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

The 39-year-old Nashville native has been candid about the humble beginnings preceding his stardom, as a former drug dealer who got his start selling his own hip-hop mixtapes out of his car in 2003. —Melissa Ruggieri, The Enquirer, 1 Nov. 2024

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, 30 Oct. 2024

Between his globe-trotting Circus Maximus Tour and a historic re-release of his decade-old Days Before Rodeo mixtape, Travis has remained a consistent presence this year. —Kyle Denis, Billboard, 17 Oct. 2024

But for your records: That Purple Reign album [the 2016 Future mixtape Metro executive-produced] … classic. —Paul Thompson, Rolling Stone, 18 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1985, in the meaning defined at sense 1