Today, fans of the late Juice WRLD are treated to a surprise release, “The Pre-Party,” a two-track set featuring songs they’ve been buzzing about for years. This release includes the emo-rap track “World Tour (Aquafina)” and the Young Thug-assisted “Lightyears,” which adds a touch of country flair to the mix.
Released at 9 AM globally on September 9th, the timing nods to Juice WRLD’s cherished “999” mantra, symbolizing the transformation of negative experiences into positives.
“World Tour (Aquafina)” was first teased during Juice WRLD’s Instagram Live in 2018, leaving fans eagerly awaiting its release. The song starts with Juice inhaling before diving into DJ Relentt’s synth-heavy beats, delivering vivid lyrics about excess and euphoria: “I can’t feel my tongue, shorty, I’m off the moll’, yeah / I still see the snakes, n****, run inside, yeah.”
“Lightyears” showcases a different vibe, blending melancholic guitar riffs with a booming bass. Juice reflects on escapism, singing, “Taking trips off the Percs, I be sky high,” while Young Thug adds his own flex: “Ride big Bentleys everywhere that I go.”
Produced by Nick Mira, who has worked on multiple Juice WRLD albums, these tracks reflect the artist’s legacy and ongoing influence. “The Pre-Party” follows Juice’s recent appearance on Ski Mask the Slump God’s single “Wake Up!” and December’s “Lace It,” featuring Eminem and benny blanco.
Young Thug has his hands full. The rapper is currently facing RICO charges, and if convicted, he will go away for an estimated 120 years. That said, Thug took time out of his tight schedule to give a shout out to Tyreek Hill. The NFL superstar got into trouble with the law on September 8, following a traffic stop. Hill was released after receiving a citation, but the media fallout from the athlete’s interaction with the police has been sizable. Young Thug noticed, and showed love to his celebrity peer once he was in the clear.
Young Thug’s tweet got right to the point. “The Cheetah’s free,” he wrote, referencing Tyreek Hill’s nickname. The association may seem tenuous, but Hill has actually voiced support for Young Thug’s cause in the past. Following the Dolphins’ first game of the season, Hill participated in an on the field interview with CBS. The superstar athlete avoided questions regarding the arrest. Instead, he sang the praises of those in his life, and gave a special tip of the cap to Young Thug. Hill wiped his nose and said “SLATT” directly into the camera before resuming his celebration. “SLATT” is a phrase commonly used by Young Thug and the rest of the YSL group.
Tyreek Hill’s traffic stop occurred on Sunday afternoon. The Miami Dolphins wide receiver was detained by police outside of the Hard Rock Stadium right before the game started. ESPN reported that Hill was driving erratically without a seatbelt on. He also had fellow Dolphins teammate, Calais Campbell, riding shotgun. The body cam footage shows that the interaction between Hill and the police escalated when the former opened up his car door. The police then dragged him from the vehicle and pushed him to the ground. Tyreek Hill can be heard telling his agent (who was on the phone) that he was getting arrested.
The union representing the Miami-Dade Police Department issued a statement following Tyreek Hill’s detainment. The statement clarified that Hill was never placed under arrest. It also characterized the NFL star as “uncooperative” with the officers who were on the scene. “Hill was not immediately cooperative with the officers,” the rep claimed. “[He] refused to sit on the ground and was therefore redirected to the ground.” Young Thug’s legal issues persist, but at least Hill’s appear to be behind him.
The alleged death of Rich Homie Quan sent the hip-hop world into a mournful state of shock recently, and for good reason. While this news is still mysterious and mostly speculative, as we don’t have any official confirmation or cause of death, it still inspired many tributes and homages on social media. One of the prevailing narratives around this concerns RHQ’s strong collaborative bond with Young Thug, one that eventually fell out of favor for relatively unknown reasons. In fact, just a few days before news of his passing broke, he had expressed a willingness to have a conversation with Thug to release more music together during an interview.
“And I heard you once say, ‘Screaming Free Thugger,’ right?” the interviewer asked Rich Homie Quan. “Is there any chance that at some point in the future, either be unreleased music or whatnot, that we’ll hear y’all on a song together again?” “Um, that I don’t know,” he responded. “Because we do have a lot of unreleased. We do have a lot of music that hasn’t been released. But who knows what the future holds? First and foremost, it’s free Thugger. It’s free anybody that’s locked up, it’s free Lucci. It’s a touchy situation, so I try not to talk about it a lot. But I don’t know what the future holds, man, you know what I’m saying? I’m willing to have a conversation, and it’ll start from there.”
