We all know that the only reason anyone becomes a rapper in 2013 is so that they can get a clothing deal and creative director gig, but the past couple of days have proven to be even more puzzling than usual. Troy Ave made the unusual decision of releasing his New York City album as a free download while offering the exact same project as a paid LP elsewhere. When I publicly queried this move, his team responded with this:

@unkut if u wanna support buy it off iTunes. If not livemixtapes we ain’t trippin

— Young L!to (@YoungLitoBSB) November 5, 2013

As an esteemed colleague pointed out to me, the standard approach is give away a version with some annoying DJ dude screaming his lungs out over every song on some old “human watermark” shit, thus encouraging fans to purchase the official version in the name of maintaining their sanity.

Elsewhere, Roc Marciano’s The Pimpire Strikes Back album was released as a free download over on SoundCloud in preparation for the Marci Beaucoup LP. Since the free version was about that old lo-fi 128 kps MP3 life, I decided to pony up the $7 to cop the CD-quality version over at Bandcamp, which is also the first (and most likely last) time I’ve ever purchased a digital album. The other option is to buy a shirt and get an actual CD for free, but since the Conservative Rap Coalition style guide strongly discourages wearing crewneck t-shirts in public, that wasn’t a viable consideration.

Is relying on the goodwill of fans enough? Action Bronson has only charged retail for a handful of his releases, yet through product-sponsored albums and a gruelling touring schedule he’s maintaining that “eating pheasant out in London” lifestyle something lovely. Willie The Kid is dropping free EPs every few months without a dip in quality, while also offering an iTunes option for supporters. But what is it that motivates rap fans to support something when they can legally get the same thing for free-ninety-nine? Is being viewed as an ‘independent’ artist an important part of the equation? Doubtful, since everyone from Radiohead to Drake has tried business models spanning everything from “pay what you want” to “buy the same thing I already gave away with an extra song or two”.

Personally, I’m still not trying to spend money on music. Back when I first started getting paid minuscule sums to write for music magazines in 2006, the only perks were free tickets to shows and unlimited promo CDs, which could be flipped at the local Dixon’s second hand spot for decent beer money. Now the best you can expect is an invite to a listening session with free finger food and booze, or a private SoundCloud link a few days before it pops up on the bootleg spots. Even getting free CDs is useless, since they take up space and end up all scratched up and shit and have zero resale value unless they’re OG Max B mixtapes in which case you would never dream of parting with them anyway. But perhaps I’m missing out on something. Do you get overwhelmed with those same feelings of smugness that people do while driving a hybrid car, chewing on organic, activated walnuts and sipping on fair-trade soy lattes when you support your favourite rapper dude with your $8 download? Because the only thing that speaks to me right now is the fact that the high-quality version of Ice Cream Man is song of the year contender at the CRC HQ.