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10 Classic Mixtapes That Still Haven’t Hit Streaming Platforms

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Earlier this month, Big Sean rewarded his longtime supporters by making his Detroit mixtape available on all streaming services. The 2012 release has long been touted by fan as the best project in Big Sean’s discography. It housed timeless collaborations with artists such as J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar, Wiz Khalifa, Wale, Jhené Aiko, Royce da 5’9”, and more. Yet until its 10-year anniversary on September 5, the fan-favorite mixtape was widely inaccessible for listeners who predominantly consume their music from DSPs like Spotify, Apple Music, and Tidal. Streaming blew up in the years following the release of Detroit, but — like so many other classic mixtapes that were released for free during the late 2000s and early 2010s,  from Nicki Minaj’s seminal Beam Me Up Scotty to A$AP Rocky’s breakout mixtape Live.Love.A$AP —  it took an incredibly long time for Sean’s mixtape opus to hit DSPs.

Over the last handful of years, artists have made meaningful strides in bringing their mixtape catalogs over to streaming platforms. Although many of fans’ favorite tapes have been slightly reworked due to sample clearance issues, at least acclaimed projects like Mac Miller’s Faces, Drake’s So Far Gone, Lil Wayne’s Sorry For The Wait, Wiz Khalifa’s Kush & Orange Juice, Meek Mill’s Dream Chasers 2, and Chance The Rapper’s Acid Rap are available right now on all DSPs. 

However, there are far too many classic mixtapes that have seemingly been lost to the Blog Era. Fans are left waiting for every milestone anniversary in hopes that one of the free mixtapes that they downloaded over a decade ago will finally reappear on streaming services. To illustrate just how many gems are still unavailable to stream on most platforms, here are 10 classic mixtapes that need to hit DSPs as soon as possible.

1. Rich Homie Quan & Young Thug — Rich Gang: The Tour Pt. 1 (2014)

Young Thug (L) and Rich Homie Quan perform onstage during the BET Hip Hop Awards 2014 at Boisfeuillet Jones Atlanta Civic Center on September 20, 2014 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Brad Barket/BET/Getty Images for BET)

When they united for The Tour, Rich Homie Quan and Young Thug became one of the best Atlanta rap duos since OutKast. Although their team-up was unfortunately short-lived, their joint mixtape remains a certified classic eight years after its release. Surprisingly, The Tour isn’t officially featured on most DSPs under Quan, Thug, or Rich Gang’s profiles, but you can still listen to the full project on Spinrilla.

2. Fabolous — The S.O.U.L. Tape Series (2011-2013)

Fabolous performs onstage at Power 105.1’s Powerhouse 2013, presented by Play GIG-IT, at Barclays Center on November 2, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images for Clear Channel)

Regardless of which installment is your favorite, it’s safe to say that Fab’s S.O.U.L. Tape run is one of the most memorable mixtape series from the early 2010s. Back in 2020, the Brooklyn native did fans a solid by uploading the original S.O.U.L. Tape to SoundCloud, but over two years later, the classic project and its two sequels have yet to make it onto any of the big three DSPs.

3. Drake — Comeback Season (2007)

Drake speaks at the Spring Awakening and Degrassi panel discussion with Rosie O’Donnell at the Eugene O’Neill Theater on April 30, 2007 in New York City. (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images for Nickelodeon)

So Far Gone often gets the credit for laying the foundation of Drake’s sound and introducing him to the masses, but it would be criminal to overlook the influential project’s predecessor, Comeback Season. From the Lil Wayne-assisted “Man of the Year” to the Trey Songz-assisted “Replacement Girl,” Drake’s 2007 mixtape houses some serious throwbacks. It’s a shame that it’s so hard to come across online. Considering that Comeback Season just turned 15 years old earlier this month, it’s unlikely that fans will see a DSP release of this early Drake tape anytime soon, but for now, they can at least still listen to it on DatPiff.

