Mixtape - Types of Mixtapes

Types of Mixtapes

Although a "comprehensive" list of the different genres or categories of mixtapes could be extended indefinitely, creating a taxonomy of mix tapes is a project that many mixtape enthusiasts have intuitively attempted. The different types of mixtapes identified on community sites, such as FoundTrack and Art of the Mix (which lists over two hundred genres), indicate the variety of potential categories.

Beyond basic genres as the simple taping of an entire album, the collection of favorite songs, and the "snapshot" mix of recent favorites, some of the more commonly cited categories include the driving mix, the workout mix, the party mix, the krazy mix (eclectic selections of obscure, rare or otherwise unconventional tracks), the didactic mix (intended to educate the recipient as to the essential works of a particular artist or genre), the concept / theme mix (e.g., a mix of Christmas songs, songs about cars, covers of songs by a particular artist or similar), and the mood mix (i.e., a mix of songs intended to sustain a specific mood, stated or unstated — notable sub genres include the romantic mix and the break-up mix).

Mixtapes eventually made their way onto television screens by video mix DJs (e.g., Jordan Laws "Fit to Fill Video Mixtape" DJ SWB.)