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The definition of a mixtape — and what one could look like — has changed a lot over the years. We’ve moved far beyond the era of handing out CDs on the corner and releasing projects on platforms like MyMixtapez and DatPiff (though both were pivotal at their peaks), and if there’s one influential figure who has lived through the format’s many ups and downs, it’s DJ Drama.
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During his junior year at Clark Atlanta University, Drama released his very first mixtape, Jim Crow Laws, which featured Southern staples such as Outkast and Three 6 Mafia. Just a few years later, we saw the introduction of his Gangsta Grillz series, which started off promising, thanks to T.I.'s Down With the King and Jeezy's Trap or Die.
Throughout the rest of the 2000s, the Philadelphia native worked with Lil Wayne, Fabolous, Yo Gotti, Pharrell, and French Montana — in addition to releasing Gangsta Grillz: The Album and its sequel. In the 2010s and 2020s, he continued lending his skills to artists like Symba, YFN Lucci, 2 Chainz, and Meek Mill, to name a few.
In celebration of DJ Drama’s “Gangsta Grillz Podcast” making its way to REVOLT, we decided to look back at 13 times he hosted some of our favorite albums and mixtapes. Check them out below.
1. Jeezy’s ‘Trap or Die’
It’s hard to imagine DJ Drama’s career without Trap or Die. The 2005 mixtape laid the blueprint for practically every subsequent project he’s hosted and helped make both him and Jeezy much bigger names in the streets. Not to mention, it spawned “Get Ya Mind Right,” era-defining collaborations with Fabolous and Yo Gotti, and helped cement Shawty Redd’s role in shaping the trap sound we know today.
2. Lil Wayne’s ‘Dedication 5’
Hearing DJ Drama’s “Gangsta Grillz” tag alongside The Weeknd’s vocals on “I’m Good," the opener for Lil Wayne's Dedication 5, was beyond satisfying. Across a whopping 29 tracks, many of which saw the New Orleans native remixing other artists’ songs, the two managed to outdo plenty of the records they reworked. Honestly, who better to host a project with Wayne rapping over Kanye West’s “New Slaves,” Kendrick Lamar’s “B**ch, Don’t Kill My Vibe,” and Ace Hood’s “Bugatti” instrumentals?
3. Chris Brown’s ‘In My Zone’
DJ Drama and DJ Sense shared hosting duties on Chris Brown’s In My Zone, the Grammy-winning singer's first mixtape. While it understandably housed plenty of R&B records, it also gave fans a handful of tracks where he was spitting straight bars, including “Big Booty Judy.”
4. Tyler, The Creator’s ‘CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST’
Who would’ve thought a 2010 tweet would eventually lead to Tyler, The Creator getting DJ Drama to host one of his albums? CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST saw the Generation Now co-founder dropping bombs every chance he got, and to their credit, the LP went on to win Best Rap Album at the 2022 Grammy Awards. To learn more about how the collaboration came together, watch DJ Drama’s “Gangsta Grillz" podcast episode with Tyler here.
5. Pharrell’s ‘In My Mind: The Prequel’
Pharrell tapped the “grimiest n**ga in the street” — that being DJ Drama — for his very first mixtape, In My Mind: The Prequel. The pair made for a pretty entertaining duo across tracks like “When Skateboard Came” and “It Was a Great Day.” Plus, artists like Clipse, Young Dro, and T.I. helped round out the project.
6. YFN Lucci’s ‘650Luc’
When YFN Lucci’s label was “wiggin’ and s**t,” he needed something to hold fans over until Wish Me Well 3, and there was one person to call: DJ Drama. Across 650Luc: Gangsta Grillz, we got tracks like “Ride for Me” featuring Yungeen Ace, the Young Dolph-assisted “I’m Gone,” and “All Night Long” with Trey Songz.
7. Dreamville’s ‘D-Day’
Announced on short notice, as we’ve come to expect from J. Cole, Dreamville’s D-Day mixtape featured the label’s entire roster plus a few close collaborators, including A$AP Ferg, REASON, Sheck Wes, and Young Nudy, to name a few. As much fun as it was to hear JID and the “No Role Modelz” rapper go bar for bar, Ari Lennox belt over records like “Coming Down,” and the crew tear through posse cuts, DJ Drama is the glue holding it all together. It’s impossible not to get amped hearing him say, “You n**gas over here talkin' 'bout festivals. I'm thinkin' more like invasions. You gon' stop playin' on Dreamville's top, like n**gas don't run this.”
8. 2 Chainz’s ‘T.R.U. REALigion’
The cover art for T.R.U. REALigion, which saw 2 Chainz dressed head-to-toe in True Religion, is iconic on its own. Add DJ Drama hosting the mixtape, fan favorites like “Turn Up” and “K.O.,” plus collaborators like Jeezy, Meek Mill, and Yo Gotti, and you’ve got a recipe for success.
9. Layekah’s ‘My Time (Gangsta Grillz: Special Edition)’
Lakeyah’s pen has never been anything to play with, and considering how few women have gotten a full Gangsta Grillz project with DJ Drama, My Time felt long overdue. “Alright, so Lakeyah was explaining to me that you're the female G.O.A.T. Well, that just means there's one thing to do: You gotta bar up on these n**gas,” he said on the aptly titled “GOAT Talk.”
10. Gucci Mane’s ‘The Movie’
Gucci Mane didn’t call it The Movie for no reason. With DJ Drama hosting the project — and sort of stepping into the director’s chair, in a sense — the two brought together everything fans loved most about them at the time. That, plus “Photo Shoot," made it a one-of-a-kind mixtape.
11. Lil Wayne’s ‘Dedication 2’
Can we cheat and add Lil Wayne twice? After all, DJ Drama once called Dedication 2 “the perfect mixtape.” The 2006 project gave us Weezy taking on 2Pac’s “Ambitionz Az a Ridah,” Three 6 Mafia’s “Poppin’ My Collar,” and plenty more. Of course, we’d be wrong not to mention “Cannon,” which seemingly included a few shots at Gillie Da Kid.
12. Anycia’s ‘Grady Baby’
Anycia joined the short list of women in Hip Hop to get their own Gangsta Grillz mixtape with 2025's Grady Baby. The 12-song effort gave us the “Don’t Trust No N**ga”-sampling “Never Need” with GloRilla and KARRAHBOO, plus collaborations with Tink, Monaleo, and Quavo. DJ Drama’s presence fades a bit by the eighth track, but it's still a great project nonetheless.
13. Meek Mill’s ‘Dreamchasers 2’
They don’t make mixtapes like Meek Mill’s Dreamchasers 2 anymore. The second entry in his coveted series was filled to the brim with hits, most notably “Ready or Not," "Big Dreams," and the Kendrick Lamar-assisted “A1 Everything.” And yes, DJ Drama hosted the project.
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