4. Travis Scott — Days Before Rodeo (2014)

Travis Scott performs at the GQ Fashion Week Party At The Wythe Hotel on September 9, 2014 in Brooklyn, New York.. (Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for GQ)

As fans eagerly await Travis Scott’s highly anticipated fourth studio album Utopia, there’s a general consensus that the Houston-bred artist already has quite the impressive discography. But, longtime fans of La Flame know that his hot streak began prior to the release of his debut studio album, Rodeo, in 2015. In 2014, Travis Scott unleashed Days Before Rodeo, his second official mixtape and the project that would significantly alter the trajectory of his career from that point forward. Laced with iconic tracks such as the Big Sean-assisted “Don’t Play,” the Rich Homie Quan- and Young Thug-featured “Mamacita,” and the classic Metro Boomin-produced “Skyfall,” Days Before Rodeo kept the Blog Era trend of album-quality mixtapes alive. To this day, the project remains one of Travis’ best and most distinct works. With its 10-year anniversary approaching in 2024, Days Before Rodeo is overdue for an official commercial re-release. For now, you can still stream it on SoundCloud.

5. Wiz Khalifa — Star Power (2008)

Wiz Khalifa performs at The Masquerade on November 6, 2010 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Prince Williams/FilmMagic/Getty Images)

Wiz Khalifa is mixtape royalty. The Taylor Gang boss has far too many free releases to count. Despite the expansive nature of his mixtape catalog, it actually boasts a considerable number of classic and iconic projects, from 2009’s Flight School and 2010’s Kush & Orange Juice to 2011’s Cabin Fever and 2012’s Taylor Allderdice. In recent years, Wiz Khalifa has been one of the few Hip-Hop artists that have been consistently adding nearly all of his past mixtapes to streaming services, but still, there are a few that remain unavailable on DSPs, chiefly his 2008 tape Star Power. Fortunately, you can listen to the full project on DatPiff.

6. 50 Cent — The Kanan Tape (2015)

50 Cent attends the fight between Miguel Cotto and Sergio Martinez on June 7, 2014 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Cotto won by a TKO in the ninth round. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)

50 Cent may be the most powerful Hip-Hop mogul in the television and film industry, but if his Emmy-winning performance during the Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show earlier this year proved anything, it’s that fan appreciation for his music career has not dwindled in the slightest. That’s why his last official release, 2015’s The Kanan Tape, should be readily available on streaming services. With his infamously unreleased Street King Immortal album officially shelved last year, that’s even more reason for 50’s popular seven-track mixtape to make its way to DSPs.

7. J. Cole — Friday Night Lights (2010)

J. Cole visits Fuse’s “Hip Hop Shop” on July 15, 2010 in New York City. (Photo by Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images)

Whereas many of his contemporaries have at least made the effort to make the most important mixtape of their early careers available on streaming services, J. Cole has not done so whatsoever.  To this day, none of the Dreamville founder’s three breakout mixtapes can be streamed on any of the major DSPs. While it would be amazing for 2010’s Friday Night Lights — which can be streamed in full at DatPiff — to become available everywhere, we’ll honestly take 2007’s The Come Up or 2009’s The Warm Up, as well.

8. Childish Gambino — STN MTN (2014)

Childish Gambino performs onstage at the 2014 mtvU Woodie Awards and Festival on March 13, 2014 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Rachel Murray/Getty Images for MTV)

A year after the release of his Grammy-nominated sophomore studio album Because The Internet, Childish Gambino delivered his seventh and, as of now, final free mixtape, 2014’s STN MTN. A day after it dropped, Gambino doubled back with an equally incredible — and commercially released — EP titled Kauai. Yet nearly eight full years later, only the latter remains available on streaming services. Since the Hip-Hop community has had so much love for Tyler, The Creator’s Call Me If You Get Lost and Dreamville’s D-Day mixtape, it’s only right that Donald Glover’s Gangsta Grillz mixtape makes its way to DSPS too. Until that day comes, you can still listen to STN MTN on DatPiff.

