Mixtapes and the tape trade that built Southern rap

The South didn’t wait for record labels to decide who was hot. Tapes did that. In Houston, Screw tapes were made to order and carried names, shout-outs and freestyles you couldn’t hear anywhere else. In Memphis, underground tapes moved hand to hand and built reputations years before national deals. Later, Atlanta DJs like DJ Drama turned the mixtape into a way to break artists, and Gangsta Grillz became one of the best-known series in rap.

This section covers mixtape history, cover art, the DJs who hosted them, and how the format changed when it moved online. We also cover collecting: what makes an original tape, how to care for cassettes, and how to buy from the people who own the rights.

One firm rule. We don’t host, link to or point anyone toward bootleg downloads. When a catalog is officially available, we’ll tell you where.