Mixtape Madness: Mixtape's Top 16 Mixtapes

Mar 10

With March Madness right around the corner, Mixtape’s digital team made a bracket of our top 16 hip-hop mixtapes. Although they’re seeded based on our ranking, we want to hear who you think should come out on top. Over the next week (March 11-17) on our Instagram, we’ll have rounds of voting on our story before coming to one final winner. Follow @mixtapemag_su to participate!

Until then, here’s our ranking for the top 16 hip-hop mixtapes:

16. Kush & OJ - Wiz Khalifa

Wiz Khalifa has been a fan favorite throughout his long-lived career. Among this popularity is his standout mixtape Kush and Orange Juice, which comes through with timeless tracks such as “Still Blazin,” “Glass House”, and “That Kid Frankie.” The production of this project utilizes melodic sounds combined with different tempos, allowing Wiz to shine. Khalifa glides over each beat with a relaxed flow that is as nonchalant as the smoked-out bars. As a result, Kush and Orange Juice is timelessly fun. -Adam

15. Days Before Rodeo - Travis Scott

Travis Scott has been a monumental figure in the hip-hop landscape for the past several years. His second mixtape, Days Before Rodeo, which serves as a prequel to his debut album, lays the foundations that propelled Scott into superstar status and put Houston back on the rap radar. The muddy production combines influences from Houston’s chopped and screwed sound and Atlanta’s trap style, which serves as a smokey backdrop for Scott’s infectious melodic verses. -Jake

14. Return of 4Eva - Big K.R.I.T.

What makes Big K.R.I.T.’s Return of 4eva so special is how he takes southern rap’s traditional, braggadocious blueprint and layers in thought-provoking meditations on fame and family. The Mississippi rapper-producer laces the entire project with vulnerability but particularly shines during the somber last leg. K.R.I.T.'s candid songwriting on closing cuts “Free My Soul” and “The Vent” is unbelievably poignant – and makes Return of 4eva as polished of a mixtape as you’ll find. -Jonah

13. Exmilitary - Death Grips

If you want to feel like you’re going through hypomania in a looney house, listen to Exmilitary. This is in your face, loud, war chant music, from the cowboy-esque sound of “Spread Eagle Cross The Block,” to the guitar riffs in the background of “I Want It I Need it.” In their 2011 debut mixtape, Death Grips provided a sound representation of the madness that goes on in their heads. -Jamison

12. Floss - Injury Reserve

Injury Reserve’s mixtape, FLOSS, fuses jazz-rap, hardcore hip-hop, and elements of R&B to create one of the most entertaining experimental hip-hop projects ever. When it comes to the composition, Injury Reserve manages to shine in every aspect. The bombastic production from Parker Corey is perfectly complemented by the lively performances from Groggs and Ritchie with a T. Floss showcases the Arizona-based trio in peak form, allowing for a beautiful memorialization of Injury Reserve and the late Groggs. -Ant

11. Die For My Bitch - Baby Keem

Baby Keem has quickly become a household name, and Die For My Bitch is one of the crucial reasons why. Despite being Keem’s third project, it’s undoubtedly the one that put him on the map. Big cousin Kendrick recruited producers like Dahi, Sounwave, and Cardo and ghost-wrote a handful of tracks. Combining Kendrick’s architectural music mind with Keem’s spritely, adolescent delivery, songs like “ORANGE SODA” and “STATS” showed the world Keem’s potential before the superstardom of The Melodic Blue. -Harry

10. Playboi Carti - Playboi Carti

Playboi Carti’s 2017 self-titled mixtape needs no introduction. With hits like “Magnolia” and “wokeuplikethis*,” the tape was extremely well received by the mainstream and blew up Carti into the superstar he is today. The project blends hard trap songs like the two above with more emotional and experimental work on tracks like “Location” and “Flex.” All 15 songs have aged like fine wine and are still among his most streamed songs. -Kai