9. Rick Ross — Rich Forever (2012)

Rick Ross performs at Power 106FM Presents CaliChristmas at Gibson Amphitheatre on December 14, 2012 in Universal City, California. (Photo by Leon Bennett/WireImage/Getty Images)

At the turn of the 2010s, there were select mixtapes that were able to break the internet before “breaking the internet” even became a saying. Mixtape downloads were always a surefire way of telling whether a project was worth checking out, and Rick Ross’ 2012 epic, Rich Forever, remains one of the most downloaded mixtapes from the Blog Era. On HNHH alone, the tape was downloaded over 580,000 times, and on DatPiff — where you can still listen to it — Rich Forever was downloaded over 2.2 million times. Nonetheless, several months after its 10-year anniversary, Rick Ross’ blockbuster mixtape is still unavailable on nearly all streaming platforms, but our fingers are still crossed that this classic makes its way to DSPs very soon.

10. Frank Ocean — Nostalgia, Ultra (2010)

R&B crooner Frank Ocean’s debut Los Angeles show at the El Rey Theatre on Nov. 15, 2011 in Los Angeles. (Photo by Lawrence K. Ho/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

For an artist whose discography is already extremely limited, it’s wild to think that two of Frank’s only four official projects aren’t available on all streaming platforms. While contractual obligations are likely what is keeping Endless an exclusive to Apple Music, it’s much harder to stomach that Nostalgia, Ultra isn’t available on any of the major DSPs, especially since its breakout singles “Novacaine” and “Swim Good” weren’t repurposed for any official full-length project. This classic alternative R&B mixtape is one of the more challenging projects to find in full — with “American Wedding” included and without the cut-off version of “Nature Feels” — on the internet. Hopefully, Frank Ocean blesses his fans by bringing Nostalgia, Ultra to streaming services one day.

These are just 10 beloved mixtapes that still haven’t found a permanent home on contemporary streaming platforms, so let us know in the comments which classic mixtapes you want to get uploaded to DSPS in the near future. 

Cardi B & Akbar V’s Explosive Feud: Everything You Need To Know

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It all began with a subtweet.

As she rang in the last week of September, Cardi B came across a shady tweet from Atlanta-based rapper Akbar V, leading her to subliminally clap back. At the time, the mother of two likely had no idea of the storm of drama that would proceed in the following hours.

Cardi B attends as Playboy celebrates BIGBUNNY Launch at Miami Art Week at Casa Tua on December 03, 2021 in Miami Beach, Florida. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for Playboy Enterprises International, Inc.)

Akbar V Works with Nicki Minaj

It’s no secret that Cardi’s star has shone brighter than Akbar’s for most of their careers, especially since Bardi won Grammy for Best Rap Album with her debut project. However, Akbar’s felt especially extra braggadocious recently after landing a feature alongside names like BIA and JT on Nicki Minaj’s “Super Freaky Girl (Queen Mix).”

The Barbz and the Bardi Gang have long pinned their favorite artists against one another. Now that Akbar made it clear where she stands in the battle between Cardi and Nicki, it’s not exactly surprising to see her feud with the “Be Careful” artist, though we didn’t foresee things getting this catty.

Subliminal Twitter Shade

Akbar’s initial tweet from yesterday’s blowout read, “If @chartdata ain’t say it we ain’t believing the CAP.” The light Twitter jab came just as Cardi B and GloRilla’s “Tomorrow 2” hit #1 on Apple Music. The tweet led many to believe that she was throwing shade at Bardi. “Count all the times Chart Data posted [you],” the Grammy Award-winning rap diva clapped back.

Despite the fact that the two hadn’t actually @’d each other yet, Cardi moved the feud offline. Cardi gave her new nemesis a call – something Akbar V clearly wasn’t pleased about. “Who gave this ho Cardi B my number?” she asked in another now-unavailable post. “Gotta be one of y’all weird ass hoes?”

Clearly, the phone conversation didn’t solve much. The Invasion of Privacy artist was back to complaining about “hoes that throw rocks and hide their hands” by Monday mid-afternoon (September 26). “Been subtweeting me for months and now you wanna make it about another woman as a shield. Stand on your shit!!!” the “Hot Sh*t” rapper urged Akbar.

