Mixtapes have long played an important role in hip-hop. Often viewed as an unfiltered, more authentic alternative to the traditional album release, the mixtape format as we now know it rose to ...

From DJ Clue's casette tapes to major label involvement, we trace the history of the iconic hip-hop mixtape. Over their lifespan, mixtapes have changed in body, but never in soul. Whether the vehicle ...

The underground mixtape has long been a staple in hip-hop, with blended DJ selections being all the rage throughout the '90s. But this decade saw the format mutate: Rappers began to take matters into ...

Last month, rap star Lil Wayne announced that his much-anticipated album, "Tha Carter IV" would be released Aug. 29. It was a long wait from the original anticipated date in May -- even longer for ...

NEW YORK (Billboard) - Detroit rapper Hayes takes inspiration for his mixtapes from -- of all things -- magazines. "I want to give people a little taste of what a Hayes album would be like," he says. ...

With the lines between mixtapes and albums blurrier than ever, we look at how 50 Cent revolutionized the format forever on his road to "Get Rich Or Die Tryin'." Based on the accessibility that the ...

2015 has seen a crazy amount of great album releases, and it's no different in the realm of mixtapes. With all the albums that have been released, you might actually forget all the fantastic projects ...

The business behind the hip-hop mixtape, and how a raid on DJ Drama's studio in 2007 kickstarted a whole new industry that, 10 years later, is itself facing the music. By Dan Rys On the afternoon of ...

It only took ten years, but Travis Scott’s beloved mixtape Days Before Rodeo was finally added to streaming services today. The project arrived just a year before his official debut album Rodeo, and ...

What does “mixtape” mean anymore? In assembling this list, we asked the question again and again, partly because rap continues to redefine the term. In 2000, mixtapes were generally still piles of ...

Peter Quill's Awesome Mix Vol. 1 is just one of many great fictional mixtapes. Slate Some of the success of Guardians of the Galaxy’s hit soundtrack—which is the No. 1 album in the country as I write ...