As the remaining minutes of 2007 are suddenly ticking off way too fast for comfort (we hardly knew ye, etc.), the year-end lists are splintering into the minutiae of genre and sub-genre and even format, and New York’s list of the ten best hip-hop mixtapes of the year, compiled by dependable rap (and otherwise) crit Chris Ryan in the “the year [mixtapes] were nearly broken” by tape impresario DJ Drama’s bust by the feds at the beginning of the year, is a nice change-of-Christmas-shopping-list from the Year-End Analysis routine. Having only heard five of them, I can’t exactly start asking “the whaaaa?” or talking shit about some Stack Bundles (R.I.P.) tape I’ve never laid ears on. So though I can vouch for the quality of, say, No. 8 pick Geek’d Up Music by Fabo and Young Dro (and I’m pretty sure dead relatives have heard Da Drought 3 at this point), perhaps members of the peanut gallery who’ve made multiple trips to their local mixtape spot this year can offer independent assessment on these ten.

10. Lost Ones – DJ Noodles and Jay-Z
9. Legends Never Die – D.J. Clue and Stack Bundles
8. Geek’d Up Music – Fabo and Young Dro
7. A Tribute to James Brown: The Foundation of Hip-Hop – DJ Premier
6. Da Drought 3 – Lil Wayne
5. The Moral of the Story – Saigon
4. March 9th – Notorious B.I.G.
3. Live Free or Die Hard – Don Cannon and Freeway
2. Do the Right Thing – Clinton Sparks and Kardinal Offishal
1. Warlordz – Dirty Harry

Ten Best Hip-Hop Mixtapes Of 2007 [Vulture]