Mixtapes have an out-sized role in the emergence of hip hop around the world. Before radio play, the internet, and social media, there were mixtapes. No matter where you lived, you could pop a cassette into a tape deck, and be transported to a party halfway around the world. DJs were taste makers, trendsetters and creators of the sound that became the biggest musical genre on the planet. A meteoric rise for an art form not yet 50 years old. The importance of mixtapes goes well beyond the tapes themselves. Mixtapes were a form of currency. A signifier that you were In-The-Know and had your ear to the streets. A skeleton key to the underground. The culture was too strong to be stopped, and the artists were too talented to be ignored - so they turned the sub-culture into the mainstream, and made hip hop what it is today.
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
 KRS-OneSelf | Self |
 Lil WayneSelf | Self |
 Stretch ArmstrongSelf | Self |
 DJ ClueSelf | Self |
 DJ Jazzy JeffSelf | Self |
 DJ KhaledSelf | Self |
 DJ DramaSelf | Self |
 GameSelf | Self |
| DDJ Green LanternSelf | Self |
| DDJ S&SSelf | Self |
| DDJ Doo WopSelf | Self |
| FFunkmaster FlexSelf | Self |
| JJames CruzSelf | Self |
 Angie MartinezSelf | Self |
| BBun BSelf | Self |
 Fat JoeSelf | Self |
| YYves "DJ Whoo Kid" MondesirSelf | Self |
 50 CentSelf | Self |
 A$AP RockySelf | Self |
 FabolousSelf | Self |
| JJazzy JoyceSelf | Self |
| HHurricane GSelf | Self |
 JadakissSelf | Self |
 Styles PSelf | Self |
 2 ChainzSelf | Self |
 Young JeezySelf (as Jeezy) | Self (as Jeezy) |
 Cee Lo GreenSelf | Self |
| DDJ Tony TouchSelf (archive footage) | Self (archive footage) |
 Paul RosenbergSelf | Self |