Universal Music Enterprises (UME) is bringing mixtapes into the commercial market with a new legal series dubbed, “Lethal Squad Mixtapes.”


UME’s “Lethal Squad Mixtapes,” are aimed at tackling the Recording Industry Association of America’s (RIAA) beef with the underground mixtapes industry by retailing licensed music compilations.


Since the tapes will retail well below the cost of regular CDs, Universal hopes they’ll serve as successful promotional tools, just as traditional mixtapes did. According to Billboard reports the UME mixtapes, which are expected to retail between $5-$6, represent a corporate approach to mixtapes, which have been in serious decline since the highly publicized RIAA raid and accompanying arrests of DJ’s Drama and Don Cannon.


“How ironic,” DJ Drama told Billboard after learning of Universal’s plans. “I guess they’ve realized just how important mixtapes are.” The first of the series, “Lethal Squad Mixtapes: Dose #1,” was released on July 13 by the relatively unknown DJ Bear, who hails from Washington, D.C. The tape included music by Kanye West and Fabulous as well as newer artists like Jae Ellis. A second volume, which will be mixed by Bear and D.C. radio mixer DJ Quicksilva, is expected to drop this September.


“It’s a good idea, but you need the underground credibility, and nobody knows the DJ on it,” one chain buyer told Billboard. “The DJ situation will play itself out,” UME executive vice president and general manager Mike Davis responded. “If one really works, we’re going to stick with him.”


So far the response to the UME series has been lukewarm; “Lethal Squad Mixtapes: Dose #1” has sold only 5,800 units, according to Nielsen SoundScan.


While the grassroots mixtape game has ground to a near halt and Drama and Cannon continue waiting to find out if they’ll be indicted on racketeering charges, only time will tell whether mixtapes, sanctioned or otherwise, will be able to bounce back.


“I’m excited to see them do something different,” Thuy Ngo, vice president at Irvine, Calif., music wholesaler Super D told Billboard. “But it’s like they’re a day late and a dollar short: After the RIAA cracked down, all of us stopped carrying mixtapes.”