a hyped summer club record. 00:06:54.980 --> 00:06:57.980 But here's the crazy part. They don't release 00:06:57.980 --> 00:07:01.279 the music video. They shoot it, they edit it, 00:07:01.279 --> 00:07:03.199 and then they deliberately hold it in a vault 00:07:03.199 --> 00:07:06.060 for months. Just sitting on it? Yeah. They wait 00:07:06.060 --> 00:07:07.540 until the night before Election Day, November 00:07:07.540 --> 00:07:10.720 7, 2016, to finally premiere it. That is a staggering 00:07:10.720 --> 00:07:13.519 exercise in delayed gratification for a pop artist. 00:07:13.819 --> 00:07:15.439 Right. Usually you drop the video immediately 00:07:15.439 --> 00:07:17.819 to boost the song's chart position. Holding it 00:07:17.819 --> 00:07:20.180 until election eve transforms a standard piece 00:07:20.180 --> 00:07:22.879 of promotional material into a politically timed 00:07:22.879 --> 00:07:26.740 event. A total statement. Exactly. But the strategy 00:07:26.740 --> 00:07:29.120 gets significantly more complicated when you 00:07:29.120 --> 00:07:31.319 look at the second single. Just 10 days after 00:07:31.319 --> 00:07:34.100 that massive club -ready track with Future dropped, 00:07:34.779 --> 00:07:37.899 Ty releases a song called No Justice on July 00:07:37.899 --> 00:07:40.819 21st. And No Justice features a guest appearance 00:07:40.819 --> 00:07:43.259 from Big TC. For those who might not know the 00:07:43.259 --> 00:07:46.259 lore, Big TC is Ty Dolla Signs' younger brother. 00:07:46.490 --> 00:07:49.089 And crucially, as our source points out, Big 00:07:49.089 --> 00:07:51.850 TCU was actively serving a life sentence in prison 00:07:51.850 --> 00:07:54.970 at the time of the recording. Wow. Yeah. Ty Dolla 00:07:54.970 --> 00:07:57.569 Sign actually recorded his brother's vocals over 00:07:57.569 --> 00:08:00.250 the prison telephone system. That is heavy. It 00:08:00.250 --> 00:08:02.430 is. And this raises an important question, you 00:08:02.430 --> 00:08:04.730 know. How does the music industry and how do 00:08:04.730 --> 00:08:07.810 we as listeners process this kind of jarring 00:08:07.810 --> 00:08:10.430 juxtaposition? Yeah, the tonal shift is crazy. 00:08:10.529 --> 00:08:13.329 You have a glossy aspirational club track with 00:08:13.329 --> 00:08:16.170 future sitting right next to a lo -fi acoustic 00:08:16.170 --> 00:08:18.529 driven track featuring an incarcerated family 00:08:18.529 --> 00:08:21.230 member singing about the systemic failures of 00:08:21.230 --> 00:08:24.370 the justice system. It feels almost irreconcilable. 00:08:24.430 --> 00:08:26.829 I see the friction there for sure. But I actually 00:08:26.829 --> 00:08:28.829 have to push back a little on the idea that these 00:08:28.829 --> 00:08:30.730 things are irreconcilable. OK, I'm listening. 00:08:30.970 --> 00:08:33.470 Because human nature isn't just one note. And 00:08:33.470 --> 00:08:36.590 the rollout proves this. The very next month, 00:08:37.009 --> 00:08:40.370 August 25th. the third single drops. It's called 00:08:40.370 --> 00:08:43.490 Zaddy. Oh, right. And the music video for this 00:08:43.490 --> 00:08:45.789 song, which comes out a few days later, is essentially 00:08:45.789 --> 00:08:49.070 a sci -fi mini movie where Tidala Sign is wandering 00:08:49.070 --> 00:08:51.549 around Tokyo and falls in love with an artificial 00:08:51.549 --> 00:08:54.330 intelligence like a literal sexy robot. Which 00:08:54.330 --> 00:08:57.570 is a wildly sharp left turn from a song about 00:08:57.570 --> 00:08:59.990 prison reform. A complete left turn. So I have 00:08:59.990 --> 00:09:01.870 to ask you, and I want you, the listener, to 00:09:01.870 --> 00:09:04.820 really think about this too. When an artist mixes 00:09:04.820 --> 00:09:08.440 high -energy futuristic party anthems with deeply 00:09:08.440 --> 00:09:10.860 serious, traumatic realities about the justice 00:09:10.860 --> 00:09:13.720 system, does that dilute the political message? 