In other YSL-related news, Lil Woody recently paid tribute to Rich Homie Quan. “RIP,” he wrote in an Instagram post that featured a picture of the reportedly late rapper and Young Thug. “I hate this happen I pray that God protect thug and them from this country.”
Elsewhere, many more loved ones, collaborators, and famous figures are making sure to send their love to Rich Homie Quan online. The circumstances behind all this are still very unclear. We might sadly never know what could’ve been of his bond with Young Thug. Perhaps the near future will illuminate some of these questions. For now, hip-hop is in a state of mourning, and our condolences go out to the Atlanta MC’s family and loved ones.
Travis Scott is really dishing out something for everybody. During this DAYS BEFORE RODEO rerelease, he’s put together all sorts of packages. Vinyl and CD bundles with apparel were the first to come, which are something he’s been doing for quite some time. But last night was arguably the best time to cop something. La Flame put out a total of six versions of the 2014 mixtape, four of which included tracks from the vault. Around the DBR era, it was clear that the Houston native wanted to develop a solid rapport with the Atlanta scene, particularly Young Thug. Travis Scott has a handful tracks with him on these “Vault” exclusives, and one of our favorites is “Too Many Options”.
This one was a part of the third deluxe, which came with the solo cut “Naughty”. Right away, this “Too Many Options” sound extremely familiar. If you were able to pick up on it like we did, you may notice that it sounds like “Where U From” off of Huncho Jack, Jack Huncho. It was the second-to-last track off of the 2017 Quavo collab tape that featured a hazy country trap aesthetic. Overall, it’s cool to know that Thugger and Trav were trying to make this work back then. However, the question now remains, which version do you mess with more? Let us know in the comments below.
Shake ’em off this b****, shake ’em-shake ’em off the stick Nah, they can’t catch me, shake-shake-shake ’em off the stick Shake ’em off his feet, shake ’em-shake ’em off his feet (Oh yeah) Swag so ridiculous, it’ll shake you off your heat, yeah I’ma kick it like sushi, ayy, that boy, he built like Cam Newton, ayy Groovy b**** like [?], ayy, rich n**** still eat noodle soup
It only took ten years, but Travis Scott’s beloved mixtape Days Before Rodeo was finally added to streaming services today. The project arrived just a year before his official debut album Rodeo, and to this day, it still stands as one of the best projects in Scott’s discography. That was often the case for rappers, especially in the mixtape era. A lot of the projects that fans deemed to be their best work were indeed free mixtapes. At the time, mixtapes were a great promotional tactic for the album a rapper was about to put out, but now, many of them are going back in time to relive the success of the project, make some money off a great body of work, and also place the mixtape in the easily accessible and vast library of streaming services.
In celebration of Days Before Rodeo being available to stream on your favorite streaming service, we compiled a list of 12 mixtapes that also need the same treatment. Take a scroll and see our picks that include releases from Lil Wayne, Meek Mill, J. Cole, and more.
Dom Kennedy — Yellow Album
Dom Kennedy is a West Coast legend, there’s no question about it. If you asked 100 Dom Kennedy fans, or even 100 West Coast rap fans, what his magnum opus was, most will tell you his 2012 mixtape Yellow Album. Kennedy is one of the many examples of an artists’ best project arguably being a free collection of music, many coming from the 2010s mixtape era. Still, the impact of Yellow Album on Kennedy himself as well as rap altogether is undeniable. It pushed Kennedy to new heights, as he would tour the US and Europe after the project’s release. As one of the leaders of West Coast rap’s new age, Dom Kennedy influence traveled past the generations of his own to present-day artists like Larry June. Yellow Album is stamped culturally and is absolutely needed in the ever-accessible streaming libraries. Kennedy just needs a cool $2 million to get the project cleared for streaming — which should be doable, right?
DJ Esco & Future — Project E.T.
