The History Of The Mixtape

When most people hear the word mixtape, they think of something that a friend might make for them on a special occasion. In fact, these tapes have evolved into one of the most important marketing tools in the entire hip hop industry. They have been around longer than the rap industry itself, and have a long and interesting history with fans.

Most people credit music legend Grandmaster Flash with the creation of rap mixtapes as we know them today. He would sell tapes with the latest hip hop songs, mixed in with the name of the customer for a personalized listening experience. It turned out to be a very lucrative business, and he charged as much as a dollar per minute for one hundred and twenty minute tapes.

When mixtapes first became available, they were actually better known as Party Tapes. Artists such as Grandmaster Flash would record their live shows and sell them to their fans. People loved the music so much when they saw it live that they needed to have a recording of the hip hop songs to hear in their cars.

In fact, listening to hip hop songs while in the car became so popular that cab drivers started purchasing the best hip-hop mixtapes to play in their cabs. They would get called for hold calls, which meant someone would pay quite a lot of money just to ride around in their cab. The driver who had the best tapes would make the most money off hold calls.

Today, the mixtape is used by new artists to spread their sound to the public. When they first came out, however, they were a way for the fans to keep the music with them everywhere, long before the invention of the iPod. By coming up with this brilliant idea, Grandmaster Flash may have changed the face of hip hop forever.