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

In hip-hop, where mixtapes are often released non-commercially, a common practice today is for artist estates to get previously released records cleared for streaming. —Grant Rindner, Variety, 22 Jan. 2025

The Memphis/crunk song is from her second mixtape Ehhthang Ehhthang which was released last year. —Andy Hoglund, EW.com, 19 Jan. 2025

While Can’t Rush Greatness marks Central Cee’s debut album, he’s released a string of mixtapes and EPs over the past several years. —Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 17 Jan. 2025

After scoring a string of viral bangers from his mixtapes, Dlow dropped his debut studio album, Dlow Curry, on Dec. 13. —Kyle Denis, Billboard, 14 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1985, in the meaning defined at sense 1