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After the big DJ Drama bust a lot of DJs and rappers are looking at free online mix-tape downloads as a way to get around the RIAA, which seems to think that the most effective hype-building tactic in hip-hop promotion since the wheatpasted poster is no better for business than flat-out bootlegging. No one’s really sure yet how well the move online will hold up against the Fun Police, but for the time being it looks like the real hotness for 2007. DJ/producer Clinton Sparks is the latest to get on the bandwagon—what appears to be his entire discography is now available on his Web site, including both We Got it for Cheap mixes with Clipse and Kanye’s Touch the Sky.
If free Yung Joc exclusives and rare U-God tracks don’t do it for you, you might be more satisfied with Hello Young World Volume 2, the new mix by indie dance DJ/producer Lushlife. On one hand, a lot of his selections are the kinds of things a guy who considers the Shins baby-making music might put on a “Dance Party” iTunes playlist—the Go! Team, Pulp, Shout Out Louds—but sometimes I’m a sucker for the goofiest indie shit, so I kinda like it. Besides, I put “Disco 2000” in a set I spun over the weekend, so I can’t really talk.
