Mixtapes that artists make

Many artists start off their career making mixtapes and posting them online.  These mixtapes are almost always free to the general public, and they are generally very well done.  These artists almost never start off with a record deal, so they start with mixtapes to hope and get their names out there.  Recently, I have been downloading a lot of mixtapes of my favorite artists, and I must say, some of their work on their mixtapes is far better than their work on cd's.  For example, I enjoy listening to a rapper by the name of Wale.  He is relatively new, and raps about almost everything in life.  I think a lot of his songs are okay, but recently I started listening to his last mixtape that he made: "More About Nothing".  The mixtape has 20 songs on there, and I find myself listening to about 18 of them on repeat throughout the day.   Many of the songs on this mixtape include clips from the very popular television show Seinfeld, and the clips that he adds to the songs make the songs so much better.  These songs are far greater than any songs he has made while he has been signed onto a record deal and released to be sold.  One song on the mixtape, "The War", speaks to me on a level that not many songs do.  I am not sure what it is about this song, but literally every time I listen to it, I get shivers up and down my spine.  During my plane flight to Germany, I only listened to these songs.  When I landed, I also listened to the music that I purchased through iTunes, and I can hardly listen to those songs anymore.  Now, I find myself wondering, why would an artist who claims to love music and rapping so much, stop trying as hard as he once did when he didn't have a record label backing him up.  Does money really affect the way people try that much?  If money really affects people that much, then I feel like we should almost consider not buying some of their music any more, because from what I have seen, mixtapes tend to be better, and they are free!