Casual - Meanwhile... 2xLP (/200)

Trumindz (2025, 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.

Casual's debut, Fear Itself, is one of my favorite records in the history of hip hop.  Easy top five, probably top three.  Jive dropped him before he had a chance to release a follow up and it wasn't until 1997 that Casual released Meanwhile.  It was independantly released via Hieroglyphics own label, Hiero Imperium, and only came out on cassette.  I picked that up off the Hiero website in 97 while I was in college.  I liked it well enough, but I remember being a little disappointed with it considering how much I loved his first album.

Truth be told, I wasn't really in a space to appreciate a good hip hop album in 1997.  I wouldn't go so far to say I was against hip hop or anything like that, but I was really sour about how much the sound had changed and the type of music that I had identified with in formative high school years had kind of left me behind to seek fame and riches.  When Dope Folks released a barebones vinyl version of Meanwhile a few years ago, I reevaluated it and found that it had aged so much better than I had remembered it.  Are the beats on par with Fear Itself? Not exactly, but they're still really good.  Especially in comparison to what was being shoveled out by most rappers in 1997.

Up to that point we had a self released tape and a single LP with a generic sleeve for Meanwhile's official releases.  But finally, nearly 30 years later, Trumindz stepped up to the plate of put out a double LP version with full artwork, remastered and with a bonus track.  This is absolutely the definitive version of this album.  It looks great and sounds great, finally elevating this release to something that can stand shoulder to shoulder with the other incredible Hieroglyphics releases of this era.  

I'm so thrilled we finally have this version and can only hope that Trumindz decides to give the same sort of love and attention to The Shamen record that got a barebones CD release on Hiero Imperium in the early 2000s.  To me, that's the last crown jewel of the Hiero catalog that needs the deluxe reissue (though I certainly wouldn't turn down more Hiero Oldies and Hiero B Sides reissues).

Casual - Meanwhile...

https://casual1.bandcamp.com/album/meanwhile