90s Tapes (2024)
I've been sitting on this Harleckinz record since early 2024. I really should have written about it way before now, but I've always felt it to be a daunting proposition. Harleckinz are from Germany, so I have no real familiarity with them. They certainly didn't make their way to the mountainous regions of northern New Jersey when I was younger. This album is also a quadruple LP, so there's just a ton to get through, Because of these things I've just delayed writing about it over and over, but that's not to say I haven't listened to it quite a bit.
What brings me in for this album, and with pretty much all hip hop is the production. Beats are the most important thing for me when it comes to what I like about hip hop. I don't think a spectacular MC works over bad beats, but great beats can elevate the most mediocre rapper. That's not to say that anyone in Harleckinz is mediocre, but it's the beats that make be keep going back and listening to this. These songs were gathered from various recordings from 1992 to 1996, and the ones that resonate most with me are the ones from the earlier part of that time period.
It's hard to generalize the sound of 25 tracks from a 5 year period, but as a rule the production is steeped in ;ow end, bass heavy samples over loud drums. Most of the time, the tempo doesn't get dragged into that later 90s thing where all of the beats have to be slow enough to set your pacemaker to. We've got decent BPMs most of the time and it gives the MCs in the group a great foundation for their lyrics.
And the lyrics are pretty good. I can't really detect a thick accent or anything. It's not like listening to this album is comparable to throwing on a Wizo record. If you didn't tell me the group was from Germany, I don't know that I'd catch on that they weren't just part of the US based groups from the golden era. I wouldn't call any of the rappers top tier, mind blowing MCs, but they get you from the start of the song to the finish with clever wordplay, solid rhymes and chant along hooks. Paired with the excellent production and you've got the sort of record that I'm going to be into.
I understand the completist mentality of loading this release up with all of the songs, but it's a large amount of music to take in during a single sitting. There aren't that many groups in any genre that I want to listen to for over two hours straight, but throughout that time I can't point to many songs on here that aren't worth your time (other than the fact that I tend to skip the instrumentals, but that's a me thing, not really an issue with said instrumentals). Harleckinz are a group that I'm glad I took the chance on, I love adding new golden era records to my collection and this is a great one.
Harleckinz – 90two90six: The Demo Tapes 4xLP:
