Australia better be on the look out for drama-bringing RIAA-tipped-off SWAT teams because artists are rolling out mixtapes full of jacked beats on the daily. Most of ‘em are chock full of throwaway freestyles and not-quite-fly-enough-for-the-LP verses, but there’s definitely some entertaining material amongst it all.

Hykoo’s Ghost Who Walks mixtape contains freestyles over jacked beats, remixes, offcuts from the Crooked Unseen and is hosted by Okwerdz, who also drops a verse on the track “Change of the Guard” with Justice.

Groundup Mixtape Vol 3 is mixed by Frank Force and boasts current/pre-release US tracks, local contributions from Anecdote, Forthwrite, GMC and a name dropping verse from the much talked about 360.

The Mugshots Crew’s Landmines mixtape features Tommy Illfigga, Pure Product, Makcheeze and is assembled by Sammsonite of the Optimen.

Sean Lov’s Mix CD is a collection of cuts from Shawn’s ten-year career, and lead-in to the upcoming Waiting For A Ghost on Nuffsaid. End to end lyrical heat.

The divisive FOB Mixtape finds Justice, Kaos, GMC and Anonymous riffing on the theme of racial tension (witness Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy” flipped into “Kuwaiti”) and builds hype for Justice and Kaos’ forthcoming EP. Nice concept, but perhaps not one for repeated listens.

Months old but worth a mention is Overproof’s Bad News, which was a lead in to The High Life, with remixes and exclusives. Posted here by Kinetic.

DJ-led mixtapes are thinner on the ground, but DJ Flagrant has bucked the trend with The Business, Man Vol 1, a DJ-mix consisting of big name US acts with a few well known Aussies thrown in.

Let me get my Ralph Wiggum on for a second and freeze-frame the exact moment the Hilltop Hoods graduated from underground phenomenon to certified mainstream commodity: it had to be their unexpected ninth placing in Triple J’s Hottest 100 for 2003 with the skip-hop-meets-chipmunk-soul classic ‘The Nosebleed Section’. (For the trainspotters out there, the equally dope but slightly less catchy ‘Dumb Enough’ also fared well at number 44, as the meat in a Strokes/Perfect Circle sandwich.) From there on in, it was all champagne and caviar for the boys from Blackwood.

 It’s therefore no surprise that the Hoods’ parent label, Obese, are keen to maintain their standing in the national broadcaster’s influential countdown. To this end, they are offering fans who vote for at least three Obese-affiliated tracks in this year’s Hottest 100 the chance to win a CD prize pack – including a signed advance copy of local rap legend Bias B’s new disc Been There Done That, no less. One winner will be chosen from each state. To enter the draw, peep the news section on the Obese homepage.

 My vote for best Obese track of the year? It’s probably the Jase-Trace Elements collaboration ‘Runnin’ This Sh*t’, which was criminally left off the Melbourne beatsmith’s Jase Connection Volume 1 CD. However, you can peep this classic funk throwdown (featuring a rare verse from super-producer M-Phazes) on Trace Elements’ recently released Elevator Muzak mixtape, which is available for download here.

AUS-International connections are becoming more and more common, but the Nuff Said crew have always led the pack, from Prowla and Jase’s production of 7L & Esoteric’s Protocol to their releases by artists from the US (Karma), South Africa (Tumi) and the UK (The Planets). Shawn Lov’s 2004 album The Blackout of 1977 may have been the first full album by a US rapper released on an Australian label, and now Shawn and Nuffsaid are prepping the follow up, Waiting For A Ghost, which features several beats and a verse from Prowla, as well as shots from Pace Won (Outsidaz) and Lin Que (Isis from X Clan). A small mixed teaser is streaming on Nuffsaid’s Myspace. Even better is a full length mixtape retrospective of Shawn’s work from the past ten years, available for download at the same place. Those interested in no-nonsense lyrical ability should grab this immediately.

Don’t let it be said that Shawn is inaccessible to his fans, either. On his MySpace, he invites XBox Live players to get down with him in some Gears of War or Contra.

Shawn Lov on Myspace