For the most part, Future’s vast mixtape catalog can be found on streaming services. 56 Nights, Beast Mode, Monster, and Purple Reign all live in between Future’s impressive batch of albums. One project that’s yet to receive this treatment is DJ Esco & Future’s 2016 collaboration Project E.T. At 16 songs, it features the Platinum-certified “Too Much Sauce” with Lil Uzi Vert and “Married To The Game,” one of Future’s best b-side tracks. We even have “Who” with Young Thug, the record that Future and Thug used to bury the hatchet in their brief beef. Project E.T. is one of the more fun projects Future has been apart of, but it’s also a great body of work with plenty of highlights and strong collaborations with a variety of artists. The mixtape is available to varying and unofficial extents on different streaming services, so making it available in full across the board would be incredibly ideal.
G-Unit — 50 Cent Is The Future
To understand the true legacy of 50 Cent and G-Unit is to understand and appreciate their mixtape catalog. No better example of the exists than G-Unit’s 2002 mixtape 50 Cent Is The Future. The project was a big turning point for both 50 Cent and G-Unit as a whole, which consisted of 50 Cent, Lloyd Banks, and Tony Yayo at this point. 50 Cent Is The Future arrived after 50 Cent infamously escaped death as well as after he was dropped from Columbia Records and blacklisted from the industry. It was short-lived as 50 Cent released his classic debut album Get Rich Or Try Dyin’ in 2003. The promise of 50 Cent was on full display on 50 Cent Is The Future as he and his G-Unit compadres made street records out of R&B songs like Raphael Saadiq’s “Be Here” and Tweet’s “Call Me” while also massacring rap beats like Wu-Tang Clan’s “You’ve Been Warned” and Jay-Z’s “Lyrical Exercise.” 50 Cent Is The Future is key in understanding why 50 Cent became the superstar he is and why G-Unit became one of rap’s best hip-hop collectives.
J. Cole — Friday Night Lights
By the time J. Cole released his 2010 mixtape Friday Night Lights, the North Carolina rapper was already stepping into the star that we now know him as. The music on this project was originally intended for his debut album Cole World: The Sideline Story, but his label did not believe the project would do well with the music on it. But boy, were they wrong. Friday Night Lights became an instant classic and still remains one of J. Cole’s best projects. Though “In The Morning” with Drake is the undeniable standout from the mixtape, other higlights like “Too Deep For The Into,” “Back To The Topic,” and “Premeditated Murder,” helped to confirm that Cole would have a successful rap career. With its 15th anniversary coming in 2025, next year would be a great time to bring the project to streaming services.
Jadakiss — Consignment
Six years went by in between Jadakiss’ third album 2009’s The Last Kiss and his fourth album Top 5 Dead or Alive. The latter was a project he spent the better part of five years working on, but in the meantime, Jadakiss adding to his discography with a slew of mixtapes. One of those is 2012’s Consignment, a Gangsta Grillz collaboration with DJ Drama. The project arrived as Jadakiss transitioned into an elder statesmen in rap, but it was an early sign that Jadakiss’ rap skills would not falter after the solo career high of Kiss Of Death. Consignment is a mixtape standout in Jadakiss’ career and with tracks like “Traffickin,” “Respect It,” and “Paper Tags,” the project is absolutely needed on streaming services.
Lil Wayne’s Entire Mixtape Catalog
Initially, Lil Wayne’s 2007 mixtape Da Drought 3 was the first that came to mind when thinking about mixtapes from him that need to be on streaming services. While that is certainly a priority, his 2006 mixtape Dedication 2 and 2008’s Dedication 3 are also a necessity on streaming. While we’re here, we can also add 2005’s Dedication and 2015’s Sorry 4 The Wait 2 because they’re also good projects from Wayne, and also, why not? With Wayne’s other mixtape standouts like No Ceilings and Sorry 4 The Wait already on streaming, there’s an argument to be made for Wayne to upload his whole mixtape catalog to be placed on streaming, or at least the mixtapes released during his impeccable 10-year run between 2005 and 2015. Regardless, what you can’t argue is that Lil Wayne is one of, if not the best mixtape rapper ever and that catalog of greatness needs to be more accessible.
