''G.D.O.D. (Get Dough or Die)'' is a series of compilation

mixtape In the modern music industry, a mixtape is a musical project, typically with looser constraints than that of an album or extended play. Unlike the traditional album or extended play, mixtapes are labeled as laid-back projects that allow artists mo ...

s released by American

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

and R&B record label Grand Hustle Records, under the namesake Hustle Gang. The first installment in the series was released on May 7, 2013.

''G.D.O.D. (Get Dough or Die)''

''G.D.O.D. (Get Dough or Die)'' is the debut

by American

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

Grand Hustle Records under the group name Hustle Gang. The mixtape was released as a free digital download on May 7, 2013 on mixtape hosting websites. The mixtape features contributions from Grand Hustle artists T.I., Mitchelle'l, B.o.B,

Young Dro D'Juan Montrel Hart (born January 15, 1979), better known by his stage name Young Dro, is an American rapper. Best known for his association with fellow Atlanta-based rapper T.I., Dro signed with his label, Grand Hustle Records, an imprint of ...

, Iggy Azalea, Doe B, Big Kuntry King,

Trae tha Truth Trae tha Truth (or simply Trae) is an American rapper. He embarked on a recording career in 1998, and established local prominence in the Southern hip hop, Texas hip hop scene with his solo debut, ''Losing Composure'' (2003). His second and thi ...

, D.O.P.E., Travi$ Scott, Chip, Kris Stephens, Mac Boney, and Shad da God. It also features

guest appearance The term guest appearance generally denotes the appearance of a guest in an artistic or pop-culture setting. The guests themselves (referred to as guest artists, featured artists, guest stars, or guest fighters, depending on context), are disting ...

s from Lil Duval,

Juicy J Jordan Michael Houston III (born April 5, 1975), known professionally as Juicy J, is an American rapper and record producer. Originally from Memphis, Tennessee, he is a founding member of the Southern hip-hop group Three 6 Mafia, established ...

Meek Mill Robert Rihmeek Williams (born May 6, 1987), known professionally as Meek Mill, is an American rapper. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he embarked on his career as a battle rapper, and later formed a short-lived rap group the Blo ...

Mystikal Michael Lawrence Tyler (born September 22, 1970), better known by his stage name Mystikal, is an American rapper and actor from New Orleans, Louisiana. He is noted for brash, obstreperous vocal delivery, characterized by a Southern rasp. He si ...

French Montana Karim Kharbouch (Moroccan Arabic, Arabic: IPA pronunciation, æɾiːm χɑɾbuːʃ born November 9, 1984), better known by his stage name French Montana, is a Moroccan-American rapper. Born and raised in Morocco, he immigrated to New York ...

, and

Young Jeezy Jay Wayne Jenkins (born September 28, 1977), known by his stage name Jeezy (or Young Jeezy), is an American rapper. He is credited, alongside fellow Georgia-based rappers T.I. and Gucci Mane, with pioneering the hip hop subgenre trap music fo ...

Background

In January 2013, B.o.B announced an upcoming Grand Hustle compilation album titled ''Hustle Gang''. On April 4, T.I. revealed the label would release a mixtape titled, ''G.D.O.D (Get Dough or Die)'', during the first week of May 2013, preceding the compilation album. On April 19, 2013, T.I. formally introduced

GOOD Music GOOD Music (often stylized as G.O.O.D. Music; a backronym for Getting Out Our Dreams) is an American independent record label founded by rapper Kanye West in 2004. The label entered an exclusive long-term worldwide music distribution, distributi ...

producer Travis Scott and

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

winning songwriter Kris Stephens, as Grand Hustle signees. On April 28, a release date for the mixtape would later be announced to be May 7, 2013. As promised the mixtape was released on May 7, featuring 20 tracks and contributions from Grand Hustle artists T.I., Mitchelle'l, B.o.B,

, Big Kuntry King,

, D.O.P.E., Travi$ Scott, Chip, Kris Stephens, Mac Boney, Doe B and Shad da God. It also featured guest appearances from Lil Duval,

