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Both newcomers and established artists took to the ‘nets to release free music through mixtapes in 2014. The competition for Mixtape of the Year for The Boombox Fan Choice Awards is a stacked one.
One of the most high-profile rappers to drop a project was Future, whose ‘Monster’ tape was filled with club bangers (‘F— Up Some Commas’) and plenty of Auto-Tune tracks.
Despite also releasing an album in 2014, Wiz Khalifa gave back to his fans with ’28 Grams.’ The less commercial effort found the Pittsburgh experimenting with collaborators like Metro Boomin’, Zaytoven and Sonny Digital. Another big-name release came courtesy of our friends at Cash Money Records. Under the Rich Gang umbrella, ‘Tha Tour, Pt. 1′ debuted featuring the likes of Young Thug and Rich Homie Quan alongside usual suspects like Birdman. With tracks like ‘Givenchy,’ Thugger is quickly becoming one of rap’s most-watched for 2015.
Speaking of songs named after fashion houses, since their hit ‘Versace,’ all eyes have been on Migos to release new music. The Atlanta trio dropped ‘No Label II’ and stuck to their comfort zone of rattling beats, Auto-Tune and hypnotic hooks.
One of the buzziest songs of the year was Dej Loaf‘s snarling ‘Try Me.’ The Detroit rapper capitalized on her heat by releasing the’Sell Sole’ mixtape. Shy Glizzy also enjoyed a catchy anthem with ‘Awwsome‘ and released two tapes in 2014: ‘Young Jefe’ and ‘Law 3,’ the latter with DJ Drama. Drama also makes another appearance on our list, helming Childish Gambino‘s ‘STN MNTN.’ Gambino flexes his skills and goes outside his usual nerd repertoire on this southern-influenced tape.
The South wasn’t the only region dominating mixtapes. Chicago’s Lil Bibby served up his ‘Free Crack 2′ while New Orleans’ Kevin Gates proved both melodic and menacing.
If there’s one tape true rap heads could unite over, it’s Slaughterhouse’s ‘House Rules.’ Rappers Royce Da 5’9”, Joe Budden, Kxng Crooked and Joell Ortiz traded bars over the sounds of beatmakers like Illmind, Harry Fraud, Nottz and Heatmakerz. ‘House Rules’ served as the teaser for the quartet’s anticipated sophomore release, ‘Glass House,’ in 2015.
Which project has your vote for Mixtape of the Year? Vote for the rapper you feel should take home The Boombox Fan Choice Award below. Remember you can vote once per hour until the poll closes on Feb. 16 at 10AM EST. If you need a refresher on each tape, check them out here.
