Barter 6 is Young Thug’s debut solo mixtape under 300 Entertainment. The project was released on April 17th, 2015 – the same date as Thug’s mom, Mama Duck’s, birthday. The mixtape was originally titled “Carter 6” as a spiritual successor to his idol Lil Wayne’s Carter series, but 3 days before its release, Thug swapped the ‘C’ for a ‘B’ – a true reflection of both his and Wayne’s Blood ties. (Plus the idea of a lawsuit was probably not appealing.) No matter how many times Young Thug himself clarified that he was just paying homage to his idol with the title of this mixtape, blogs using clickbait headlines were able to stir up enough controversy about it to cause beef between Wayne and Thug, which all boiled down to a simple miscommunication. And contrary to popular belief at the time of its release, the tape was not released under Birdman’s Cash Money Records, but on Lyor Cohen’s 300 Entertainment, distributed by Atlantic Records. The record was met with extremely positive reception by critics, who praised Thug’s ability to create something unique and fresh in a genre crying out for change. The production, mainly handled by Wheezy and London On Da Track, was unique, while stylistically still adhering to trap at its roots. However, Thug’s unique approach to crafting a song ensured this record sounded like nothing else on the market. His gift for melody shines through, making this sound truly innovative, despite comparisons to Future and Lil Wayne, whose styles Young Thug built upon and created a whole new sound for this project.