EP, LP, or Mixtape

Iyke Bede

“My EP is coming
out soon” has become the bait used by many up-and-coming artistes these
days to excite their growing fan base. But what defines an EP? Is it the same
as an LP? And what’s the whole fuss around mixtapes that rappers talk about
anyways?

For starters, an EP
(extended play) is a musical recording containing between one to three (1-3)
tracks, provided one or more of the tracks are 10 minutes or longer, with the
entire recording being less than 30 minutes. In other cases, a collection of
four to six (4-6) tracks is considered an EP provided the entire recording is
less than 30 minutes.

On the other hand, LP
(long play) is an old fashioned way of addressing albums. They are usually
longer than EPs. Although they may contain between one to six (1-6) tracks like
on an EP, to qualify as an album, the entire run-time must exceed 30 minutes.
Alternatively, any release with seven or more tracks is considered an album.

Due to the less time
and money required for the production of an EP, albums are less favoured. EPs
hand artistes the barometer to gauge public perception of their sound before
proceeding to start or complete an album. Khalid’s ‘Suncity’ EP serves as a good
example. Songs on the EP eventually made it onto his sophomore album ‘Free
Spirit’.

Finally, a mixtape is
a collection of tracks from one or more artistes for the sole purpose of
showcasing skills to gain publicity. Most times, it is self-produced and
distributed for free.

A mixtape may have as
many tracks as an album, but an album is better structured and of better
recording quality. A classic example is Nicki Minaj’s ‘Beam Me Up Scotty’ which
helped her make an imprint in mainstream hip hop.

Note: Information is based on classification
metrics from Apple Music and Spotify