00:09:13.960 --> 00:09:16.340 That's the big debate, isn't it? Yeah. Or is 00:09:16.340 --> 00:09:18.320 it actually the most authentic reflection of 00:09:18.320 --> 00:09:20.399 how we experience life? Because we don't live 00:09:20.399 --> 00:09:22.559 in a permanent state of political activism. No, 00:09:22.559 --> 00:09:25.080 we really don't. We experience moments of profound 00:09:25.080 --> 00:09:27.600 societal anxiety. But later that same afternoon, 00:09:27.779 --> 00:09:29.759 we still want to go to a club or watch a ridiculous 00:09:29.759 --> 00:09:32.580 sci -fi movie or fall in love. I love that perspective. 00:09:32.779 --> 00:09:35.440 It captures the profound whiplash of modern existence. 00:09:35.799 --> 00:09:38.440 If Ty Dolla $ign had stripped away all the commercial, 00:09:38.620 --> 00:09:41.179 lighter elements, he would have made a very self 00:09:41.179 --> 00:09:44.039 -serious, preachy political album. Which nobody 00:09:44.039 --> 00:09:46.899 really wants to listen to anyway. Exactly. But 00:09:46.899 --> 00:09:50.059 by refusing to sanitize the narrative, the mixtape 00:09:50.059 --> 00:09:53.200 reflects the actual messy paradox of the human 00:09:53.200 --> 00:09:56.279 experience. You can be terrified about an upcoming 00:09:56.279 --> 00:09:58.299 election and heartbroken about your brother's 00:09:58.299 --> 00:10:00.879 incarceration and still want to celebrate yourself. 00:10:00.720 --> 00:10:03.559 success in a nightclub. Right. And to effectively 00:10:03.559 --> 00:10:06.720 build a sonic world that can actually support 00:10:06.720 --> 00:10:10.659 both the heavy acoustic prison ballads and the 00:10:10.659 --> 00:10:13.000 shiny futuristic club bangers, you can't just 00:10:13.000 --> 00:10:15.419 rely on a laptop and a guitar. No, you need some 00:10:15.419 --> 00:10:18.120 serious firepower. You need an incredible infrastructure. 00:10:18.549 --> 00:10:21.250 The sonic architecture of Campaign is massive. 00:10:21.289 --> 00:10:23.090 Yeah. When you look at the track listing and 00:10:23.090 --> 00:10:25.330 the credits in our source, it's basically an 00:10:25.330 --> 00:10:27.169 orchestra of the biggest heavyweights in the 00:10:27.169 --> 00:10:29.909 genre. The ensemble he brings together is staggering, 00:10:30.250 --> 00:10:31.830 especially when you remember this is classified 00:10:31.830 --> 00:10:34.710 as a mix tape and not a tentpole studio album. 00:10:35.090 --> 00:10:37.570 It's a 16 -track project. Just look at the vocal 00:10:37.570 --> 00:10:40.929 guest list. We've got Migos, who at the time 00:10:40.929 --> 00:10:43.629 are just completely dominating the culture with 00:10:43.629 --> 00:10:46.750 their triplet flow. Unstoppable in 2016. Right. 00:10:47.029 --> 00:10:49.769 We have Travis Scott bringing his dark, atmospheric 00:10:49.769 --> 00:10:52.850 trap sound to the track Three Ways. We have Trey 00:10:52.850 --> 00:10:56.149 Songz, Wiz Khalifa, and Meek Mill. Just a crazy 00:10:56.149 --> 00:10:58.389 lineup. But the people behind the boards, the 00:10:58.389 --> 00:11:00.750 architects of the sound, are equally stacked. 