A mixtape is a compilation of songs and or tracks (typically copyrighted music taken from other sources) recorded in a specific order, traditionally onto a compact audio cassette. Video mixtapes have emerged as well. The songs can be sequential; by the 1980s, seamless mixtapes made by beatmatching the songs and creating overlaps and fades between the end of one song and the beginning of another became more popular.

LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - For those familiar with Kanye West‘s well-documented braggadocio, it may come as a surprise that the rapper/producer found plenty wrong with his Grammy Award-winning debut, "The College Dropout." With his sophomore effort, "Late Registration" (due August 30 on Roc-a-Fella/Def Jam), West aimed to correct his perceived flaws in flow, engineering, instrumentation and lyrics.

Brion calls his working relationship with West a natural fit. "His knowledge and understanding of records across the board is great," Brion says. That‘s the reason why we got along: We don‘t see music as something that happens in one genre.