The New Mixtape

Celebrating hip-hop music, history and culture through playlists.

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Soundtracking: The Hard Knock Life Tour

The Hard Knock Life Tour featured one of the most legendary lineups of hip-hop artists ever assembled. Here's a playlist comprised of songs

Sick mix

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Wanna stay up on all the new rap out there? This is the playlist for you. Curated by Timm Hotep, wRap Caveat covers the newest buzzworthy tracks from breakthrough and established hip-hop artists. And it’s updated regularly, so make sure you hit that follow button. Aiight!

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Respect due to Complex, but DJ Premier was the best hip-hop producer of 1994. Peep the playlist for proof.

Related: Brooklyn’s Native Son: Jeru The Damaja Remembers His Classic Debut 'The Sun Rises in the East' On Its 25th Anniversary

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Playlists Are The New Mixtape

I grew up during the mixtape era, when DJs used to release exclusive songs on cassettes that were only available at places like Uptown Flava on Grand Concourse and Harlem Music Hut on 125th Street. My friends and I used to make missions from White Plains into the depths of NYC to discover new music. Back in the early ’90s, there was no Internet to surf—you had to get in the whip and go find the new shit yourself. It was a glorious and exciting time to be a hip-hop fan in New York. We lived in the mixtape spots and record stores—and stayed up late listening to and taping WNYU and WKCR rap radio shows—because they were our only means of music discovery.

But now, with music streaming sites like Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal and Soundcloud, there are so many ways and opportunities to discover new and classic music from the comfort of your couch, and at any time of the day. Playlists are the new mixtape, and you don’t need DJ equipment to create one.

But with so much music now at our fingertips, the music discovery process can be overwhelming sometimes. That’s where we come in. The New Mixtape is here to share the finest hip-hop-related playlists out there, and create original ones, too—both in The New Mixtape lab and with the culture’s most influential artists, producers, writers and personalities. We have a passion for playlists, and we want to share it with you directly.

So stay tuned as we celebrate hip-hop music, culture and history through playlists, and help provide expertly-curated soundtracks for your daily shuffle.

– Daniel Isenberg aka The Playlist Papi

Got a great playlist you’d like us to consider posting? Hit us up!