The Funk Family - Everything'll BeFyne 3xLP

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90s Tapes (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 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.

90s Tapes brings us another of their fabled 'indie' releases, this time diving into a time period I am always keen on exploring, the early 90s.  While the album didn't see the light of day until much later with the release of a CDr version in 2008, 90s Tapes sets things right by giving it their typically lavish treatment on vinyl.  The material on this Funk Family LP was originally recorded between 1991 and 1993 if the internet is to be believed.  Even if the years aren't spot on, you can tell just by listening to the production that it's of that general era.  

And it's really nice production.  The bulk of the album was produced by Tony D and he turns in an album full of beats that are predominantly uptempo and hard hitting.  The Funk Family are from New Jersey, so you're getting that authentic East Coast boom bap sound.  It provides a canvas for the MCs to let loose on.  While I admittedly have a difficult time following who is rapping when all the time, anytime someone is on they're bringing a fast paced, lyrically complex style.  Had this been released in 1992 or 1993 and gotten the right kind of exposure, I can really see this being the sort of thing that the underground scene would have gravitated towards.  The Funk Family would eventually morph into Blaque Spurm, but this early stuff is what resonates the most with me.

As usual, 90s Tapes crushes it with a triple LP crammed full of the original tracks from the CDr release, remixes and previously unreleased songs.  They continue to set the standard and The Funk Family is a welcome addition to my shelves.

The Funk Family - Everything'll BeFyne:
https://90stapes.bandcamp.com/album/everythingll-befyne

Ween - Chocolate and Cheese 30th Anniversary 3xLP

Rhino / Elektra (2024, Reissue)

I had made a point to call out Chocolate and Cheese in my end of the year post as one of the best reissues of 2024 that I just didn't have enough time to write about before 2024 concluded.  Well, here we are in April and I'm finally getting to it.  Perhaps a bit of a disservice to such a fine album, but that's just the way things go sometimes.

Ween was a group that was recommended to me by my friend Pat.  As I was getting obsessively into Beck at the time, he thought that Ween would also be up my alley.  Completely unheard, I went out and picked up Pure Guava as well as Chocolate and Cheese pretty much at the same time.  I vaguely remember getting them the same day, but at different stores, but we're talking 1994 here, so I cannot say my memory for events like that is still sharp 31 years later.  I loved both records immediately, though I gravitated more towards Pure Guava, which remains my favorite in Ween's catalog.

That's not to take anything away from Chocolate and Cheese as it has stood the test of time as being my second favorite Ween album.  It's not quite as sprawling and weird as Pure Guava can get, though it is sprawling and weird in its own way.  I think it plays a little bit better as an album and definitely has more cohesive songs in general, despite the dizzying array of styles throughout the album.  You go from the lounge inspired crooning of "Take Me Away" to the fuzzed out yelling of "I Can't Put My Finger on It" to the perfect pop of "Roses are Free" and "What The Deaner Was Talkin' About." And every single one of these fits perfectly in the context of the album.  Quite the feat.

This 30th anniversary edition is a triple LP with the third disc essentially being a new album of unreleased outtakes and a few demos.  You can, and I do, listen to it as a completely separate entry in the Ween canon and it holds up with most songs of that era.  This makes it absulotely the essential version of Chocolate and Cheese and I was happy to double dip on this one.  Boy oh boy, do I wish they would put out one of these for Pure Guava as well.

Ween - Chocolate and Cheese:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_m6KA_G_DkUhl9UwCPVH1JD4ovzP4Um6dI

Organized Konfusion - Stress: The Extinction Agenda 3xLP

Fat Beats (2024, 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 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.

A few years ago I wrote about the bootleg version of this Organized Konfusion record and lamented that no one had been able to figure out a proper reissue.  Well, Fat Beats has corrected that with a lavish triple LP reissue of the second Organized Konfusion album Stress: The Extinction Agenda.  They really went all out by including the entire album, remixes, bonus tracks and instrumentals.  

The album itself is a classic, even if it's a classic that I wasn't aware of when it was originally released.  The slow, jazzy beats churn throughout the album while Pharaohe Monch and Prince Po unleash lyrical mayhem on every track.  These guys deal in hyper complicated, stacked rhymes that dazzle, but they never feel like they're showing off just for the sake of it.  All of the rhymes serve the beats and vice versa, making it one of those albums that fires on all cylinders.  I typically prefer my hip hop production a little more upbeat than what's on Stress, but everything just works. 

Hats off to Fat Beats for finally figuring out how to get this album back in print.  I do sort of wish they made a version where you didn't have to buy the instruntal versions along with the main album, as I don't often listen to those for any record really.  It mostly just makes this more expensive for me/. But that's a minor complaint as Fat Beats made a super deluxe version that sounds great and allows me to retire the bootleg version that has held this spot in my collection.  Now, who is going to step up and rerelease Organize Konfusion's debut?