00:11:01.389 --> 00:11:04.509 The production credits feature Hitboy, Mike Dean, 00:11:04.779 --> 00:11:08.620 Frank Dukes, Zay Toven, DJ Mustard, D -Mile, 00:11:08.860 --> 00:11:11.399 and Ty Dolla Sign himself. Let's contextualize 00:11:11.399 --> 00:11:13.080 those names for a second, because that's huge. 00:11:13.159 --> 00:11:15.519 Please do. Mike Dean is known for building these 00:11:15.519 --> 00:11:18.879 massive stadium -shaking synthesizer soundscapes. 00:11:18.919 --> 00:11:21.659 Oh yeah, those huge synths. And then DJ Mustard 00:11:21.659 --> 00:11:24.480 defined the minimalist high -energy west coast 00:11:24.480 --> 00:11:26.860 bounce of the 2010s. When you put all of these 00:11:26.860 --> 00:11:29.220 different sonic textures together, it directly 00:11:29.220 --> 00:11:31.279 impacts the density of the project. Right, does 00:11:31.279 --> 00:11:33.799 it sound cheap? Not at all. Our source includes 00:11:33.799 --> 00:11:36.379 a quote from a review by Jordan Sargent in Spin 00:11:36.379 --> 00:11:39.419 magazine that nails this dynamic. Sargent notes 00:11:39.419 --> 00:11:43.039 that campaign is a mixtape in name that feels 00:11:43.039 --> 00:11:45.720 not quite like a mixtape, but not exactly like 00:11:45.720 --> 00:11:47.659 an album either. That's a great description. 00:11:47.899 --> 00:11:50.580 And the review specifically points to the project's 00:11:50.580 --> 00:11:53.720 richness of sound. That richness is the direct 00:11:53.720 --> 00:11:56.039 mechanical result of putting a producer like 00:11:56.039 --> 00:11:59.100 Mike Dean in the same room as a producer like 00:11:59.100 --> 00:12:01.840 Zaytoven. Here's where it gets really interesting 00:12:01.840 --> 00:12:04.919 though. Ty Dolla Sign isn't just a passive vocalist 00:12:04.919 --> 00:12:06.899 buying beats from these famous producers. No, 00:12:06.919 --> 00:12:09.960 he's very hands -on. The source shows he is heavily 00:12:09.960 --> 00:12:12.200 credited throughout the production. He's listed 00:12:12.200 --> 00:12:14.379 as a writer on almost every single track, and 00:12:14.379 --> 00:12:17.679 he's actively producing or co -producing alongside 00:12:17.679 --> 00:12:20.419 these absolute legends. It makes me view him 00:12:20.419 --> 00:12:22.940 entirely differently. How so? Well, he's not 00:12:22.940 --> 00:12:25.440 just a traditional solo R &B singer standing 00:12:25.440 --> 00:12:28.059 in a vocal booth. He is operating much more like 00:12:28.059 --> 00:12:30.080 a master film director. Oh, I like that. It's 00:12:30.080 --> 00:12:33.259 a great distinction. shifts from performer to 00:12:33.259 --> 00:12:35.899 auteur. Think about how a massive blockbuster 00:12:35.899 --> 00:12:38.899 movie is made. The director doesn't operate the 00:12:38.899 --> 00:12:41.419 boom mic, sew the costumes, and light the set 00:12:41.419 --> 00:12:44.100 all by themselves. No, they hire the best. Right. 00:12:44.559 --> 00:12:47.559 They assemble an elite all -star cast of actors. 00:12:47.620 --> 00:12:50.059 That's your Travis Scott's and your Migos. They 00:12:50.059 --> 00:12:52.379 bring in the absolute best cinematographers and 00:12:52.379 --> 00:12:54.860 editors, your hip boys and your Frank Dukes. 