Legendary mixtape platform DatPiff has uploaded the entire catalog of more than 366,420 projects to the Internet Archive. Last March, the service calling itself “The Authority In Mixtapes” experienced a server error that compromised its regular library of free music. A month later, the site has restarted with a page announcing plans to “evolve beyond our website and app” to “continue to make the library accessible!” And now, nearly a year later, the 50TB cache of mixtapes and free albums from Kendrick Lamar, Lil Wayne and more are available on The Internet Archive. Their massive file upload ensures that a precious stash of rap history isn't lost to the 404 gods.
Listeners can access the DatPiff music they've come to enjoy while the platform goes into real maintenance mode and creates their next idea. The front page promises a “next generation” Datpiff and notes, “We'll have more to share soon, but in the meantime be sure to follow us on YouTube and Instagram to stay on top of new mixtape releases!”
No one at DatPiff has revealed much about what happened with last year's server crash or their new plans for their platform. They developed an app in 2019, but it is no longer on the App Store or Google Play store. It's unclear what Datpiff 2.0 will look like in a digital ecosystem where streaming providers and platforms like SoundCloud have become the primary venues for artists to upload their music. But what is more certain, for now, is that uploading them to The Internet Archive will protect a generation of music.
said Jason Scott, Freelance Archivist at the Internet Archive Rolling rock that he was glad that DatPiff brought his collection to the Internet Archive as a long-term storage solution “instead of just deleting the music.” Scott says no one at DatPiff consulted them before uploading, and the 50 terabytes of music represented “half a day's worth of data” that is typically uploaded to the site, which hosts files of all kinds.
“I suspect what caught their attention was my shared belief that hip-hop mixtapes are some of the most important yet fragile cultural artifacts out there,” says Scott. “Even with digital distribution, unless an act is very large, a lot can be lost either through indifference or physical entropy. There are so many voices in hip-hop that attack current news or issues and can be so easily dismissed—the chances of missing them all are huge.”
Last spring's DatPiff furor came at the same time that De La Soul's return to DSPs drew attention to how dominant—and weak—the digital market had become. De La Soul's break with Tommy Boy Records (which was patched up in August 2021) made their first six albums hard to find for younger listeners who didn't have access to their CDs and vinyl. Similarly, a DatPiff shutdown would have deprived listeners of a major work from the 2000s that they hadn't downloaded. The field of digital music is convenient and lighter than a CD book, but it is very susceptible to the weakness of intangible factors. Physical media can scratch, crack, and warp, but they don't inexplicably disappear. In 2019, for example, Myspace lost millions of songs uploaded to the site, effectively erasing the records of an entire era of online music. In this case, The Internet Archive could keep a small portion of uploads thanks to what Scott deemed an “anonymous academic group.”
DatPiff was founded in 2005 by Marcus Frasier. The platform served as a hub during the Blog era, a remarkable chapter in rap history where everyone from up-and-coming artists to veteran acts began uploading free music to their site and others. The DatPiff and blog sites were essentially a digital marketplace that allowed independent acts to appear alongside established acts, boosting their profile and allowing some to bypass major labels altogether. In 2019, Taylor Gang president and Wiz Khalifa's manager Will Dzombak said Complex that “at its peak, DatPiff was a huge part of life” and “helped set the course for Wiz's success.” Khalifa stepped up his game Kush & Orange Juice, Taylor Allderdiceand Cabin fever projects on the platform, helping pave his way to stardom. DatPiff may well become the same springboard for a new generation of actions. But even if it doesn't, thanks to The Internet Archive, their era-defining library has a stable home.
from our partners at https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/internet-archive-rap-mixtapes-datpiff-1234942566/