In the rap and hip hop world mixtapes are extremely popular. They are normally free and allow artists to put out music on a constant basis without having to worry about labels or record deals. Many artists get discovered because of mixtapes and some of my favorite songs are actually from mixtapes.

You know five years ago I would have never have thought there would be a major artist from Pittsburgh, but over the past few years Wiz Khalifa has come up and really become a major name in the rap and hip hop world. Being a fan of hip hop I’ve watched his rise and it is crazy to see someone from my own city on MTV and touring all over the world. Now we are watching Mac Miller do the same thing.

Two years ago yesterday Wiz released his 8th official mixtape Kush and Orange Juice. After released it became the #1 trending topic on twitter and #1 hot search term on Google. This is what really started his big rise to the top. Now just 2 days ago Wiz Khalifa dropped Taylor Allderdice, which of course pays homage to the high school that he went to and probably his most anticipated mixtape ever. Already the mixtape page on datpiff has over 2 million views and over 500,000 downloads.

This shows you the power of the internet and what you can do yourself, Mac Miller is doing the same thing. Releasing these free mixtapes both Wiz and Mac Miller are getting their music out there to the fans and setting them up for their actual albums. They are both perfect examples of how to use the internet, social media and smart marketing to take themselves to the next level. Great to see Wiz keep on making hits and still releasing mixtapes for fans. So how is the mixtape? Check it out below…