The DatPiff Archive Lives On: 15 Classic Mixtapes Free on the Internet Archive
For more than a decade, if you wanted the freshest street tapes, you went to DatPiff. Lil Wayne, Nipsey, A$AP, Chance – half of modern hip hop was built on free mixtapes. When the site went quiet, a lot of people thought that history was gone. It isn’t. Much of it now lives on the Internet Archive, free to stream and download. Here’s how to dig in, plus 15 tapes to start with.
What was DatPiff?
DatPiff launched in 2005 and became the home of the free hip hop mixtape. Artists dropped tapes there to build a buzz without a label, DJs hosted exclusives, and fans counted downloads like plaques. Some of the biggest careers of the 2000s and 2010s were launched on it.
How the archive ended up on the Internet Archive
As DatPiff wound down and its downloads stopped working, fans and archivists stepped in, uploading their saved tapes to archive.org, the non-profit digital library. Today you’ll find thousands of tapes spread across community collections such as Hip Hop Mixtapes and Community Audio, many still tagged with their original DatPiff titles.
How to browse and download
- Search archive.org for the tape name plus “datpiff” or “mixtape”, and filter by Audio.
- Open the item page and press play to stream in the browser.
- Use the Download options panel on the right to grab individual MP3s or a ZIP of the whole tape.
- Check the track list first – some uploads are incomplete or re-ups of varying quality.
15 DatPiff-era tapes worth digging up
1. Da Drought 3 – Lil Wayne (2007)
The peak of Weezy’s mixtape run – two discs of freestyles over other people’s beats that many fans rate above his albums. Listen on the Internet Archive →
2. Overly Dedicated – Kendrick Lamar (2010)
Pre-fame K.Dot laying the groundwork for Section.80 – essential if you only know the big albums. Listen on the Internet Archive →
3. K.I.D.S. – Mac Miller (2010)
Mac’s breakthrough tape: sunny, sample-heavy Pittsburgh boom bap that built his fanbase. Listen on the Internet Archive →
4. Acid Rap – Chance the Rapper (2013)
The free tape that proved you could skip the label – psychedelic Chicago soul and gospel rap. Listen on the Internet Archive →
5. LiveLoveA$AP – A$AP Rocky (2011)
Cloudy, chopped-and-screwed Harlem haze that kicked off the whole A$AP era. Listen on the Internet Archive →
6. Lord$ Never Worry – A$AP Mob (2012)
The full crew tape – Ferg, Twelvyy, Nast and Rocky at their rawest. Listen on the Internet Archive →
7. Dreamchasers 2 – Meek Mill (2012)
One of DatPiff’s biggest-ever exclusives, with Philly energy turned all the way up. Listen on the Internet Archive →
8. The Marathon – Nipsey Hussle (2010)
The start of Nipsey’s independent hustle philosophy, on wax. Listen on the Internet Archive →
9. Crenshaw – Nipsey Hussle (2013)
The tape he released free online, alongside a famously limited $100 physical run. Listen on the Internet Archive →
10. Slauson Boy 2 – Nipsey Hussle (2016)
Late-era Nip, confident and polished, a year before Victory Lap. Listen on the Internet Archive →
11. Fear of God – Pusha T (2011)
Cold, coke-rap precision from the ex-Clipse MC as he went solo. Listen on the Internet Archive →
12. The Pink Lavalamp – Charles Hamilton (2008)
A cult-classic blog-era tape from one of mixtape culture’s great ‘what ifs’. Listen on the Internet Archive →
13. Rap Game Bon Jovi – Riff Raff (2012)
Peak absurdist Riff Raff – the archive holds a whole run of his DatPiff tapes. Listen on the Internet Archive →
14. Hellboy – Lil Peep (2016)
Emo-rap ground zero: lo-fi, dark and hugely influential on the SoundCloud underground. Listen on the Internet Archive →
15. Lost DatPiff Tapes (Archivist Collection) – Various
A 200-plus-track rescue pile of obscure tapes – perfect for crate digging. Listen on the Internet Archive →
A quick note on rights
All content linked here is hosted by the Internet Archive, not by Underground Music. We only link to public archive.org pages. All rights belong to the artists and their labels – if you enjoy a tape, support the artist by streaming or buying their official releases.
Got a lost tape you think we should feature? Drop it in the comments – this is the first of many Free Downloads from the Web roundups.
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