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.
Original Flavor was one of those groups that I came across looking for 90s hip hop that I missed the first time around. I checked out their debut album, This Is How It Is, first and it didn't really stick. I didn't check out their second album at the time. When 90s Tapes released Beyond Flavor, I pretty much bought it unheard as I trust their taste in reissues and when they drop an album it's very much a buy now or cry later situation. I'm really glad I took the chance.
I'll start with what is typically the most important thing for me on a golden era hip hop album, the beats. And the beats are great. Upbeat, jazzy loops with strong drums and lots of great scratching in the breaks. It's exactly the sort of production I am looking for in my hip hop and while it definitely leans towards a more accessible sound, it does so in a way that still feels real.
The lyrics are solid, but not spectacular. They sort of come off like a lesser UMCs (first album) or Leaders of the New School (also first album). Never as good as either of those group, but in the same wheelhouse and totally fine. There's a lot of post Das-EFX "diggety" being dropped throughout the album and also by Jay-Z (yes, that Jay-Z) on "Can I Get Open," which is kind of wacky. It's the production that makes the record though and this is going to be one of those records I pull out when I'm looking for some upbeat hip hop to brighten the day.
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