''The Marathon Continues'' or ''TMC'' for short, is the sixth official

mixtape A mixtape (alternatively mix-tape, mix tape or mixed tape) is a compilation of music, typically from multiple sources, recorded onto a medium. With origins in the 1980s, the term normally describes a homemade compilation of music onto a cassette ...

by American rapper

Nipsey Hussle Airmiess Joseph Asghedom (August 15, 1985 – March 31, 2019), known professionally as Nipsey Hussle (often stylized as Nipsey Hu$$le), was an American rapper, entrepreneur, and activist. Emerging from the West Coast hip hop scene in the mid- ...

. The mixtape was released as a free digital download on mixtape hosting websites, and to

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

on November 1, 2011, via Hussle's

All Money In Airmiess Joseph Asghedom (August 15, 1985 – March 31, 2019), known professionally as Nipsey Hussle (often stylized as Nipsey Hu$$le), was an American rapper, entrepreneur, and activist. Emerging from the West Coast hip hop scene in the mid- ...

record label. The mixtape featured

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

1500 or Nothin' 1500 or Nothin' is an American musical ensemble composed of record producers, songwriters, musicians and music videographers, formed in 2006, in Los Angeles, California. With headquarters located in Inglewood, California, 1500 or Nothin' is comp ...

, THC, Wizzo and Mistah Mota, Le-Lo Lang among others.

Guest appearance In show business, a guest appearance is the participation of an outsider performer (such as a musician or actor) in an event such as a music record or concert, show, etc., when the performer does not belong to the regular band, cast, or other p ...

s on the mixtape included

Dom Kennedy Dominic Ross Hunn (born August 22, 1984), better known by his stage name Dom Kennedy, is an American rapper from Leimert Park, Los Angeles, California. Since 2008, Kennedy has released 5 independent mixtapes, most notably his 2010 critically accl ...

, YG, Cobby Supreme and Yung Brodee among others.

Background

In August 2011, Nipsey Hussle announced that he was working on the follow-up to his previous mixtape '' The Marathon'', a free project tentatively titled ''The Marathon Continues''. He said there would only be a few guest appearances, with the mixtape being mostly "in-house", also revealing the mixtape would be released in about two months. On October 25, 2011, Hussle revealed the cover artwork to the mixtape. On October 30, 2011, Nipsey Hussle told

DJ Skee Scott Keeney (born 15 November 1983), better known by his stage name DJ Skee, is an American artist, television host, radio personality, and entrepreneur. Skee rose to fame as the first DJ to discover and play superstar artists on the radio incl ...

that

would provide the bulk of production on the mixtape, and that YG and

would be featured on the mixtape. The mixtape was released on November 1, 2011, featuring guest appearances by Dom Kennedy, YG, Cobby $upreme, Rimpau, and Yung Brodee. The song "Who Detached Us" also contains a sample of a speech by

Apple Inc. Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company b ...

founder

Steve Jobs Steven Paul Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American entrepreneur, industrial designer, media proprietor, and investor. He was the co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Apple; the chairman and majority shareholder of Pixar; a ...

Production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

on the mixtape was primarily handled by 1500 or Nothin', among others such as THC, Wizzo, and Mistah Mota. That same day the mixtape was released for retail sale on iTunes.

Release and promotion

On April 6, 2011, Nipsey Hussle released the first song from the mixtape, "Rose Clique" to celebrate reaching 107,000 followers on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

. Four days later he released "Tha Mansion" after reaching 109,000 followers on Twitter. On October 6, 2011, he released the audio and music video for the song "Forever On My Fly Shit", produced by

Top Dawg Entertainment Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) is an American independent record label founded in 2004, by CEO Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith. Terrence "Punch" Henderson is president of the label. There are currently eleven artists signed to the label: the label's f ...

's THC. Following the mixtapes release, it received high downloads on mixtape hosting sites, and Nipsey Hussle toured in the following months. On February 14, 2012, Hussle released another mixtape, ''TMC: X-Tra Laps'' that consisted of leftover songs from the recording sessions for ''The Marathon Continues''. On September 2, 2013, in promotion of his eighth mixtape ''

Crenshaw Crenshaw may refer to: Places in the United States *Crenshaw, Los Angeles **Crenshaw High School *Crenshaw County, Alabama *Crenshaw, Mississippi *Crenshaw, Pennsylvania Transportation *Crenshaw Boulevard *Crenshaw station (C Line, Los Angeles Met ...

'', the songs "Thas Wat Hoes Do" featuring YG, "Rose Clique", "I Need That" featuring Dom Kennedy and "Run A Lap" were released as singles to iTunes.

Critical reception

''The Marathon Continues'' 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 mus ...

s. Adam Fleischer of '' XXL'' gave the mixtape a "XL" rating saying, "From the jump, Nipsey dives right in, reminding listeners why they fucked with him in the first place on opening tracks “Road To Riches” and “Who Detached Us.” Nipsey keeps the heat coming, slicing through the meat of this mixtape, before finishing up strong on “Tha Mansion” and “Outro.” Overall, the 14-track offering with limited features definitely does its share of reintroducing fans with Nipsey’s nasty skill set and should have listeners still craving his long-awaited debut." Kidd Future of ''

The Source ''The Source'' is an American hip hop and entertainment website, and a magazine that publishes annually or . It is the world's longest-running rap periodical, being founded as a newsletter in 1988 by Jonathan Shecter. David Mays was the ma ...

'' also gave the mixtape a positive review saying, "Listeners are left with a new ambition & plenty to ponder as Diddy describes the separation between himself a marathon runner & the listener. Although we may find solace in ''TMC'', the anticipation for ''South Central State Of Mind'' has definitely begun."

Track listing

; Notes * "Fly Crippin'" samples "Bill Gates" by

Lil Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September 27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. His career began in 1995, at the age of 12, when he was signed by rapper Birdman (rapper), ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marathon Continues 2011 mixtape albums Nipsey Hussle albums Sequel albums Albums produced by 1500 or Nothin'