The 10 Best Mixtape Albums of the 2000’s

#5: So Far Gone
Drake

Released: 2009

Released on Valentine’s Day weekend, So Far Gone turned this relatively unknown actor from Toronto in a veritable force in the music world. Multiple songs from the carefully-crafted tape started to receive radio play, with “Best I Ever Had” peaking at #2 on the Billboard charts. How many mixtapes have certified pop smashes? Songs that had the kids reacting like this? His instant rise to borderline-superstardom after its release is more proof of what can happen when you really treat your mixtape like an album.

Standout Tracks: “Uptown” f/ Bun B & Lil Wayne

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#4: Trap or Die
Young Jeezy & DJ Drama

Released: 2005

Before owning summer of 2005 with his debut album, Jeezy owned the streets with this pivotal entry in DJ Drama’s Gangsta Grillz series. With witty double-entendres, memorable ad-libs and sing-along hooks, Trap Or Die is an endless barrage of 808 anthems that can still stand up against any of Jeezy’s retail albums. Still don’t think Jeezy’s lyrical enough? We’ll refer you back to a classic TOD verse: “Got two strikes, nigga dodging one-time/This is real life, you got the nerve to call it punch-lines?/Well, I got a punch-line for ya/You ain’t talking ’bout shit, I wanna see my lawyer.” Fin.

Standout Tracks: “Air Forces”

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#3: The Diplomats Vol. 1
Cam’ron & DJ Kay Slay

Released: 2002

50 Cent may deserve credit for pushing the mixtape game nationwide, but Cam’ron and the Diplomats crew actually pioneered the same mini-album format before G-Unit. Released in early 2002 (months before the watershed 50 Cent is The Future), Vol. 1 introduced Juelz Santana and Jim Jones and announced Cam’s Roc-A-Fella signing with much-hyped new songs like “Oh Boy” and “Just Fire.” They even tested mixtape tactics that would become 50 signatures, from flipping R&B beats (”Maria Maria”) to humorous diss songs (”Stan (Remix)”—a scathing shot at fellow Harlem rapper Stan Spit).

Standout Track: “Stan (Remix)”

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#2: Da Drought 3
Lil Wayne

Released: 2007

If Dedication was Wayne’s coming out party (ayo!), and Carter 2 was his emergence as a top-5 (present-day) rapper, Drought 3 was him curb-stomping whatever lingering doubt haters still had. The first five tracks are wholesale Weezy makeovers of smash hits, from “Upgrade” to “Throw Some Ds”—and the fact that he makes every single one of them better is reason enough for this tape to be on the list. Yikes, yeeks, great Scott.

Standout Track: “Upgrade”

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#1: 50 Cent Is The Future
G-Unit

Released: 2002

Released in spring ’02, 50 Cent is the Future remains the most influential mixtape release of the last decade. His career was in shambles after being shot and losing his original deal with Columbia, but Curtis teamed up with DJ Whoo Kid, Tony Yayo, and Lloyd Banks to totally redefine the rules of the music industry. A D.I.Y. mixtape that got major radio play in NYC, it popularized the artist-driven “street album” format that would become so ubiquitous in it’s wake. Eminem heard this mixtape and agreed that 50 was indeed the future.

Standout Track: “U Should Be Here”

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