Logic — Young Sinatra: Welcome To Forever
Though Logic’s public appeal may have wavered over the last half-decade, that was far from the case prior to his debut album. His 2013 effort Young Sinatra: Welcome To Forever is a project I would place at the top of his discography. With production from Logic himself, his longtime producer 6ix, as well as Don Cannon, Key Wane, No I.D., and others, Logic had the perfect sonic landscape to display his undeniable rap talents. Logic, who was months removed from beign a XXL Freshman Class inductee as well as signing a deal with Def Jam, pierced through beats laid before him with ease. “925,” “5AM,” and “Ballin” are bass-rattling highlights while “Break It Down” and “Walk On By” settle into a more reserved and relaxed pocket.
Meek Mill — Dreamchasers 2
A list about the mxitapes that need to be on streaming services cannot be complete without Meek Mill’sDreamchasers 2. The Philadelphia rapper’s 2012 mixtape was the most popular release of all-time on the now-defunct mixtape hosting site DatPiff as it tallied 1.5 million downloads within 6 hours and 2.5 million in its first day. It’s no shock that Dreamchasers 2 was an incredibly successful project as it carries excellent highlights like “Amen” with Drake, “Burn” wiht Big Sean, and the massive “House Party” remix with Fabolous, Wale, and Mac Miller. The mixtape — and its success — perfectly captures the anticipation that fans had for Meek as he neared the release of his debut album. He was bigger than a lot of artists who were a couple of albums into their careers, and bringing Dreamchasers 2 to streaming will be a much-needed reminder of Meek’s peak.
Pusha T — Wrath Of Caine
More times than not, as seen with entries on this list, one of the better mixtapes in a rapper’s catalog comes when all eyes are them in anticipation of them breaking through the mainstream threshold. For Pusha T, his mainstream status had already been established through his career as one-half of Clipse, but as we entered the 2010s, it was time for him do the same for his solo career. Wrath Of Caine was a sweet appetizer ahead of his excellent debut album My Name Is My Name. Whether it be the triumphant “Millions” with Rick Ross” or the heavy-muscled “Doesn’t Matter” with French Montana or the tough-talking “Blocka” with Popcaan or Travis Scott, Wrath Of Caine helped Pusha make his mark on the rap game, independent of his brother.
Rich Gang — Rich Gang: Tha Tour Pt. 1
In a perfect world, Birdman, Young Thug, and Rich Homie Quan’s Rich Gang side project could’ve been more than the flash-in-the-pan moment that we know it as. In 2014, the trio released Rich Gang: Tha Tour Pt. 1 the first of what many thought would be many projects from them. The release carries highlights for rappers like “Givenchy,” “I Know It,” “730,” and “Tell Em (Lies).” After its release, the project was praised by fans and critics, and placed Thug and Quan in position to be the best rappers of hip-hop’s new wave. Unfortunately, only Young Thug reached those heights as a beef between him and Quan ruined their relationship and put a surprising halt to their undeniable chemistry. As great as Rich Gang: Tha Tour Pt. 1 is, the project equally represents what could’ve been and what actually was.
Rick Ross — Rich Forever
You know a mixtape is beloved and highly-regarded when the consensus is that it should’ve been an album. Rick Ross’ 2012 mixtape Rich Forever is one of the many projects from the mixtape era that left listeners with that feeling. This is no surprise though, as Rich Forever arrived in the midst of impressive project run from Ross that continued uninterrupted into 2014’s Mastermind. Rich Forever excelled as an epic and exhilerating experience provided by bangers like “King Of Diamonds” and the Drake and French Montana-assisted “Stay Schemin.” The luxurious and pristine Maybach Music touch also lives through the mixtape’s title track and “Keys To The Crib” with Styles P.
Tyga — Well Done III
Back during his days as a Young Money standout rapper, Tyga kept hip-hop fed with a consistent release of fun, strip-club friendly bangers, but the projects from his early days shouldn’t be slept on. His 2012 mixtape Well Done III, is a great example, putting together a strong combination of original tracks and freestyles over top hip-hop tracks. “Do My Dance” with 2 Chainz and “Switch Lanes” with The Game are great examples of the latter while the former can be found on “Desinger” (a remix of Kanye West’s “Mercy”). Well Done III, Tyga’s 2013 album Hotel California, and 2014’s Well Done IV make up Tyga’s best era as a rapper.