, Iggy Azalea,

, and

Release and promotion

On May 4, 2013, T.I. appeared on BET's '' 106 & Park'', alongside B.o.B, Young Dro, Trae tha Truth, and Kris Stephens, to promote the mixtape and premiere the " Memories Back Then" music video. On July 11, 2013, two songs from ''G.D.O.D. (Get Dough Or Die)'' were released to iTunes; "Problems" featuring T.I., B.o.B, Problem, Trae tha Truth, Mac Boney and Young Dro, along with "Poppin' 4 Sum", featuring Young Dro, B.o.B and Yung Brooke. On August 11, "Kemosabe", another song from the mixtape, featuring Doe B, T.I., B.o.B, Birdman and Young Dro, was released to iTunes. On August 29, 2013, the mixtape was released for retail sale on iTunes. On September 10, 2013, "Here I Go" by Spodee featuring T.I.,

, Young Dro and Shad Da God, was released as the mixtape's fourth single.

Critical reception

''G.D.O.D. (Get Dough Or Die)'' was met with generally positive reviews from

music critic '' The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of m ...

s. Jesse Fairfax of HipHopDX deemed the mixtape a "free album", their highest praise for mixtapes. He also said, "Throwing his hat in the ring to compete with compilations from well received rosters such as G.O.O.D. Music and

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 ...

' MMG brand, T.I.'s Hustle Gang sets themselves apart from the run of the mill mixape mob with ''G.D.O.D.'' The squad proves to be generally captivating, making fully developed songs despite predictable mentions of the fashionable drug molly and the project's countless boasts of materialistic wealth. Responding to the urgency of their motto's acronym, most of the heavy lifting is handled by T.I., B.o.B. who cuts loose as a tough spitter outside of his pop lane, and the still razor sharp one hit wonder Young Dro." NMB of '' XXL'' also gave a very positive review saying, " The sheer volume of verses squeezed into this mixtape keeps ''G.D.O.D.'' from ever really getting boring and it's exciting to see everyone seize their spots. Altogether it's a project that not only bodes well for Tip as an artist, but as a cultivator of talent as well." Calvin Stovall of BET stated, "by his own admission, money has clearly clouded T.I.'s artistic vision, watering down the trap sound he helped pioneer. At times ''Get Dough or Die'' is reminiscent of the glory days of his Pimp Squad Clique, with Tip occasionally kicking up and hitting his stride with one of his trademark accelerated flows. But for the most part, the tape is merely a disappointing reminder that money stacks does not a throne make."

Track listing

''G.D.O.D. II''

''G.D.O.D. II'' is the second

by American

Grand Hustle Records under the group name Hustle Gang. The mixtape was released as a free digital download on September 19, 2014, via mixtape hosting websites. The mixtape features contributions from Grand Hustle artists T.I., Mitchelle'l, B.o.B,

, Doe B, Big Kuntry King,

, D.O.P.E., Travi$ Scott, Chip, Kris Stephens, Mac Boney, Shad da God and Troy Ave. It also features guest appearances from Iggy Azalea,

, Rich Homie Quan,

Young Thug Jeffery Lamar Williams II (born August 16, 1991), known professionally as Young Thug, is an American rapper. Known for his eccentric vocal style and fashion, he is considered an influential figure in modern hip hop music, hip hop and trap music ...

Trey Songz Tremaine Aldon Neverson (born November 28, 1984), known professionally as Trey Songz, is an American Contemporary R&B, R&B singer and songwriter. After being discovered by record producer Troy Taylor (record producer), Troy Taylor in 2003, Songz ...

, Watch The Duck and

Yo Gotti Mario Sentell Giden Mims (born May 19, 1981), known professionally as Yo Gotti, is an American rapper, singer, and record executive. Rooted in Memphis rap, he released five independent albums—''Youngsta's on a Come Up'' (1996), ''From da Dope ...

among others.

Background

In August 2014, in an interview with

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

, T.I. revealed plans to release the Grand Hustle compilation, which is tentatively due in December, following his ninth album '' Paperwork'': "What's holding up the ''Hustle Gang'' project is that we have some new additions to the mix, and we didn't wanna put out the project out without including or allowing those new additions to be part of it. Maybe we'll do a stroke of midnight release on New Years. We did that with ''F**k Da City Up'' and it did well, so maybe we'll try that again." On September 19, 2014, the label released the second installment to the ''G.D.O.D. (Get Dough or Die)'' series.

Track listing

References