''Before You Go'' is the first mixtape by the American rapper and singer

Blxst Matthew Dean Burdette (born September 17, 1992), known professionally as Blxst (pronounced "blast"), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer from Los Angeles, California. He signed with Red Bull Records to release his debu ...

. It was released on April 22, 2022 via Evgle and

Red Bull Red Bull is a brand of energy drinks created and owned by the Austrian company Red Bull GmbH. With a market share of 43%, it is the most popular energy drink brand as of 2020, and the third most valuable soft drink brand, behind Coca-Cola and ...

. The mixtape debuted at number 90 on the US ''Billboard'' 200. It features collaborations with Arin Ray, Grandmaster Vic,

Rick Ross William Leonard Roberts II (born January 28, 1976), known professionally as Rick Ross, is an American rapper. An influential figure in modern Hip-hop, hip hop music, Rick Ross has become known for his "Wiktionary:booming, booming" vocal perfor ...

, and

Zacari Zacari Moses Pacaldo I (born April 8, 1994), known mononymously as Zacari, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He is best known for his guest appearance on American rapper and Top Dawg Entertainment labelmate Ke ...

. Production was handled by a variety of record producers, including

Mike & Keys Mike & Keys (formerly known as The Futuristiks) are an American hip hop production and songwriting duo from Los Angeles, California that consists of Money Mike (born Michael Ray Cox, Jr.) and J-Keys (born John Groover). History J-Keys, born i ...

Sevn Thomas Rupert "Sevn" Thomas Jr. (born July 7, 1991) is a Canadian record producer, songwriter and singer. He has produced and written numerous hit songs including Rihanna's "Work", Drake's " Pop Style" and " Chicago Freestyle," Travis Scott's " Wake Up ...

, Tharealcstylez, Tharealjfkbeatz, and Blxst himself, among others.

Background

In an interview with ''

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'', Blxst explained the meaning of the mixtape saying "''Before You Go'' is basically a note to self, speaking on the transition I feel like I'm facing as an artist, as an executive. Mainly just leaving some things behind from my past, or taking some things with me."

Singles and promotion

On December 3, 2021, Blxst released the first single of the mixtape titled "About You", with the music video being released on January 26, 2022, directed by

Alfredo Flores Alfredo Flores (born June 16, 1989) is an American director, documentarian and photographer known for directing music videos and documentaries. He frequently collaborates with artists such as Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, Karol G, Sabrina Carpente ...

. The second single was released on March 3 titled "Sometimes" featuring

. On April 22, he released the music video for "Every Good Girl". On May 12, the music video for "Never Was Wrong" was released.

Critical reception

''Before You Go'' received positive reviews upon release. ''

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'' said "Unfortunately, some R&B artists are hit the worst when it comes to a sophomore slump, yet Blxst has managed to completely avoid that and continue building on his sound. For some, ''Before You Go'' can feel like a 13-track, 32-minute extension of his 2020 debut, ''No Love Lost''. And while it can be seen like that in some ways, it’s more so the establishment of Blxst as an artist. ''No Love Lost'' was the perfect introduction to the rising star’s sound and what he stood for, and Before You Go is the perfect follow-up that proves he’s here to stay." ''

HipHopDX ''HipHopDX'' is an online magazine of Hip hop music, hip hop music criticism and news. ''HipHopDX'' has over 3.5M monthly readers, the website encompassing hip hop news, interviews, music, and reviews. The website's founder and CEO is Sharath C ...

'' wrote about the album saying Blxst tapped "into a new level of creativity, an impressive feat given how polished his music already is. With all the early success he;s seen, the West Coast multi-hyphenate feels more excited than worried about the impact that ''Before You Go'' might have." Andy Kellman from

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stated the album that "Blxst elevates his writing with a little more depth, detail, and subtle wordplay, and he keeps it straightforward, never pandering, whether examining himself or working through relationship matters in a conversational manner."

Track listing

Notes

* "About You" contains a sample of "Faded Pictures", written by Joe Thomas and Joshua Thompson, and performed by

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featuring Joe.

Personnel

– vocals (tracks 2-13) * Cheyenne Wright – vocals (track 1) * Arin Ray – vocals (track 4) *

– vocals (track 6) *

– vocals (track 9) * Arin Paris – strings (track 1)

Technical

* Chris Athens –

mastering engineer Mastering is a form of audio post production which is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the Audio mixing (recorded music), final mix to a data storage device called a master recording, the source ...

* Lance Powell –

mixing engineer A mixing engineer (or simply mix engineer) is responsible for combining ("mixing") different sonic elements of an auditory piece into a complete rendition (also known as "final mix" or "mixdown"), whether in music, film, or any other content of a ...

* Blxst – mixing engineer (tracks 2, 3, 7, 11-13) * Dave Huffman – assistant mastering engineer * Kurt Bradley – assistant mastering engineer

Charts

References

{{notelist, group=efn 2022 mixtape albums