Young Thug — Slime Season 2
Young Thug is the lone artist on this list with two separate entries, and it’s only right as the Atlanta rapper helped to push a new wave of rap to the massses with a workhorse approach that was similar to his idol Lil Wayne. Though Thug crept into the mainstream spotlight in the mid-2010s, his official debut album did not arrive until 2019. So until then, Young Thug was a mixtape artist — and he was a good one too. Jam-packed 22-song release Slime Season 2, released in 2015, stands at the pinnacle of Thug’s catalog. There are career highlights like “Thief In The Night” and “Pull Up On Kid” as well as other excellent inputs like “Don’t Know,” “No No No,” and “Big Racks.”
The blog era of hip-hop has been revered as a pivotal moment in time for the genre (at least for millennials). But the tail end of that time period gifted the culture some monumental mixtapes, including Travis Scott’sDays Before Rodeo.
But that wasn’t the only oldie the “Fe!n” rapper treated fans to. On the deluxe version (exclusively available on Scott’s personal website here), purchasers were gifted several bonus track, the most notable being “Yeah Yeah” featuring Young Thug.
True Travis Scott fans are very well acquainted with the song. Similar to Kanye West (Ye) and Ty Dolla Sign’s record “New Body” formerly featuring Nicki Minaj, a rough version of “Yeah Yeah” was leaked and continues to float around online. Although “Yeah Yeah” isn’t available on streaming (yet), Days Before Rodeo (Deluxe) owners now have the finished track in the collection.
According to NFR Podcast, yesterday (August 22) during the Days Before Rodeo anniversary concert held at The Masquerade in Atlanta, Georgia, Scott performed the track for the among others to lock in the nostalgic moment.
In the ongoing fiasco of the YSL RICO trial in Atlanta, another courtroom debacle occurred during Young Thug’s RICo trial yesterday, with the Young Slime Life head honcho laughing so hard at his lawyer’s comment, that his amusement almost couldn’t be contained.
During the trial, as seen on livestream, Thug’s attorney Brian Steel used a metaphor to describe him not being allowed to see the prosecution’s evidence, saying, “This is all to me like I have a bag over my head and getting smashed with a baseball bat and I have no idea where to hit. I don’t have anything. I have asked for reports.”
Halfway through Steel’s commentary, Young Thug exploded into laughter and had to cover his mouth to quiet his unexpected outburst.
Obviously, the changing of the guard from Judge Ural Glanville to Judge Paige Reese Whitaker still didn’t cease the shenanigans in the courtroom and the colorful testimony of Kenneth “Lil Woody” Copeland, who admitted to lying under oath to the prosecution, is proof.
“Like I told you before y’all called me to trial, I have lied,” he testified. “I made things up. I told you this before y’all brought me in this courtroom, and I’m telling you now. You asked me about 2015. I had got my life together. Y’all are trying to put this on my conscience, y’all are trying to put people’s lives in my hands.”
He added, “I don’t wanna be here. Y’all have pressured me, I’m tired of y’all, cause y’all know y’all wrong, and y’all Black people doing this to us.”
T.I. is one of many hip-hop figures advocating for Young Thug’s release amid the chaotic and controversial YSL RICO case. Recently, the Atlanta trap legend sent one of his torch-bearers some birthday well-wishes for Thugger’s 33rd trip around the Sun via his Instagram page. Not only that, but Tip’s comments predicting that the case might be over soon could actually turn out to be prophetic. Fani Willis’ Republican opponent for the Fulton County District Attorney race this year promised to dismiss the case if elected. While this is just a hypothetical situation, it did raise a lot of questions around whether or not this case will conclude with a verdict or with mistrials.
“Happy Birthday 2 my brother 4L King Spyda / Super Slizzy / Mr. Cleveland Ave / Thugga Thugga / The Iconic Prolific Legend himself Lil Jeff,” T.I. expressed to Young Thug. “Keep standing solid & Stay strong homie. Every storm will run out of rain & I can see a major comeback happening Can’t wait for u 2 touch back down so you can go put that ugggla** s**t on and I can send yo musty a** back to da dressing room wit that cheap ass bulls**t u be wearing…. [crying-laughing emoji] Tuh. Ain’t no question or no guessing in it jack!!! YKWTFGO wit US U DIGGG. #FamilyTies. @thuggerthugger1.”
