mixtape

noun

mix·​tape ˈmiks-ˌtāp 

variants or less commonly mix tape

plural mixtapes also mix tapes

1

: a noncommercial compilation of songs copied (as onto a cassette tape or a CD) from various sources

In high school, I'd be making mixtapes for friends and girls instead of doing my homework, spending hours perfecting how a Smiths song and Joy Division song and Pixies song would convey the way I feel.

—Aaron Axelsen, quoted at SFGate.com

Writers like Nick Hornby have imbued the cassette tape with considerable romance, in particular the mix tape created for a loved one. In practice, these were often recorded directly from the radio, requiring your typical suburban suitor to sit around for hours on end, waiting for the desired track to appear.

—Richard Glover

2

: an album that is usually recorded and distributed without the involvement of a record label

The mixtape is an unofficial release. It might be tied to an imprint or a label, but it doesn't necessarily appear in stores. In fact, most of them can be purchased only on the streets, at the clubs, from the trunks of cars or from the artists themselves.

—Lance Scott Walker

Long before rap got any radio love, mixtapes were the main form of distribution, the currency that kept everything in rotation as the culture evolved.

—Sidney Madden and Rodney Carmichael

High-fidelity and laden with hits, So Far Gone had the sheen of a professional studio album, and it popularized the idea of mixtapes as low-pressure showcases for burgeoning artists.

—Jonah Bromwich

Examples of mixtape in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Born and raised in inner-city Sydney, Laroi (real name Charlton Howard) ruled the ARIA Chart in 2021 for a single week with his mixtape F*ck Love (Savage). —Lars Brandle, Billboard, 17 Nov. 2023

After spreading their wings with solo mixtapes and handing out guest features to damn near every rapper in Milwaukee, MarijuanaXO and Joe Pablo get back to their sweet spot as a duo. —Alphonse Pierre, Pitchfork, 17 Nov. 2023

The younger of the Bennett brothers produced multiple mixtapes beginning in high school before releasing his first album, Broad Shoulders, in 2015. —Nasha Smith, Peoplemag, 11 Nov. 2023

Hip-hop mixtape websites offering up free — and not always legal — music flourished in the gap between the fall of the CD era and the rise of streaming. —Danny Hajjar, New York Times, 10 Nov. 2023

The choice to perform Diffie songs is tied to a new mixtape being released by Hardy. —Emily Zemler, Rolling Stone, 9 Nov. 2023

The killer’s mixtape of choice, for example, consists of songs by the Smiths. —Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 27 Oct. 2023

Minaj also reissued her 2009 mixtape Beam Me Up Scotty in 2021 and has teased a tour set to start in early 2024. —Charisma Madarang, Rolling Stone, 24 Oct. 2023

Pitchfork writer Alphonse Pierre’s rap column covers songs, mixtapes, albums, Instagram freestyles, memes, weird tweets, fashion trends—and anything else that catches his attention. —Alphonse Pierre, Pitchfork, 20 Oct. 2023

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Word History

First Known Use

1985, in the meaning defined at sense 1