Did Lil Wayne make mixtapes famous?

I'm picking up what you are throwing down.

I think the point that Eason is trying to make is that no, Lil Wayne did not invent the mixtape, but he's asking if Wayne is the one that truly popularized the mixtape, making it available to the general public. Other people are throwing around names like DJ Clue, but the thing is, just by the fact that we come to message boards like this does not make us pasrt of the general public, because obviously we know more about Hip Hop then the general public.

To that extent, I would have to agree that Lil Wayne did make the mixtape famous. My brother, who really only knows the music played on the radio, asked me to get him a copy of Dedication 2...my brother symbolizes the masses. We are the minority, so the mixtape has usually been accessed by us.

Also, cosign Omagus.

Edit: Angel....that's a horrible analogy, especially considering there is no underground/mainstream to the NBA. The NBA was around for over 50 years before Jordan had been around, and was amost always popular. A better analogy would have been to say that Magic and and Bird revitalized and made the NBA more entertaining when they were duking it out, although that has no relation, or significance, to the question at hand.

A better basketball analogy would have been to reference Red Auerbach, who although did not create it, is ONE of the people responsible for truly popularizing the sport, while it was still young...the same way Wayne has helped the mixtape, cuz Hip Hop has only been around for some 30 odd years.

Or like football...George "Papa Bear" Halas, one of the pioneers of the NFL.

I guess. Mixtapes used to be used to build hype for a new artist (50 Cent) so not many people paid attention to mixtapes, because they didn't know the artists that released mixtapes. I'm not sure why Lil Wayne makes mixtapes since he's already famous, but since people know him, they know about his mixtapes. He did popularize mixtapes with fans, but I'm not going to say that he did it for the right reasons.

EDIT: Poor phrasing. I just meant he doesn't release mixtapes in the traditional sense of trying to introduce a new artist. He uses mixtapes to maintain hype for his albums, which is a good thing. I didn't mean he does it for the wrong reasons. There is no wrong reason to release material.

I'd say DJ Clue made mixtapes popular. His mixtapes aren't anything different from what cash money and no limit used to do. Those cats a new LPs out every month. I know there was like 10 dudes in each group but they all put alot of material real fast from pre-recorded tracks. Wayne just did it alone.

So untrue....mixtapes have been the MC's thing since the beginning....Lil Wayne cannot make it on his thing alone...he just isn't hot enough so he has to release mixtape after mixtape!!! JC Da Messiah is on to something, Kid Capri and even further back then that there were mixtapes. Maybe Lil Wayne had the cash to put more out and put them out there to the public more...but they've always been there...Lil Wanye hasn't done anything special by any terms. He is simply reaching back into the magical hat and pulling out something someone else has done in the past!!!

I dont think he made the mixtape popular in general because the DJs(Green Latern, Kay Slay, Greg or is it Mike Streets, and others) did that.

But, what he did do is make the individual artist(the mixtape featuring one artist) more popular. Now everybody has a mixtape before their album and after their album to keep their buzz up.

No 50 did

I Thought G-Unit Made Mixtapes Famous =S

Hell no. I've been listening to mixtapes since the early 90's. Funkmaster Flex, Kid Capri, DJ Green Lantern, Tony Touch were some of the innovators.

Lil wayne is a waste of skin.

Hell no, I don't think I have even ever heard a wayne mixtape.