In an interview with the Breakfast Club the day that the mixtape was released, Montana spoke about why he released it:
I feel like I needed to get everything out the way then go back to the mixtape vibes. I always try to go where the puck is going, not where the puck is at. I feel like the game needs mixtapes. That feeling isn't there anymore. Albums is dope [sic] everybody's getting used to it, but I want to hear [Lil] Wayne mixtapes, Rick RossRich Forever mixtapes, Wiz Khalifa [Kush & Orange Juice] mixtapes. I just want to get back to that vibe and I want to lead the way with the mixtapes.[2]
The mixtape was originally supposed to be released on January 5, 2024, but was delayed for unknown reasons.[3] A day before its original release date, Westside Gunn posted the original tracklist on Instagram, notably featuring "Another One of Me", a Diddy single featuring Montana and the Weeknd, who is sampled on "Where We Came From".[4] Montana also garnered negative attention for allegedly manipulating music charts by releasing 126 songs in total of the mixtape, which includes the regular songs and a sped-up, slowed-down, instrumental, and a cappella versions of each song, clocking in at just over six hours in total.[5] He later responded to the allegation and shared why he made that decision in an interview with TMZ:
Taylor Swift dropped eight versions of her album. I'm just learning the hustle from them. I dropped five versions...My fans always love my beats so I dropped the instrumental. I dropped a capella for all the DJs that like blending and I dropped clean. I dropped the sped-up one because of TikTok, and I dropped the chopped and screwed. So people can stop asking me for all different types of versions, and I guess all those songs equaled out to 126 songs. I was watching everybody doing it. I was watching JT [Justin Timberlake] and a bunch of other people who had big records, and I see them just put out instrumentals and all that. I'm like, how come it's so easy to find this, and when I went on their page, and I saw they had six different versions, I was like, they're geniuses.
Reception
Scott Glaysher of HipHopDX gave the album a 3.6/5, saying: "Mac & Cheese 5 still has far too many "Haaaaan" ad-libs to win a Pulitzer but, with said, it will go down as one of French's best projects in quite some time".[6]
"Too Fun" (remix; with Kyle Richh, Jenn Carter, and DThang featuring 41)
Kharbouch
Fasheun
Akpofure
Daniel Collins
Rivera
Robalo
McNeil
Milano
Synthetic
Saint Vincent
TayDaProducer
3:51
Total length:
64:05
Notes
"Where We Came From" contains samples from an unreleased song, "Marylyn (Witches and Panthers)", written by The Weeknd, Doc McKinney, and Illangelo, and performed by the former.