Furthermore, T.I.’s message comes amid a lot of other birthday messages and initiatives for Young Thug, including an adorable video starring his kids to promote the SP5DER brand. Also, plenty of recent updates in the YSL RICO case threw viewers for a loop. Amid Lil Woody’s wild testimonies and various judge changes, there’s a lot to wade through and many elements to consider. Hopefully this all starts clearing up soon and we can see some more consistent, fair, and effective trial progress.
Meanwhile, one of Young Thug’s closest associates, Gunna, also wished him a happy birthday recently. This interested many fans because it added onto a lot of speculation around whether or not Wunna snitched on YSL and what their relationship looks like now. Although all signs point to the conclusion that they’re still cool, some fans still want a stronger conclusion. We’ll see if the near future holds anything important in that regard.
Lil Woody’s testimony during the Young Thug trial has been an absolute firestorm, and that’s not counting the six-month suspension that his lawyer received. However, there have also been some cracks through the system, and a recent court interaction has many fans thinking that he almost broke character and spilled some more tea about an incident that he forgot about and might still feel a type of way over. The court asked Woody about a situation that happened when a group of men jumped him, and while he initially said that he didn’t recall what he specifically told detectives, he eventually said that “They time gon’ come,” suggesting that something did happen and that he’s still hurt by it.
Of course, this is all incredibly understandable, and to say that this is Lil Woody “breaking character” misrepresents what he agreed to do for this trial. But there are many conflicting aspects to his state’s witness role, as he recently claimed to have lied to police about Young Thug’s alleged crimes in order to stay out of trouble and get the cops off his back.
In addition, prosecutors treated Lil Woody as a “hostile witness” after an explosive rant against the state for pressuring him during this Young Thug and YSL case. “Like I told you before y’all called me to trial, I have lied,” he initially expressed, with his subsequent disparaging comments against a detective being what made him “hostile” in the eyes of the prosecution. “I made things up, I told you this before y’all brought me in this courtroom, and I’m telling you now. You asked me about 2015. I had got my life together.
“Y’all are trying to put this on my conscience, y’all are trying to put people’s lives in my hands,” Lil Woody continued in the Young Thug trial. “I don’t want to lie on people, I don’t want to be here, y’all have pressured me. I’m tired of y’all ’cause y’all know y’all wrong, and y’all Black people doing this to us. Leave me alone, let me leave. Man, y’all pissing me off. Listen, I don’t recall nothing I said to no police, stop asking me these questions. I’m telling you I don’t recall. That’s what you want me to say?”
Lil Woody just launched a scathing rant against the prosecution while taking the stand during Young Thug and YSL’s RICO trial. Moreover, he accused them of trying to exploit him as the state’s witness, pressuring him to give them what they want in the case, asking old questions about old statements without properly representing them, and not allowing him to make his peace with the matter. In addition, Woody also explained why he spoke on Thugger in the first place and claimed that he lied about everything he told police back in 2015 about the rapper’s alleged crimes in order to get them off his back and avoid trouble.
“I don’t recall nothing that happened years ago,” Lil Woody said during his court appearance in Young Thug’s trial. “I just know that every time the police were after me and trying to get me, they kept bringing his name up. Whatever y’all want me to say, I’ma say it. That’s why they kept coming after me because they felt like they could make a case after him. And y’all wrong because y’all know that I’m full of s**t. And y’all keep trying to drag me to bring up bulls**t that y’all know that I’ve said. Why is y’all doing that? Leave me alone.”
Furthermore, the prosecution continued to ask Lil Woody about the 2015 details of Young Thug’s alleged crimes. Despite his inability or refusal to recall these statements, his current stance contradicts his supposed years-ago assurances that he understood he was snitching and the allegedly verifiable facts that authorities were able to gain from their conversations. At press time, Woody’s time on the stand hasn’t finished in this first trial day back after weeks of recess.
Meanwhile, Lil Woody has a choice now: testify and fall back in line with his 2015 confessions, or go back to jail. From what these new updates indicate, it’s still very much up in the air, and the prosecution has a headache to deal with moving forward. Amid all this, there still hasn’t been much actual case development when it comes to identifying whether Young Thug or his co-defendants are guilty. Hopefully, this trial can eventually focus up and start getting to the bottom of that more humanely, effectively, professionally, and truthfully.