00:12:55.059 --> 00:12:58.179 The behind the scenes talent. Exactly. The director 00:12:58.179 --> 00:13:00.960 orchestrates this massive, chaotic theatrical 00:13:00.960 --> 00:13:03.500 vision, but they keep their hands firmly on the 00:13:03.500 --> 00:13:06.259 camera to ensure it still looks and feels like 00:13:06.259 --> 00:13:09.210 their movie. Ty Dolla Sign is directing this 00:13:09.210 --> 00:13:12.230 audio film, managing all these massive egos and 00:13:12.230 --> 00:13:14.870 diverse talents to execute his highly specific 00:13:14.870 --> 00:13:18.129 vision of the 2016 cultural landscape. And that 00:13:18.129 --> 00:13:20.190 directorial control is exactly why the project 00:13:20.190 --> 00:13:22.169 doesn't just sound like a random playlist of 00:13:22.169 --> 00:13:24.090 loose tracks. Right, which is the hallmark of 00:13:24.090 --> 00:13:26.629 older mixtapes. Exactly, but that ambition is 00:13:26.629 --> 00:13:29.500 a double -edged sword. When you assemble a blockbuster 00:13:29.500 --> 00:13:32.159 cast and crew and you engineer a richness of 00:13:32.159 --> 00:13:35.019 sound that rivals any studio release, you inherently 00:13:35.019 --> 00:13:38.620 create blockbuster expectations. Spot on. You 00:13:38.620 --> 00:13:41.240 can't put Travis Scott, Future, and Mike Dean 00:13:41.240 --> 00:13:43.879 on a project. Release it through Atlantic Records 00:13:43.879 --> 00:13:45.820 and then expect people to judge it like a casual 00:13:45.820 --> 00:13:47.840 garage band demo. They're going to scrutinize 00:13:47.840 --> 00:13:51.169 it. Which brings us to the reception. You build 00:13:51.169 --> 00:13:54.070 this massive hybrid project, part raw political 00:13:54.070 --> 00:13:57.789 diary, part commercial powerhouse. How did the 00:13:57.789 --> 00:13:59.970 industry and the public actually react when it 00:13:59.970 --> 00:14:02.389 dropped? Well, the commercial data provides a 00:14:02.389 --> 00:14:04.269 very clear picture of its initial footprint. 00:14:04.950 --> 00:14:06.929 According to the source, campaign debuted at 00:14:06.929 --> 00:14:10.480 number 28 on the U .S. Billboard 200 chart. Now, 00:14:10.580 --> 00:14:13.860 the metric used here is 14 ,000 album equivalent 00:14:13.860 --> 00:14:16.740 units in its first week. Let's break that term 00:14:16.740 --> 00:14:18.740 down for the listener because album equivalent 00:14:18.740 --> 00:14:21.360 units is a very specific product of this exact 00:14:21.360 --> 00:14:25.039 era in music. It really is. So in 2016, the music 00:14:25.039 --> 00:14:27.360 industry was in the middle of a massive structural 00:14:27.360 --> 00:14:29.279 shift. They are moving away from people buying 00:14:29.279 --> 00:14:33.299 physical CDs or like 9 .99 iTunes downloads and 00:14:33.299 --> 00:14:35.440 shifting towards streaming platforms like Spotify 00:14:35.440 --> 00:14:37.419 and Apple Music. The Wild West of streaming. 00:14:37.779 --> 00:14:40.299 Yeah. Billboard had to figure out how to measure 00:14:40.299 --> 00:14:42.899 a sale when people were just listening for free 00:14:42.899 --> 00:14:46.039 on a subscription app. So they created a mathematical 00:14:46.039 --> 00:14:50.320 formula where roughly 1 ,500 song streams equaled 00:14:50.320 --> 00:14:53.480 one traditional album sale. That's an album equivalent 00:14:53.480 --> 00:14:56.779 unit. So 14 ,000 units actually means millions 00:14:56.779 --> 00:14:58.600 of individual streams right out of the gate. 00:14:58.620 --> 00:15:00.899 Exactly. And it performed exceptionally well 00:15:00.899 --> 00:15:03.080 within its specific lane, hitting number seven 00:15:03.080 --> 00:15:07.080 on the top R &B hip hop albums chart. Plus, the 00:15:07.080 --> 00:15:09.360 charting data shows this wasn't just an American 00:15:09.360 --> 00:15:11.919 phenomenon. It reached global audiences, landing 00:15:11.919 --> 00:15:14.179 on charts in Australia, France, and hitting number 00:15:14.179 --> 00:15:16.399 eight on the New Zealand Heatseekers albums chart. 