{"id":18078,"date":"2010-09-28T16:38:36","date_gmt":"2010-09-28T14:38:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.blackouthiphop.com\/?p=18078"},"modified":"2010-09-28T16:38:36","modified_gmt":"2010-09-28T14:38:36","slug":"100-essential-rap-eps-the-best-of-the-short-sweet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blackouthiphop.com\/blog\/100-essential-rap-eps-the-best-of-the-short-sweet\/","title":{"rendered":"100 Essential Rap EPs – The Best of the Short & Sweet"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

More than ever, rappers are giving fans short, compact pieces of music, rather than full-lengths LPs. The format, formally known as an EP, or \u201cextended play,\u201d isn\u2019t new. Hip-hop has utilized the quick fix strategy since the early 1980\u2019s. Thanks to the success of Drake\u2019s seven-track So Far Gone EP last year, though, a flood of artists, mostly newcomers (Freddie Gibbs, for example), are delivering sets that clock in at less than 30 minutes, with song tallies in the single digits.<\/p>\n

Next Tuesday, the debut EP from Atlantic Records rookie, and one of XXL\u2019s 10 Freshman for \u201910, Donnis, Fashionably Late, will make its way onto iTunes. As he sees it, releasing EPs before official full-lengths equals smart business for new MCs. \u201cIn this day and age, it\u2019s very difficult for an artist to just put out an album and sell,\u201d says Donnis. \u201cIt\u2019s something that you have to build up to and make sure that you\u2019re gonna do numbers that are gonna make the record label happy, and know that you have longevity and a second chance.\u201d<\/p>\n

EPs aren\u2019t limited to just rookies, however. Over the last three decades, both established and unproven artists have entered the short-form arena. Take a trip from the old to the new with XXL\u2019s list of the \u201c100 Essential Rap EPs,\u201d presented in chronological order.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Check out the list here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

More than ever, rappers are giving fans short, compact pieces of music, rather than full-lengths…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18078","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t