90s Tapes (2023, Reissue)
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 thirty 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.
I didn't listen to Tha Alkaholiks back in the 90s. I discovered them much later, after hearing their 1993 debut 21 & Over. That record really impressed me and sort of annoyed me that I hadn't heard it back when it came out. I think I would have liked it even more back then, but don't get me wrong, I really dig it now as well. From there I hunted down a copy of their 1995 album Coast II Coast. I didn't really like this one as much. Lyrically, it was quite good, perhaps even an improvement over their debut. But the production was that post 1994 style that I'm not always loving as much as earlier hip hop releases. Plus the fact that I overpaid collector prices for a copy stung my wallet a little harder than usual.
You'd think going to a bands 1997 release after not loving their 1995 release would be a fool's errand. But sometimes I'm a glutton for punishment and when 90s Tapes did a double drop of reissues of Coast II Coast (I should have waited for this instead of buying the copy I did a year earlier!) and 1997's Likwidation, I decided to grab the one I was missing anyway.
I think I like it better than Coast II Coast as the production is better in places. But in other places it's kind of the same. We don't have golden era 1993 style beats here and that's what I miss the most about hip hop. Again, on the mic, the Liks are great. I really dig most of the vocal performances, but the production isn't quite my cup of tea in spots. Though I think the biggest issue I have with the album is that it's just way too long. It's an hour and 13 minutes and that's just too much for me at the best of times. There are enough songs on here with beats I really like that I think you could trim this up a bit and have a really solid record.
Inconsistent feelings about the album itself aside, you really can't go wrong with this 90s Tapes pressing. If you want the record, this is the version to get. No one does reissues better than 90s Tapes and once again they've outdone themselves with this version. I really wish they did a version of 21 & Over. My favorite Alkaholiks record reissued by my favorite hip hop label? You know I'm double dipping on that one.
Tha Alkaholiks - Likwidation:
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