Chi-Ali - The Fabulous Chi-Ali LP

Relativity / Violator (1992)

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 have absolutely no memory of Chi-Ali from when I was listening to hip hop in 1992 (the miracle year).  Chi-Ali was the same age as me when his debut, The Fabulous Chi-Ali, dropped when he was just 15 years old.  I can't say that I was particularly into the kid or young teenage rappers at the time, but I'm not sure I ever even heard his name until decades later.  And to me, that's kind of odd as Chi-Ali was a member of the Native Tongues (Tribe, De La, Black Sheep, etc.) and the album was mostly produced by The Beatnuts.

Luckily I did stumble across Chi-Ali eventually because, particularly from a production standpoint, this is a pretty killer album.  If you know hip hop in a post Low End Theory world, this has just what you are looking for.  Smooth bass lines, kick drum for days and a melodic feel that never drifts into being too slow or boring.  It just perfectly hits that pocket of jazzy hip hop that is always associated with the Native Tongues.

On the microphone, CHi-Ali is totally fine and certainly in the upper echelon of the 'kiddie' rappers of the era.  His voice is understandably pretty high pitched, but he makes that work for him as he navigates the rhymes and stories he's telling.  Is he a little preoccupied with making himself sound older and/or more mature than he actually is? Sure, but what 15 year old isn't.  Mix his talent with such incredible production gives you a great listen and really makes you wonder what he could have done had he been able to put out a follow up in say 1994 or so.  Two years makes a big difference at those ages.

Unfortunately this copy that I picked up isn't exactly what I was hoping for.  The cover is super minty, but the LP itself has some surface noise issues that are a but more than I'm OK with.  So at some point I'm going to have to pick up an upgrade, but at least I have a really nice cover to pair with it when the time comes.

Chi-Ali - The Fabulous Chi-Ali:

https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lxf8b1uWjJZZ8matoup_qq2l8iYC5Y3vk

Fig Dish – When Shove Goes Back To Push 2xLP - Clear w/ Black Vinyl (/400)

Forge Again (2026, Reissue)

Even after Forge Again had released the Fig Dish album That's What Love Songs Often Do on vinyl last year, I was still nervous that they wouldn't get two the band's 2nd big label release, When Shove Goes Back to Push.  Even among Fig Dish fans, it seemed like the one that got less fanfare than the album that came before it.  But it's always been an album I've loved and to finally have it on vinyl is a real treat.  The world has been seriously checking off some of my biggest never-released-on-vinyl wants over the past few years.  If we can get some Alligator Gun, Him Kerosene and the last Overwhelming Colorfast albums on vinyl, I'll be a pretty content fellow.

Fig Dish was one of those bands on a big label that I always thought should have gotten a lot bigger, but also at the same time was puzzled that a label would be throwing money at them.  I guess labels were looking for more Weezer-adjacent bands?  Superdrag hit a bit and I guess Nada Surf sold some records, but when you look at the major label bands playing this sort of rock, I can't think of too many that broke through.

I first got my hands on this album when I was writing for my college newspaper.  I called up Polydor and navigated to their press folks and asked for a copy of it.  I remember pretty vividly how surprised they sounded that someone was actually going out of their way to specifically ask for and then write about this album.  Having been captured by the big guitar sound, catchy hooks and wry lyrics of the band's debut, of course I wanted more.

And there was plenty more on When Shove Goes Back to Push.  It's a band that's really hitting their peak, effortlessly cranking out hit after hit.  There's also quite a bit of variety on here for an album that really does have a cohesive sound.  The songs cover a wide range of tempos, sometime getting aggressive and crunchy while other times coming in downright mellow and pensive.  Yet at no point would you ever question whether or not you are listening to Fig Dish.  It's a great, under appreciate album and it's a joy to finally have it on vinyl nearly 30 years later.

Fig Dish – When Shove Goes Back To Push:

https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_n-8AUREqU5H-Dl1XL-VXN4fMO7tqheI0U

Swami John Reis - Navajo White LP - Black Vinyl (/400)

Swami (2026)

There was a moment in 1994 when Rocket From The Crypt first came on my radar.  They didn't immediately hit me the way you might think they did considering how much I've written about them over the years.  They were a band that grew on me song by song, release by release culminating in the first time I saw them play live in November of 1995.  At that moment everything that had been building coalesced into a blinding ball of energy, pretty much like what happens to Jake at the church in The Blues Brothers.  I had seen the light.

Since that moment I've been ruthlessly devouring every noise that John Reis has put out across his myriad of bands and personas.  Each different, but each unmistakably Swami (even before Swami was a thing).  That brings us to 2026.  It's been 32 years of listening to his music and at this point I didn't think it was possible to be surprised, only delighted.  And then came Navajo White.

