Clinton Sparks' 30 Favorite Mixtapes

Mr. Get Familiar picks the best mixtapes ever—and yes, some of them are his.

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Complex Original

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Clinton Sparks is a mixtape legend. He started making mixes in his house back in 1999. The Boston native would take acapellas of popular songs, lay the vocals over his own beats, then top it off by getting popular rappers to spit freestyle verses.

"Common would come to my house and give me a freestyle verse," he recalls. "I'd make a new beat for it and put it with something else. That’s how I met Eminem—he came to my house back when he first started. He gave me a bunch of freestyles and that's how we built a relationship. Everyone came to my house."

Obsessed with innovation, Sparks was one of the first DJs to treat his mixtapes like mini-albums. Which is probably why he's quick to claim, "People like Busta Rhymes would say, ‘Clinton Sparks doesn't do mixtapes; he does albums. He just throws albums out on the street.’"

Sure, Clinton has done plenty of other things in his career. He's worked as an E! News music correspondent, he hosts Smashtime Radio, and he even produced Lady Gaga's "Bloody Mary"—but to us, he's still the guy behind classic mixtapes like The Re-Up Gang's We Got It For Cheap Vol. 2 and Kanye West's Touch The Sky. That's why we got on the horn with him to find out what he considers his 30 Favorite Mixtapes (listed in chronological order). So click ahead and get familiar.

As told to Insanul Ahmed (@Incilin).

Mr. Cee, Best of Biggie Smalls (1995)

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DJ SpinBad, Rock the Casbah (1995) / 80s Megamix Vol. 2 (2004)

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Tony Touch, Power Cypher: The 50 Emcee Collection (1996)

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DJ Doo Wop, 95 Live (1995)

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G-Unit x DJ Whoo Kid, No Mercy No Fear (2002) / God's Plan (2002) / 50 Cent is the Future (2002) / Bulletproof Part 5 (2002)

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Z-Trip, Live Los Angeles (2003)

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Kanye West x The Heavy Hitters, Get Well Soon (2003)

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The Game x DJ Ray, You Know What It Is Vol. 1 (2003)

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Dirty Harry x DJ Vlad x DJ Green Lantern, Rap Phenomenon 1 & 2 (2003)

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Diplomats x DJ Kay Slay, Diplomats Vol. 1 (2003)

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Young Jeezy x DJ Drama, Trap or Die (2004)

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T.I. x DJ Drama, Down With the King (2004)

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Tape Kingz, The 15th Anniversary Mixtape (2004)

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Jadakiss x DJ Green Lantern, The Champ is Here (2004)

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DJ Jamad & Floyd The Locsmif, Outskirts: The Lost Outkast Remixes (2004)

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Danger Mouse, The Grey Album (2004)

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The Re-Up Gang x Clinton Sparks, We Got It For Cheap Vol. 2 (2005)

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Kanye West, Touch the Sky (2005)

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DJ Green Lantern, Invasion Part 2 (2005)

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DJ Green Lantern, Anger Management 3 (2005)

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Lil Wayne x DJ Drama, Dedication 2 (2006)

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C.L. Smooth x J. Period, Freestyle Sessions (2006)

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DJ Green Lantern, Alive on Arrival (2007)

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Mick Boogie x Terry Urban, Viva La Hova (2008)

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DJ AM, Fix Your Face Vol. 1 (2008) / Fix Your Face Vol. 2 (2009)

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Drake, So Far Gone (2009)

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Rick Ross, Ashes to Ashes (2010)

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J. Cole, Friday Night Lights (2010)

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Girl Talk, All Day (2010)

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Big K.R.I.T., K.R.I.T. Wuz Here (2010) / Return of 4eva (2011)

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