Barter 6

Young Thug originally planned to call this mixtape Carter 6 as a nod to Lil Wayne's iconic series. But after Wayne's legal team sent a cease-and-desist, Thug swapped the first letter, changing it to Barter 6, a reference to Blood gang slang. The release date, April 17, 2015, also happened to be his mother's birthday.

The 13-track project runs just under 52 minutes and features an impressive roster: Birdman on two tracks, plus T.I., Boosie Badazz, Young Dolph, and Jacquees. Production duties fell mainly to London on da Track and Wheezy, who built a minimalist, keyboard-driven soundscape that lets Thug's eccentric vocals, yelps, groans, and off-kilter melodies, take center stage. The only single, Check, dropped two weeks before the mixtape and hit number 100 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Critics praised the cohesion and inventiveness. Billboard noted the beats were consistent but less frenetic than Thug's earlier work, while AllMusic highlighted the weird standout Constantly Hating and T.I.'s hardcore anchor on Can't Tell. Apple Music called it the sharpest, clearest statement yet from Atlanta's most enigmatic rapper. The mixtape debuted at number 22 on the Billboard 200, selling 17,000 copies in its first week. [edit]