As I was sifting through the list of Grammy nominees a couple weeks ago, I saw a lot of familiar names. 

Eminem? Check.

Jay-Z?  Of course. 

Kanye West? This dude can’t stay off the list.

From the looks of things over the past 12 months, the mixtape game has never been healthier.

In 2010, the standout projects and the MCs who helmed them took a page out of Drake's book from the previous year with So Far Gone, making mixtapes that were put together like albums with a majority of head-nodding original material populating the track lists.

After his hugely popular mixtape There Is Not Competition 2 last year, Fabo is readying another free offering for his fans set to drop sometime in February, 2011. As of now, the tentative title is The S.O.U.L. Tape since he’ll be rapping over soul sampled beats and will have no DJ drops. #Win.

Having a mixtape with extraordinary features/production is becoming a little more common in 2010. It makes sense since your tape is like your introduction to the world, a demo in a way. Have tapes gotten a little out of hand and became better than albums? That remains to be seen and formed by your own opinion. One thing is for sure though, with more power comes more possibilities.