Akbar V attends the premiere of “Waka & Tammy: What The Flocka” at Republic on March 10, 2020 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images WE tv)

Parenting Police and Sex Tape Scandals

After some urging from Cardi, the “Real Atlanta” artist took her foe’s advice. The two began engaging in an all-out Twitter war, pulling out all the stops. The two traded bars regarding such parenting techniques and shared screenshots from previously leaked sex tapes.

“See the difference between me and [you is] I had n***as wanting to put babies in me while I was in the jungle,” Playboy‘s Creative Director wrote to Akbar V. “But I said to myself I won’t put my kids in the same hoods I was raised in, let alone ABANDON THEM.”

As things became increasingly heated, the “WAP” hitmaker took things to a place that some would describe as “too far.” She shared footage from Ak’s previously leaked sex tape on her social media page. “Tell me that you love me,” the Georgia native can be heard requesting of her partner in the clip – a line that Cardi has gone on to make fun of incessantly.

Akbar first expressed anger and disappointment at her fellow rapper’s decision to post the clip (especially since her children might see it again). However, internet sleuths showed Cardi that she previously used an image from the sex tape as cover art. The revelation caused the Cardi Tries host to question the sincerity of Akbar’s desperate plea for the video’s removal.

Offset’s Beef With Lil Baby

It was bad enough that the two women felt the need to bring their children into their beef. When the “Female Kanye” brought CB’s husband, Offset, into the conversation, things really started to pop off.

“Y’all check on Cardi’s hubby, [he] keep getting caught cheating cause her head trash and p*ssy week,” Akbar taunted. “P*ssy weak? Baby, you the one [with] five baby daddies,” Cardi clapped back.

“You gave Thug head and the head wasn’t even good enough for him to stick his d*ck in you. He told you [you] gotta lose weight first. You lost the weight and [he] STILL DIDN’T F*CK YOU [crying laughing emojis].”

After Offset’s name unwillingly entered the chat, he felt compelled to share some words with Akbar. “Somebody check on Offset, he still ain’t got his chain back from #4PF,” she wrote.

If you’re not familiar, AV was referring to the “Ric Flair Drip” artist’s apparent feud with Lil Baby, which most recently made headlines just last month as Baby seemingly threw shade at Set over his lawsuit aimed at Quality Control over his artist rights.

The Migos member claims that he bought himself out of his deal with the label at the beginning of 2021. Subsequently, P and Quality Control released a statement to Rolling Stone denying his claims. “Not only are the accusations in this lawsuit false, they are totally detached from reality. Offset remains a part of QC,” it read.

Offset Joins The Chat

Seeing Lil Baby’s name associated with his clearly didn’t please the 30-year-old rapper as he hopped on Twitter to aggressively lash out at Akbar.

The mother of five alleged that she received a call from the father of five, but he quickly denied it. “Bitch that’s not my number,” ‘Set clapped back. “Why would I call you when bitch already handling you lame ass hoe?”

“Offset calling talking bout [you] shouldn’t have put me in it n*gga, all I got to do is make one call. Three letters, #4PF. [You] gonna shit on yourself like [you] did behind compound,” Akbar alleged in reference to a rumor that the “Bad & Boujee” rapper was attacked by Lil Baby’s crew in 2020.

From the sounds of things, the Atlanta-based artist plans to craft a diss track, which Cardi teased will only “chart on Twitter.” Seeing as Akbar’s account is still suspended, though, it’s unlikely that even that will happen anytime soon.

Back To Business

For the husband and wife’s part, they shut down the “Cold Summer” artists’ claims about their past fidelity struggles the best way they know how – with some NSFW Instagram snaps.

“I fight for my bitches and I’m fighting over d*ck too,” the Hustlers actress captioned the photo dump, which finds her looking as glamorous as ever in a backless black dress, showing off her bodacious behind and colorful tattoo as she leans in close to her longtime partner.

Who do you think would have a better diss track, Cardi B or Akbar V? Sound off in the comments below, and tap back in with HNHH later for more hip-hop news updates.