I would argue that (instrumental excursion Back Off Cupids aside) Navajo White is the most unique record in John's entire catalog.  It's slower and more deliberate, with atmospheric moments where sounds just sort of hang in the background like bad news as John pushes through the song armed with his trusty downstrokes, seemingly trying to break through the fog of war.  All of his usual strengths are here - the guitar work, the sneaky hooks, the powerful delivery - but everything still feels different.

It's an album that seems serious and heavy, like a burden that needed to be released into the world.  Where other Swami John Reis records are bombastic, upbeat and borderline celebratory, Navajo White lingers in the darker moments where putting on a brave face and being positive just isn't going to cut it.  There's a workman like optimism in here where it feels like a reminder than you can still create something in moments like this that is unmistakably you, but just a different side of you.

It's not possible for me to not love a John Reis record.  His distinct sound always comes out in every record he's ever put out, regardless of the band or situation.  Navajo White is no different.  There isn't another human on this planet that could have made this record, only John.  You'll never listen to it and think it's anyone other than him.  You'll just marvel as he's taken those touchstones that you are familiar with and done something completely different with them.  It's a wild ride.

Swami John Reis - Navajo White:

https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mHxK5WN-DiErlaFG4p9Q9Mno5yTPASYj4

 

Big L – Lifestylez Ov Da Poor & Dangerous LP

Columbia / Legacy (2026, 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.

Big L is one of those MCs whose reputation as an elite lyricist has only grown since his tragic murder in 1999. His only full album released while he was still allive was 1995's Lifestylez Ov Da Poor & Dangerous.  While it is an exceeding popular album with those in the know, this is one of those albums that I was completely oblivious to when it originally came out as there wasn't much in the world of hip hop that I was following after 1994 wrapped up.  I've written about it a million times, but the sounds were changing and I wasn't on board.

In later years, I first discovered Big L via a guest appearance on the Showbiz and AG song "Represent."  It's the sort of appearance that makes you immediately head to the internet to see what is out there and that's how I discovered Lifestylez Ov Da Poor & Dangerous.  For a 1995 album, this is way more up my alley than a lot of records released that year.  It almost always boils down to the production, and there's enough upbeat tracks with soulful samples to keep me engaged.  Yeah, there's some slower ones on here, but even then Big L has an energetic flow that can transcend the few beats on here that aren't my particular cup of tea.  His style and cadence are firmly rooted in the early 90s and it's obvious that many of the songs here were gestating long before 1995.

It took me a while to get my hands on this album as it's been out of print since 2019 and the price had gotten pretty out of control.  It was nice to finally be able to get a copy at a reasonable price, but it is kind of lame that it's a single LP instead of the double LP reissues that came out in the 2010s.  But when the price different is plural hundreds of dollars, the single LP will do just fine by me.  I'm just happy to have a copy for the collection and am always excited when I can find another post-1994 record that clicks with me.

Big L – Lifestylez Ov Da Poor & Dangerous:

https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kZ8B8ikaWoDlSe0ZVV7AXduy8qFKt-Q_8

Custody - 3.1 7" - Gold Vinyl (/206)

Brassneck / Shield / My Ruin (2026)

First off, apologies that I haven't posted anything here in a few weeks (not that I'm completely sure anyone even noticed).  There's just been a lot going on, particularly in the morning when I typically write things for this site.  As we're three quarters of the way through the year, I'm going to do my best to post more regularly to close out 2026.  December will be 15 years of doing this site, so I want to at least get to that landmark in a semi-respectable fashion.

What better way to fire things back up than a new 7" from one of my most favorite active bands, Custody.  I've written about them enough that almost anything I say at this point will be somewhat repetitive but that's only because Custody is just so gosh darn consistently wonderful.  If you are looking for a middle ground between Leatherface and Samiam, this is where you want your feet to be.

The first song on this record is a cover of a German band called Duesenjaeger.  They aren't a band I'm familiar with, so I looked up and listened to their version of "Midnight Crisis" after playing Custody's cover.  Musically, they're pretty similar.  It's a song that drifts into the darker Wipers adjacent arena of melodic punk.  The Duesenjaeger version (which only just came out in 2023, I would have guessed it to be older than that) is in German where the Custody version is sung in English.  It's a good song and while slightly darker than your typical Custody fare, it still fits into their canon nicely.

The 7" then continues with two more songs, "Trier" and "None But Fragile."  Both are exactly what I want out of Custody.  Super melodic and strong vocals over dynamic guitar work that always builds into a most excellent chorus.  They're a band that really can do no wrong and this 7" is as essential as anything else they've done.  If you don't already have them, also go buy all of their full lengths.  And while you're at it, there's a PopKid 7" of theirs I could direct you to if I was feeling shameless...

Custody - 3.1:

https://brassneckrecords.bandcamp.com/album/31