00:15:16.659 --> 00:15:18.179 So the commercial audience definitely showed 00:15:18.179 --> 00:15:20.480 up. They did. But the critical reception is where 00:15:20.480 --> 00:15:22.679 we see the tension of the mixtape label really 00:15:22.679 --> 00:15:25.639 fracture. On Metacritic, which aggregates reviews 00:15:25.639 --> 00:15:28.179 from professional music publications, Campaign 00:15:28.179 --> 00:15:31.840 earned a 71 out of 100 based on four major reviews. 00:15:31.980 --> 00:15:34.620 I mean, the 71 is solid. It's generally favorable. 00:15:34.840 --> 00:15:37.519 It is, but when you read the actual text of the 00:15:37.519 --> 00:15:40.100 reviews, you see a fascinating struggle. The 00:15:40.100 --> 00:15:42.600 critics genuinely did not know how to evaluate 00:15:42.600 --> 00:15:45.620 this project. They were grading it against completely 00:15:45.620 --> 00:15:47.659 different rubrics. Let's look at the extremes 00:15:47.659 --> 00:15:50.279 here. Scott Glacier over at XXL gave it a four 00:15:50.279 --> 00:15:53.139 out of five, but his justification is telling. 00:15:53.960 --> 00:15:56.960 He called it a close runner up to Ty Dolla Sign's 00:15:56.960 --> 00:16:01.580 brilliant 2015 studio album, Free TC. So he basically 00:16:01.580 --> 00:16:05.440 reviewed it as a direct sequel to a massive official 00:16:05.440 --> 00:16:07.769 studio album. Exactly. Then you have Winston 00:16:07.769 --> 00:16:10.029 Cook Olsen at Pitchfork, who scored it a 6 .9 00:16:10.029 --> 00:16:12.669 out of 10. His take was much more clinical. He 00:16:12.669 --> 00:16:14.429 acknowledged that it was technically better than 00:16:14.429 --> 00:16:17.230 Ty's older mixtapes like Nine Language, but concluded 00:16:17.230 --> 00:16:19.409 that it mostly just preserved his musical bottom 00:16:19.409 --> 00:16:21.669 line. Very analytical. Yeah. And then you have 00:16:21.669 --> 00:16:23.909 the harshest critique. Mick Jacobs at Pretty 00:16:23.909 --> 00:16:27.009 Much Amazing graded it a C -. And his review 00:16:27.009 --> 00:16:29.190 directly attacks the format itself. He said, 00:16:29.490 --> 00:16:31.470 as a mixtape, I understand why campaign sounds 00:16:31.470 --> 00:16:33.909 so derivative, but still, I wish Griffin had 00:16:33.909 --> 00:16:36.230 pushed a bit further in terms of musical experimentation. 00:16:36.299 --> 00:16:39.340 If we connect this to the bigger picture, what 00:16:39.340 --> 00:16:41.919 we are witnessing in these conflicting reviews 00:16:41.919 --> 00:16:45.320 is the permanent destruction of the barrier between 00:16:45.320 --> 00:16:48.139 mixtape and album during the streaming era. Oh, 00:16:48.240 --> 00:16:50.639 absolutely. The lines were totally blurred. Critics 00:16:50.639 --> 00:16:53.580 in 2016 were holding campaign to the rigorous, 00:16:53.679 --> 00:16:56.460 polished, high art standards of an official studio 00:16:56.460 --> 00:16:59.399 album. Because it was on the same streaming platforms 00:16:59.399 --> 00:17:01.659 as official albums, and it featured the same 00:17:01.659 --> 00:17:04.319 A -list celebrities, the critics refused to give 00:17:04.319 --> 00:17:07.279 it the grace or the conceptual leeway usually 00:17:07.279 --> 00:17:09.539 afforded to a mixtape. Right, they compared it 00:17:09.539 --> 00:17:12.220 relentlessly to his