Most take the form of CDs or online downloads. According to local mixtape maker and go-go promoter DJ Supa Dan, they’re most often used by artists who want to “market their product prior to the debut ...

Normally this column is used to recommend local mixes worth hunting down. Since the last installment, though, a major national scandal has cut and scratched the mixtape world, possibly beyond repair.

The 30-year-old has been in the local music business since his high school classmate, the rapper Daddy-O, came back to school with a brand-new album. As a teenager, Sess started out guesting on ...

Often these were raw, rough recordings of DJs and MCs in full flow in a live arena, but increasingly they became hip-hop’s version of the demo tape: an artist seeking to get himself signed or become ...