Best Albums and Mixtape of 2013 (Best of the Booth)

Over the course of the year, we in

The DJBooth

have kept you supplied with the latest and greatest in hip-hop and R&B. Now, it’s time for you to weigh in. In anticipation of our sixth annual

Best of the Booth Awards

, we’re inviting our loyal readers to tell us which artists, albums, mixtapes and DJs stood out in 2013. Using your ratings, feedback, plays, downloads and pageviews, we’ve assembled a slate of eight front-runners in each of our 19 categories. At the top of 2014, we’ll reveal your votes for the year’s best, as well the Booth staff’s personal picks.

Unlike in previous years, we’ll be opening the polls gradually, over the course of this week. Starting Friday, December 6, and continuing on the 9th through the 13th, we’ll roll out 2-4 categories daily. Readers will be able to vote on all categories up until noon on Sunday, the 29th, at which point we will tally the final results. Today, we unveil the nominees for

Best Mixtape/Street Album

Best R&B/Pop Album

Best Hip Hop Album (Unsigned/Independent)

and

Best Hip Hop Album (Mainstream)

. The 2012 reader picks in these categories were (respectively)

Big Sean’s Detroit

Frank Ocean’s Channel Orange

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’s The Heist

and

Kendrick Lamar’s good kid, m.A.A.d city

. Read over the ballot below, then make your selections!