Mixtapes used to be an integral fixture in hip-hop culture. People used to buy them out of the trunks of cars or out on the corners of busy streets. Eventually, this culture shifted online, especially when the feds and the RIAA cracked down on DJ Drama and Don Cannon when they were selling Gangsta Grillz CDs in 2007. Sites like Datpiff, MyMixtapes, and Spinrilla became hubs for new artists to release free tapes during the blog era. A successful tape could be a proving ground for artists looking for a record deal and a crowning achievement in their catalog if it’s a classic.

Nowadays, this part of the culture is dead. Mixtapes are indistinguishable from every other record released on streaming services. The only time a project receives that label is when an artist doesn’t feel confident in the quality of a record or the potential for it to sell. Those aforementioned sites are all practically gone; Datpiff is being held together by the whims of the Internet Archive.

Despite the change in landscape, mixtapes still prove to be foundational to the fabric of hip-hop today. Some of the biggest stars of today come from a time when these tapes used to reign supreme. Breaking out then confirmed their status today. Consequently, Noisey wanted to narrow down some of the records that still paint so much of music today, whether they’re still working today or painting the current generations.

Five Mixtapes That Impact Hip-Hop Today

Chief Keef – Back From The Dead

When considering the defining rappers of the 2010s, so many people opt for the trite ‘big 3’ everyone lists off. Kendrick Lamar. Drake. J. Cole. You’ll get your Futures and Young Thugs weaved in there too, given their influence on modern rap is undeniable.

However, Chief Keef should never be left out of these conversations. He is one of hip-hop’s greatest experimenters, unbelievably gifted in melody and honing the temperature of his records. The first time you hear “I Don’t Like” is experiencing a visceral, uncontainable energy, where young and lawless kids act and react in the heated streets of Chicago.

Back From The Dead is one of his best mixtapes, certainly drawing from Waka Flocka Flame’s loud, brash bravado but with a Wild West, smoking gun ambiance. “Winnin” is triumphant in the same way an 80’s Mortal Kombat flawless victory screen is. Moreover, “Monster” might as well be the next obvious descendant of Gravediggaz or Three 6 Mafia’s Mystic Stylez in its horrorcore.

Still, there’s space that shows Keef as truly incomparable to the rest of his peers melodically. “Save That S**t” might as well be a precursor to what the internet kids would try with hyperpop down the line. Hell, a lot of Soundcloud today still traces back to the Soulja Boy space. Back From The Dead isn’t just one of the foundational mixtapes that define hip-hop today. It proves Chief Keef is a father to a lot of artists’ styles today, too.

Lil Wayne – Da Drought 3

People talk about Mixtape Wayne like ’88 Jordan or ’18 LeBron or prime Mike Tyson. He was a world beater, armed with an endless array of punchlines and a dizzying flow to match. He could probably rap for hours uninterrupted because of the free flow of consciousness he had on mixtapes. Not burdened by formal major label releases, every one of his mixtapes felt like a professional basketball player taking a game at Rucker Park. What feels like an exhibition to them looks like art to us.

Da Drought 3 is the best of Lil Wayne’s tapes, the most potent set of records he chose to remix. “Dough is What I Got” is his opus, a crucial moment where he really threatened the near-uncrackable prestige and aura around Jay-Z. “Show Me What You Got” was a good song. But Lil Wayne rapped like he was offended that Hov didn’t do more on Just Blaze’s sampled horns. At his apex, there are few rappers who could let off a string of punchlines so effortlessly, where every line feels like it matters, even if it reads simpler on paper.

G-Unit – No Mercy, No Fear

G-Unit can occasionally go unmentioned when talking about iconic mixtapes. Unless you’re from New York or its tri-state area, people tend to overlook what 50 Cent, Lloyd Banks, and Tony Yayo were doing and go straight to the mid-2000s. But they were early progenitors of the mixtape wave, and proved that 50 Cent being a superstar was an inevitability. Records like “After My Chedda” and “Wanksta” (it was here first, not Get Rich or Die Tryin) showed how gifted 50 was with his melodies, saccharine sweet and a perfect counterpart to the gruffer Lloyd Banks and wingman Tony Yayo. Then, you have Lloyd Banks on “Victory”, rivaling even Biggie on the original. No Mercy No Fear ensured that mixtapes would be a viable way to break a superstar.

Future – Monster

Monster rejuvenated Future’s career. Beforehand, he was hopelessly in love with Ciara, singing about how he won with Kanye and crooning with Rihanna. He was still inimitable as a songwriter and melodic savant. But a lot of people were kind of whatever about him, whether they want to admit that or not.

Monster changed all of this, the first of three mixtapes that defined the next ten years of Future’s career. It is blisteringly negative, a messy odyssey of heartbreak and anger, some of the rawest expression we’ve heard in hip-hop period. Without Monster, Future’s career might look a lot different. Frankly, hip-hop is a worse place without the Dungeon Family royalty.

Gucci Mane – The Movie (Gangsta Grillz)

A majority of modern hip-hop doesn’t add up without Gucci Mane’s impact. His wheezy, raspy voice, his exhaustive work ethic with mixtapes, the way he synthesized trap in alien colors and textures by way of Atlanta. His lingo was vibrant, the adlibs were addictive, and his influence is undeniable. From Chief Keef to Young Thug to Playboi Carti, it seems like every rapper today owes a little something to Gucci.

Additionally, the mixtape story doesn’t add up today without DJ Drama. Every rapper wanted his unhinged rants, unparalleled motivation, and Gangsta Grillz branding scattered over their mixtapes. Even today, they still ask him to breathe a bit of life into their projects. Consequently, The Movie with Gucci Mane still stands as one of the foundational records of the millennium. Gucci has always been an incredible raw artist, so it’s interesting to see him tackle such a refined palette on mixtape terms. There’s still an unmistakable rawness you couldn’t strip from him (see “Photoshoot”), but you could also chuck him on a contemporary Trey Songz record. The mixtape lineage and modern hip-hop alike run through Gucci Mane.