highly acclaimed previous 00:17:12.220 --> 00:17:15.130 album, Free TC. It's a classic trap. If you make 00:17:15.130 --> 00:17:17.309 your mixtape sound too good, nobody believes 00:17:17.309 --> 00:17:19.589 it's just a mixtape anymore. It really is. And 00:17:19.589 --> 00:17:21.690 I want to put this dilemma directly to you, the 00:17:21.690 --> 00:17:24.009 listener. Put yourself in the artist's shoes 00:17:24.009 --> 00:17:26.309 for a second. Imagine you were trying to capture 00:17:26.309 --> 00:17:29.910 a raw, real -time emotion, like the anxiety of 00:17:29.910 --> 00:17:32.609 a looming election. The very chaotic emotion. 00:17:33.190 --> 00:17:36.309 Exactly. You deliberately label the project a 00:17:36.309 --> 00:17:39.470 mixtape because you want it to feel conversational, 00:17:39.789 --> 00:17:42.789 timely, and less precious. But the moment you 00:17:42.789 --> 00:17:45.119 release it, The world holds it up against your 00:17:45.119 --> 00:17:48.759 most polished, painstaking masterpieces. Do you 00:17:48.759 --> 00:17:51.220 feel trapped by your own past success? That's 00:17:51.220 --> 00:17:53.730 a tough position to be in. Does the modern media 00:17:53.730 --> 00:17:56.470 landscape even allow an artist to release a casual 00:17:56.470 --> 00:17:59.789 musical group chat anymore? Or will the algorithm 00:17:59.789 --> 00:18:02.950 and the critics always demand a cinematic masterpiece? 00:18:03.230 --> 00:18:06.609 It's an immense creative burden. The label mixtape 00:18:06.609 --> 00:18:08.609 was designed to offer an artist freedom from 00:18:08.609 --> 00:18:11.470 expectations. But when the audience's ears are 00:18:11.470 --> 00:18:13.829 tuned to the multi -million dollar frequency 00:18:13.829 --> 00:18:16.849 of a platinum studio album, that freedom vanishes 00:18:16.849 --> 00:18:19.210 completely. It really is a fascinating dilemma 00:18:19.210 --> 00:18:21.210 and it perfectly illustrates the tension between 00:18:21.210 --> 00:18:24.069 an artist intention and the public's consumption. 00:18:24.470 --> 00:18:27.049 When we pull all of these disparate pieces together, 00:18:27.410 --> 00:18:30.809 the 56 minutes of carefully curated chaos, the 00:18:30.809 --> 00:18:33.769 strategic withholding of music videos until election 00:18:33.769 --> 00:18:36.990 eve, the jarring juxtaposition of an incarcerated 00:18:36.990 --> 00:18:39.369 brother singing next to glossy club bangers, 00:18:39.569 --> 00:18:42.309 and that massive movie director level of production, 00:18:43.430 --> 00:18:46.240 what we are left with is an incredibly potent 00:18:46.240 --> 00:18:48.839 document. It really is. Campaign isn't just a 00:18:48.839 --> 00:18:51.660 collection of songs. It is a meticulously constructed 00:18:51.660 --> 00:18:55.339 2016 time capsule. It managed to blend top -tier 00:18:55.339 --> 00:18:58.660 R &B and hip -hop collaborations with raw, family 00:18:58.660 --> 00:19:00.660 -driven reflections during one of the most divisive 00:19:00.660 --> 00:19:02.740 political periods in modern history. It captured 00:19:02.740 --> 00:19:05.819 the noise, the deep -seated anxiety, and the 00:19:05.819 --> 00:19:08.700 defiant party atmosphere of 2016 all in the exact 00:19:08.700 --> 00:19:10.299 same breath. So what does this all mean? Why 00:19:10.299 --> 00:19:12.359 spend our time diving into the Wikipedia page 00:19:12.359 --> 00:19:15.259 of a 2016 mixtape today? Why does it matter now? 00:19:15.680 --> 00:19:17.099 I think it demonstrates something fundamental 00:19:17.099 --> 00:19:19.539 about how we interact with culture It shows us 00:19:19.539 --> 00:19:21.640 how the media we consume even projects that are 00:19:21.640 --> 00:19:24.279 marketed simply as disposable Commercial mixtapes 00:19:24.279 --> 00:19:27.619 act as a very real very complex mirror to society 00:19:27.849 --> 00:19:31.109 It reveals the mechanisms of how artists process 00:19:31.109 --> 00:19:34.630 complex world events in real time. We don't experience 00:19:34.630 --> 00:19:37.150 history in a neat orderly line. We really don't. 00:19:37.329 --> 00:19:39.470 We mix our political terrors with our desire 00:19:39.470 --> 00:19:43.349 to dance, and we blend our profound family tragedies 00:19:43.349 --> 00:19:45.789 with our relentless commercial ambitions. We 00:19:45.789 --> 00:19:49.109 do. The human experience is a mashup. But as 00:19:49.109 --> 00:19:51.109 we wrap up our analysis of this source, I want 00:19:51.109 --> 00:19:54.009 to leave you with one final lingering question 00:19:54.009 --> 00:19:57.420 to ponder. It relates to the sheer logistic of 00:19:57.420 --> 00:20:00.380 the music industry, and where this specific project 00:20:00.380 --> 00:20:03.279 sits in Ty Dolla Sign's overall discography. 00:20:03.680 --> 00:20:05.579 If you look at the chronological timeline in 00:20:05.579 --> 00:20:08.220 our source, Campagne is sandwiched precisely 00:20:08.220 --> 00:20:11.400 between his major 2015 studio album, Free TC, 00:20:11.819 --> 00:20:15.079 and his 2017 studio album, Beach House 3. Literally 00:20:15.079 --> 00:20:16.700 squeezed right into the middle of that album 00:20:16.700 --> 00:20:18.839 cycle. Exactly. So I ask you to consider the 00:20:18.839 --> 00:20:21.559 mechanics of that timing. Did the immediate undeniable 00:20:21.559 --> 00:20:24.380 urgency of the November 2016 election essentially 00:20:24.380 --> 00:20:27.109 force Ty Dolla Sign to use the mix tape format, 00:20:27.329 --> 00:20:30.029 not because it was an artistic choice, but simply 00:20:30.029 --> 00:20:33.410 because navigating the bureaucratic red tape, 00:20:33.750 --> 00:20:36.029 the sample clearances and the marketing lead 00:20:36.029 --> 00:20:38.470 time of an official studio album would just take 00:20:38.470 --> 00:20:41.650 too long. That is a great point. In a notoriously 00:20:41.650 --> 00:20:45.329 slow moving cargo ship music industry was the 00:20:45.329 --> 00:20:47.950 mixed tape format the only possible mechanism 00:20:47.950 --> 00:20:50.190 that could allow an artist to capture a fleeting 00:20:50.190 --> 00:20:53.089 political moment before it disappeared completely 00:20:53.089 --> 00:20:55.450 into the history books. It makes you wonder how 00:20:55.450 --> 00:20:59.119 much great timely art we've actually missed out 00:20:59.119 --> 00:21:02.680 on over the decades simply because the machinery 00:21:02.680 --> 00:21:05.099 of the industry moves too slowly to catch the 00:21:05.099 --> 00:21:07.880 moment. It really does. It is a brilliant question 00:21:07.880 --> 00:21:10.299 to chew on and it completely changes how you 00:21:10.299 --> 00:21:12.079 look at the label mixtape. Thank you so much 00:21:12.079 --> 00:21:14.079 for joining us on this deep dive. My pleasure. 00:21:14.400 --> 00:21:16.539 Keep questioning the media you consume. Keep 00:21:16.539 --> 00:21:18.740 looking for those messy beautiful time capsules 00:21:18.740 --> 00:21:21.220 hidden in plain sight and keep exploring the 00:21:21.220 --> 00:21:23.359 sources around you. We'll catch you next time.