Love them or side-eye them, The Evil Empire played a real part in shaping the underground-to-mainstream pipeline of 2000s hip-hop. Known for working with artists like Lil Wayne, Young Jeezy, Gucci Mane, Fabolous, and Rick Ross, their mixtape tags became a staple of the era.

The Evil Empire is a mixtape series and DJ brand best known for its dramatic drops and watermark — “The Evil Empire… this is more than music…” — that echoed through countless leaks and street tapes from the mid-2000s into the early 2010s.

Operating in the gritty heyday of the mixtape era, Evil Empire became a familiar name to fans digging through DatPiff, LimeWire folders, or bootleg CDs, often leaking exclusive or unreleased tracks from hip-hop heavyweights.