Mixtapes are Dead: What Did We Lose and What Is Replacing It?

This week, Drake dropped a collection of previously released songs onto major streaming services. The project, Care Package, is just the latest example of artists merging their past “mixtape” discography with their major studio releases. Chance the Rapper recently brought back his Acid Rap and 10 Day mixtapes to help promote his new album, Joey Bada$$ offered his 1999 project, and that’s only a fraction. Fans of these artists have been thrilled with the re-releases, making it even easier to access projects they already love. As these projects become available on major platforms, it marks another milestone in the extinction of the mixtape.

Many of these projects dropped years ago, before paid streaming became the single dominant force in music consumption. Since the end of the SoundCloud era, mixtapes have been blended into the classic project release. Coloring Book, Chance’s 2016 project, comes to mind.

Chance did his best to market the project as a mixtape, including wearing and selling a “3” hat in reference to his third mixtape and a song on the project literally called Mixtape. Despite the classification, the project went on to reach the top ten of Billboard album charts as well as winning the “best rap album” Grammy. Coloring Book marked another milestone in the death of the mixtape.

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