The Subtext of Every Mixed Tape

Last night on Facebook, I saw a quote from Alec Sulkin, writer of many Family Guy episodes and generally funny dude:

"I can't say it as good as them but I'd sure like to fuck you. (Subtext of Every Mixed Tape)"

Had the poster not been a recent recipient of a mixtape of mine, I probably would have found it quite funny. Even though she was, I still think it's a pretty good line.

But it got me thinking - is appropriation of someone else's art for your own purposes ever an artful endeavor? Can making a really good mixtape be something worthwhile, or is it inherently a cop-out; a futile attempt at masking one's own lack of creativity and talent?

I've long operated under the assumption that there is a subtle art to the creation of a good mixtape. I've created dozens over the course of my life; for myself, for friends, for various parties or activities, and yes - for girls I have wanted to fuck at different times. I have a set of rules for how the music should progress. Where the most energetic tracks should appear (tracks 3,7, and either 10 or 11, depending on the length of the cd). How to build up to crescendos and then safely back away, while remaining enteraining and interesting. It may make me sound like a braggart, but I feel like I am a pretty damn good mixtape maker.

But is that worth anything?

As apparent as my mad mixtape skills may be, my lack of any musical ability whatsoever is equally apparent. I've tried playing guitar several times, but I'm never able to progress very far before I plateau and get too frustrated to continue. I love to sing, but I know I'm not very good. I can barely clap a steady beat, let alone throw in any kinks that might make my attempts at percussion more interesting or musical. Writing is the one artistic talent that I sometimes possess, but even with that, I am more inclined towards analysis than fiction or poetry. I haven't tried much serious songwriting, but the little bit of poetry I've written is truly atrocious.

I love music dearly; it is a big part of my life, but I've always been stuck on the outside looking in. Mixtapes became my way to become part of the community. I may never possess the talents to be in a band, but this one thing I can do well proves my worthiness, at least in some small way.

It is both a wonderful and terrible thing to be an appreciator of art. I love the worlds and the feelings that music, film, literature, painting, and photography have opened for me, but it is painful to watch nearly every one of my attempts at any of these categories fail so miserably. Even when I am able to create something that I am proud of, I can always hear that voice in my head adding a "for you" to every "This is so good!"

In his tweet, Sulkin highlights the silliness of trying to get in on a party that you weren't invited to, and he does it in a sharp manner that has made a lot of people laugh. I appreciate, and even partially agree with, his sentiment. But I do think that there is some value in making a really good mixtape as well - songs feel different, and make you feel different, when they are placed around different types of songs. A good mixtape elicits emotional response in a way that is unique. You can't find the same feelings on the artists' original albums, because feelings compound and morph and flow as you continue listening. In the same way that a single sounds different at the end of an album than it does on the radio, the pieces of a mixtape sound different in that particular arragement than they do in any other.

I would never claim that making good mixtapes makes me an artist, but I do think that there remains the smallest shred of artistry in their creation. You may feel I'm deluding myself, and maybe I am, but I don't care; making mixes is something I do well, and something that allows me to feel connected to a world I would otherwise be isolated from. It may not be the same as singing for a crowd every night, listening to them sing my words back to me, but it's what I have and I love it.