If we didn’t have mixtapes it would definitely be a slow day for most blogs, the fans, and its safe to say some artists would be non-existent. A fair amount of time passes us by until we get an album from our favourite artist, especially with pushed dates etc. That’s why established artists do depend on mixtapes to get us by in between that time and new artists use it as a entry into the Rap game. I quickly hopped on Datpiff website to see if I can count how many mixtapes were uploaded, to my surprise there was over 500 Mixtapes uploaded in ONE DAY. Mind you some of the mixtapes are compilations but it gives you an idea how important mixtapes have become. Another bonus for artists and fans is that an artist can basically do whatever they want on a mixtape, they don’t have to answer to their label, it’s all about the music, having fun and being as creative as you want.

We Present: THE COME UP SHOW FAVOURITE MIXTAPES OF 2012

As an avid music fan, I’m always trying to get friends to come out to more shows rather than go to the same bar every single weekend. We all know how important concerts are to musicians because this is their primary source of income. For us fans, it’s an opportunity to see our favourite act, everyone has that one song they want to hear and you go WILD. We do our best to cover as many concerts we can from original reviews and photography. Here are some of our favourite concerts of 2012.

We present: THE COME UP SHOW FAVOURITE CONCERTS OF 2012

This is the category of songs you had on REPEAT so many times you lost count. It’s a day of age where you ONLY need a single to get the whole world following you. Just look at the itunes Store, singles are outselling albums at a ridiculous rate and most of the songs below are no exception.

We Present: THE COME UP SHOW FAVOURITE TRACKS OF 2012

You remember how special it was to see a new video by your favourite artist in the 90′s? It was such a huge deal and you could only watch them on a major network channel, if you are a 90′s baby then you remember recording videos from your favourite music show from Rap City on Muchmusic or Tha Basement with Big Tigger on BET. Times have definitely changed and you can argue on both sides if it’s a good thing or not. Videos are a dime a dozen nowadays because of how satured we are with free mp3′s, having a creative video will definitely improve your chances to get a few looks as an artist. While it’s not true with every musician, a great video(s) will get you taken seriously and increase your fanbase, I.E. what Sese did in 2011 with his viral videos.

We Present: THE COME UP SHOW’S FAVOURITE VIDEOS OF 2012

It’s a great time to be a music fan because we are overwhelmed with so much free music, i.e. mixtapes, singles, EP’s. We can agree the lines are blurred on how artists release their material, mixtapes vs. albums, but I believe we should always expect the best of the best on an album. If your favourite rapper delivers a sub-par mixtape you might let it slide and when it comes to an album it’s no holds barred and why shouldn’t it be? Most artists record anywhere between 20-100 songs for  an album.
Without further ado, The Come Up Show presents our favourite albums of 2012.

It’s fair to say it was a GREAT year for producers like Young Chop and Mike Will Made It. According to Wikipedia each producer an average of one song released to their production credits in 2011. This past year was a everything changed especially for Mike Will Made It seems, seems like every song you heard in the club was that same drop “Mike Will Made It” (kind of sounds like “Mike Will Man”). Without further ado here are our favourite producers of 2012.

We Present: THE COME UP SHOW’S FAVOURITE PRODUCERS OF 2012

Our favourite Come Up Artists are artists who have put in WORK (French Montana voice). Most likely a year ago if I told you their name you wouldn’t have a clue, maybe you still don’t. You might seen their names on blogs, heard a song at a party, you know you heard their music somewhere but you might have not connected the name to the music yet. If you don’t know who they are yet in 2013 you definitely will.

We Present: THE COME UP SHOW’S FAVOURITE COME UP ARTISTS OF 2012

If you click on the interview category on our website you will notice it isn’t interviews done by other journalists, blogs, etc. Since The Come Up Show conducts a considerable amount of original interviews; video, radio, and written, I decided since the creation of the website that this category be exclusive to The Come Up Show. 2012 was a great year for interviews especially in the written form, the homie M-Bomb who joined The Come Up Show last year conducted over 40 interviews alone and he isn’t slowing down this year. Every interview will be linked to the original post so if you haven’t read or watched it yet feel free to take it in.

We Present: THE COME UP SHOW FAVOURITE INTERVIEWS OF 2012.

Mixtapes aren’t exactly what they used to be. Since the internet cracked the new-music bulwark and instigated flood-like access to new artists and their music, the chance for new artists to come up and make your way up against literally thousands upon thousands of trying rappers and producers has never been so possible nor competitive. The goal of a mixtape has always been to get your music heard– it is first and foremost a promotional tool. Yet in the internet era’s great race for music blogger attention, the mixtape bar has been risen (almost) to the point where it is no longer enough to catch a listener’s attention by rapping over some well known beats alone. The most successful and interesting mixtapes of 2010 were made up of entirely original production, like Wiz Khalifa’s Kush & OJ and Big K.R.I.T.’s K.R.I.T. Wuz Here for instance, which are both virtually albums. The only difference lies in the words we call them by.

Mixtapes are also, of course, compilation “tapes”. Although there were several outstanding compilation mixtapes this year (including Statik Selektah & Termanology (1982)’s The Diamond Collection), we have not included them in our list since there was so much great new music to choose from. Perhaps the better term for original material mixtapes is the “Free Album” or “Free Release”, to define this promotional entity that has picked up considerably in the wake of the internet’s competitive climate.

We Present: THE COME UP SHOW’S FAVORITE MIXTAPES/FREE RELEASES OF 2010!

The EP is one of my favorite entities. Albums tend to have a far greater chance of being botched both under the task of creating a cohesive album and the sheer pressure that comes with it. But the EP is more an in-between: you get the substantive flavor of an album, the variety of a mixtape and the most creatively uninhibited music all at the price of FREE. Usually.

Four of the EPs we chose below come from artists who also released full-length albums in 2010 (Nottz, Donwill, Von Pea and Fly Lo), each of which were also excellent. Honorable mentions go to Atmosphere’s To All My Friends, The Blood Makes The Blade Holy EP, Slum Village’s Villa Manifesto Digital EP, and Rick Ross’ The Albert Anastasia EP (which was virtually replaced by Teflon Don).

We Present: THE COME UP SHOW’S FAVORITE EP’S OF 2010!