Before the Trap: Nights in Tarzana is a collaborative mixtape by American recording artist Chris Brown and his OHB group. It was released for free on DatPiff on April 29, 2016.^[1]

The mixtape was completed in the early months of 2016, though it also features a few tracks that were recorded before its production began. Before the Trap: Nights in Tarzana includes appearances from rappers within Brown's OHB collective and others, including Hoody Baby, Young Blacc, Young Lo, Dee Cosey, Kevin Gates, Tyga, Section Boyz, Quavo, Gangsta Robb, Keeis Stackz, Tracy T, Ryan Toby, Lyrica Anderson, Young Thug, Young Jeezy. The mixtape includes production from Prince Chrishan, D. A. Doman, A1, Drumma Boy, Foreign Teck and others.^[2][3]

The mixtape was re-released on the streaming platforms Tidal and Amazon Music on July 2, 2018. This new version featured a different tracklist, incorporating several songs from the collaborative mixtape Attack the Block by Brown, OHB and Section Boyz also released in 2016.^[4]

Brown and several of the individuals who would later form the collective have known each other since childhood, with some of them being his cousins. One of their earliest public appearances together was in Brown's 2011 music video for the song "Strip".^[5] Over the next two years, they were frequently seen together and officially adopted the name OHB as their crew in 2012.^[6] That same year, they briefly began to create music, primarily using Drumma Boy's productions, but no official releases emerged from those efforts.^[7] In 2013, Brown was featured on two tracks of Kid Red's mixtape REDemption, marking the first official collaboration between him and an OHB artist.^[8]

He reconnected with the crew before the summer of 2015, following his breakup with his ex-girlfriend Karrueche Tran and the ending of his probation. By the end of that year, the OHB crew was frequently spending several days at Brown's house, with its members recording music individually. In the early months of 2016, Brown was often seen with his crew, regularly partying with them and hosting after-parties at his Tarzana, Los Angeles home. During this time, they decided to collaborate on their first official mixtape, titled Before the Trap: Nights in Tarzana.^[9]

The mixtape was primarily created in the early months of 2016, though a few tracks were recorded earlier. For instance, "Side Piece" was completed in June 2015 during the production of Brown's seventh studio album, Royalty. Additionally, Young Lo's track "Like I Done It Before" was recorded in December 2015. Meanwhile, the Drumma Boy-produced songs "Big Dreams" and "Roller Coaster" were recorded much earlier, in 2012.

Musically, the 19-track tape features a predominantly darker trap sound, interspersed with upbeat, DJ Mustard-style tracks and mid-tempo R&B songs that bridge the gaps. Chris Brown's performances alternate between his rapping and singing.^[10][11] The lyrics of the mixtape predominantly depict a reckless lifestyle characterized by drug use, fleeting sexual encounters with untrustworthy partners, and a perilous street life marked by firearms, illicit wealth, and supercars.

On April 21, 2016, Brown officially announced the mixtape after teasing snippets in the weeks leading up to the release. He shared the track "Shut Down" on his SoundCloud page and accompanied the announcement with the hashtags #OHBMixtape, #BeforeTheTrap, and #NightsInTarzana on his Twitter account.^[12] On April 27, Brown took to Twitter to announce the release date of the mixtape, while also revealing the European leg of his One Hell of a Nite Tour, the documentary Welcome to My Life, and the launch of his single "Grass Ain't Greener."^{[13][14][15][16]} Following its release, some songs from the mixtape were performed by the artists during the European leg of Brown's One Hell of a Nite Tour.

On July 2, 2018, the mixtape was re-released on the streaming platforms Tidal and Amazon Music. This version featured a revised tracklist that omitted the songs "TrapHouse Blues," "Like I Done It Before," and "Rumorz," while incorporating several tracks from the 2016 collaborative mixtape Attack the Block by Brown, OHB, and Section Boyz.^[4]

The mixtape on DatPiff was certified platinum by the site's standards, reaching over 300,000 downloads and over 1,600,000 full listens.^[2]

Sample credits

• "Love Gon Go" contains a sample from "Lose Control" performed by Silk
• "Rumorz" interpolates "Rumors" performed by Timex Social Club