The 50th anniversary of hip-hop may have technically passed (August 11th, 2023), but we’re commemorating the landmark all month long. We’ve been celebrating five decades of culture with artist interviews, insightful essays, more, and today, our staff celebrates the rap mixtape. You can also check out our list of the 50 Best Hip-Hop Songs of All Time and our ranking of the 50 Best Hip-Hop Albums of All Time.
Keep an eye out for all our Hip-Hop 50 content throughout the month, and check out our exclusive merch featuring our Hip-Hop 50 design at the Consequence Shop. A portion of proceeds from sales benefits Chance the Rapper’s SocialWorks.
So much of hip-hop history was recorded on humble mixtapes, from early concerts captured on cassettes to the digital projects that went viral. Free from commercial expectations, artists use these tapes to stretch their limits and refined their skills, earning fans the hard way.
Mixtapes are also a story of fans — and not casual ones. The golden age began with the Internet, as diehard rap-heads waded through dubious-looking files and mixtape warehouses like DatPiff in search of buried gems. The tastemakers of the 2000s and 2010s turned young kids into legends overnight, leaving MCs to battle for their attention in a wild west of uncleared samples and shady rights situations. The artists who found ways to thrive in that environment are now household names.
Here in the 2020s, as hip-hop celebrates its 50th anniversary, the mixtape’s future is uncertain — which makes it all the more urgent to honor its past. Check out our picks for the 15 best mixtapes in hip-hop history below.
— Wren Graves
Features Editor
