mixtapes

What is a mix tape?
Well it's the DJ's equivalent of an indie band's demo CD, it's an hour and a half of you mixing tracks which shows off your skills and ability on the decks and gives whoever you send it to a feel for the music you are into.

The jury is out on mix tapes. Most people in 'the business' say they are a waste of time and club promoters complain that they get at least a dozen a week and they are all rubbish.

However, a good mix tape will show off your talents and if you aren't DJing regularly in a club or venue it will be the only way people can hear your stuff.

The mixtape format is becoming increasingly popular as a way of generating hype for hip hop artists. Often each track on a promotional hip hop mixtape will feature the same artist, thus making it more difficult to differentiate from the definition of a standard album. However, these mixtapes will usually have much lower production values than a studio album, and contain numerous collaborations, remixes, freestyles and voice-overs, often not arranged in a specific fashion.