Trumindz (2024)
Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo! MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for twenty-five plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.
The Alleywalker was originally meant to be released back in 1993, but for whatever reason (I looked, but couldn't really find any information about why) it wasn't actually released. 30 plus years later, here it is courtesy of Trumindz Records. I had never heard of T-Max prior to this reissue popping up and I'm grateful I was in the right place at the right time when it came out so I could grab it. It's sold out now and I would have been bummed out to miss on this one.
In some ways, I sort of feel like the only thing I need to say about this album is that it was supposed to come out in 1993. It has the sort of beats and production that are kind of synonymous with that year and it's everything I'm looking for in my hip hop. The tracks are fast paced, the bass lines are real head nodders and that aggressive snare drum crack hits right where it needs to be every time. T-Max is from Boston, so you definitely get that golden era classic sound.
Lyrically, T-Max more than gets the job done. I sort of hear a little bit of a similarity to Ed O.G., but that just might be my brain applying someone else from Boston to T-Max's sound. Regardless of who is is or isn't similar to, he knows his way around a rhyme and lays out some standard, but excellent tales of life and of mic supremacy. This is definitely the sort of album I'd recommend whole heartedly to folks that like that early 90s sound and are looking to check out something that hadn't heard before. It's a bummer it's sold out, but it's definitely worth hunting for.
T-Max - The Alleywalker:
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