9. Cilvia Demo - Isaiah Rashad

There’s a gorgeous arrogance to this side of Isaiah Rashad. He knows who he is, what he stands for, and exactly what he wants to say. He’s crass and unbelievably honest, and he glides over every beat with unapologetic swagger. Cilvia Demo is incredibly authentic and full of personality. Rashad gave us a free trial and made us want to pay for a subscription. It’s cohesive, cocky, and, most importantly, deserving of a spot in our top sixteen list. -Mateo

8. Barter 6 - Young Thug

Barter 6 is a mixtape that you can listen to in its entirety. The consistency from track-to-track is phenomenal, carrying an ominous, darker feeling across its production. This flowing, constant vibe is arguably the biggest highlight of the mixtape. Thug also puts on a clinic on each track, perfectly executing choruses, layered verses, and supporting vocal performances. But we’ve come to expect that from him, and Barter 6 is another masterful collection of work that exhibits this practice. -Jack

7. Coloring Book - Chance

While any of Chance’s three mixtapes could have made our list, the soulful, Grammy-winning masterpiece Coloring Book stands out among its predecessors for its diverse tracklist. Opening up with two absolute anthems in “All We Got” and “No Problem,” developing into the ballads of “Same Drugs” and “Blessings (reprise),” and perfectly saturated with features from every artist you can think of, Coloring Book is arguably Chance’s best project and is exemplary of the unique capabilities of a mixtape. -Alex

6. XXX - Danny Brown

Released in 2011 as a free download, XXX immediately blew up and is arguably Danny Brown’s magnum opus. The title of his third mixtape has multiple meanings that reflect the project’s themes: ecstasy, profanity, and grappling with turning 30 years old shortly before its release. Between humorous bars about Squidward and sex, Danny speaks about his ongoing drug and mental health issues. This mixtape is the best of the Detroit emcee, with themes and production ahead of its time. -Mattea

5. Monster - Future

Monster is the most essential project in Future’s catalog. It sees him overwhelmed with heartbreak from his recent relationship with Ciara, and surrounded by a sea of doubters failing to recognize his prowess as an artist. Overcome with frustration, Future slams his heart onto the table and lets it bleed throughout the tracklist. He shows his true self during the hour-long confession of a mixtape, brandishing his villainous characteristics and tossing any possibility of a fabricated image out the window. -Jack

4. LIVE.LOVE.A$AP - A$AP Rocky

On Halloween of 2011, A$AP Rocky managed to launch his now multi-million dollar career with 16 tracks otherwise known as his debut mixtape: LIVE.LOVE.A$AP. With Clams Casino as producer, each track has dreamy atmospheres that popularized the cloud-rap genre. Rocky uses his storytelling and melodies to encapsulate the experience of coming up in the music industry in Harlem, and listeners feel transported into his world. LIVE.LOVE.A$AP is authentic, advanced for its time, and unforgettable. -Kira

3. If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late - Drake

If You're Reading This It’s Too Late is seen by many as Drake’s best project, and for good reason. The mixtape is much more rap focused than his earlier work, which resulted in some of the hungriest Drizzy performances we’ve seen. Tracks like “Energy” and “Know Yourself”show off Drake at his most amped up, while songs like “Jungle” and “You & The 6” are much more mellow. IYRTITL proved that the Toronto native still knew how to hop on a beat and spit. -James

2. Faces - Mac Miller

Over the span of Mac Miller’s career, his style evolved from upbeat frat-rap to more abstract and introspective music. The biggest step in that direction for Mac was his 2014 mixtape Faces. From front to back, the project is filled with dynamic jazz samples and some of Mac’s most personal bars. Faces’ themes of addiction and isolation place the listener in Mac’s tortured mind, which earned it tons of acclaim and the number two spot on our mixtape list. -Davis

1. 1999 - Joey Bada$$

What’s the more impressive feat, discovering gravity at 23 or dropping the greatest mixtape ever at age 17? Issac Newton famously accomplished the former, while Joey Bada$$ released 1999 before he could legally purchase a lottery ticket. 1999 has everything you could want in a mixtape: polished jazz-rap production, carefully constructed flows, and prodigy-level lyricism from Bada$$ and company. Badmon is one of NY’s finest lyricists, and his unparalleled debut, 1999, stands as the crown jewel for all hip-hop mixtapes. -Noah W

Mattea Vecera