Check Out My Mixtape

About

“Check out my Mixtape” and “My Mixtape is Fire” are expressions typically used by amateur rappers to promote their self-released records on social media platforms. On Twitter and in online hip hop communities, both phrases are often said ironically to poke fun at the general overuse of the word “mixtape” by aspiring hip hop artists on the Internet.

Origin

On July 7th, 2014, Twitter user @PerfectSceness^[5] posted a stock photo of a woman and a young girl sharing a pair of ear buds with the caption “Daquan’s mixtape is fire” (shown below).

Mixtapes in Hip Hop

While the use of mix tapes in hip hop music can be traced back to the mid-1970s in New York City, when local artists like Kool Herc and Africa Bambaataa began recording their live performances on audio cassette tapes, the term “mixtape” in its contemporary sense has been used since as early as the 1990s to describe any full-length hip hop album that is released for free or for promotion of an artist’s upcoming official release, whether it be made of written verses or freestyle set to original composition and remixes of popular tracks.

Spread

On June 15th, 2014, Twitter user @UrbanEnglish^[4] tweeted a mock translation of the expression “Check out my mixtape” as “ignore me” (shown below). In the first eight months, the tweet received more than 1,000 retweets and 660 favorites.

On November 14th, 2014, YouTuber Filthy Frank uploaded a video titled “Bad Internet Rappers,” in which he mocks amateur rappers for shamelessly promoting their mixtapes and Soundcloud pages (shown below). In three months, the video gained over 940,000 views and 5,900 comments.

On December 10th, Viner The Vertigo uploaded a video titled “Download my mixtape it’s fire,” in which he makes several barking noises as a preview for his music release (shown below).

On January 7th, 2015, Cheezburger^[3] highlighted a Hide the Pain Harold animated GIF titled “Check Out My Mixtape” (shown below).

On January 18th, the 8JTV YouTuber channel uploaded a montage of comedy sketches titled “Check Out My Mixtape,” in which a man attempts to force his mixtape on people in a variety of bizarre scenarios (shown below).