Organized Konfusion - Stress: The Extinction Agenda:

https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kDvj6SIEh08bvffjPcDPsyD82D9ZsPojA

Circle of Power - Circle of Power 3xLP

90s Tapes (2024, Reissue)

On Wednesdays, 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.

If you read the things I write on a semi-regular basis, you know that I have been singing the praises of the German record label 90s Tapes for some time now.  They have embarked on a reissue campaign of 90s hip hop that's probably unrivaled in our time.  They have been unearthing obscure indie albums, reissuing albums previously available as self released tapes and giving deluxe treatments to classic albums from the golden age.  Every release really could be considered a deluxe version as the quality of everything they put out is the best of the best.  Circle of Power gets the 90s Tapes reissue with a triple LP version of their 1993 self titled album.

Even though Circle of Power originally came out on Rumble Records, a label that only ever put out records by Circle of Power, its influence was felt enough over the years that I had discovered it well before 90s Tapes got their hands on it.  I had been hoping for a reissue for quite some time, as it's original release on vinyl was a promo LP with no artwork that didn't contain all of the songs from the CD version.  Getting triple LP version with the full track list (apart from a switched out intro that really is better than the original) and what appears to be everything the group released on singles and what not is even more than I could have hoped for.

Musically, Circle Of Power sit right in that sweet spot on early 90s hip hop that is everything I'm looking to listen to.  Upright bass lines, jazz influences, rugged drum beats...it's the sort of record that really only could have come out in 92, 93 or 94.   I love the production throughout and lyrically, these guys weave stories around the beats in a way that makes the end product even more satisfying.  There's so much skill on display here that I'm really confused as to why Circle of Power didn't get more of an opportunity to shine when they were active.  But that's OK, the album has been rereleased in its best possible version and I'm so excited to be able to add it to the shelf.

Circle of Power - Circle of Power:
https://90stapes.bandcamp.com/album/circle-of-power

Gang Starr - The Ownerz 3xLP

Virgin (2015, 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 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.

The Ownerz was the final Gang Starr album of the group's original run.  It came out while I was working my radio promotion job and a buddy that was working at Virgin at the time hooked me up with a CD copy back then.  So unlike a lot of hip hop from 1995 until recently, I did actually hear this right when it was released.  It got to a point where this album was the only one of theirs that I didn't have on vinyl, so I finally picked it up to complete the full length collection.

Gang Starr has pretty much always been amazing.  Even in 2003, when the bulk of hip hop was absolutely not my cup of tea, Guru and Premier put out an album that still felt like the sort of thing I would have listened to at the height of my hip hop fandom.  The beats still feel like classic Premier and Guru's lyrics are as sharp as ever.  If it was primarily the two of them over the album, it would be another classic.  But to me, that's the album's biggest problem.

There are way too many guest appearances for me.  I know that's what hip hop turned into, everyone on everyone else's albums, but if I buy an album, it's because I want to hear the person or group putting out that album.  Of The Ownerz' nineteen tracks, eight of them have guest verses on them.  It makes everything feel watered down to me and I think the album would be significantly stronger if those verses were replaced by more from Guru.  That aside, it's still a solid album and considering when it came out, it's certainly one of the better post-golden era releases out there.

Gang Starr - The Ownerz:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mBFNxw8008IL_EVoKRxvaJsk6fR1yTXzM

The Concept of A.L.P.S. - The Classic Collection 3xLP

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 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.

I have something of a backlog of 90s Tapes releases, so you might see quite a few of them in the upcoming weeks.  This particular album and group I had never heard of prior to this reissue being made available for purchase a few months ago.  The Concept of A.L.P.S. (or as they are sometimes called, The Alps Cru) hailed from St Louis and in 1994 started releasing a string of independent 12" singles.  They had three singles in the mid 90s, but never put out a full length.

Then starting in 2008, they began releasing more singles and stayed relatively active putting something out every few years.  Again, they never put out a full length during this run either.  Enter 90s Tapes.  They have compiled everything from those 12"s from the 90s and most of the tracks from the later singles as well and put them all on one convenient triple LP (though one of the 3 LPs is the instrumental versions).  The label is based in Germany, so their on sale times are in the middle of the night for me.  I don't typically have a problem getting my hands on the albums of theirs that I want, but Alps sold out before I even woke up that morning.  I spent a little bit of time hunting, and I did have to pay collector prices, but I was finally able to track down a copy for myself.

And it was important that I did hunt this down.  It's a great album full of slower tempo, jazzy beats that still have a rugged feel to them.  I'm at a loss for an easy comparison point to another group, but certainly if you are into Tribe Called Quest or Gang Starr, you will be able to appreciate what the Alps Cru are offering, even though they don't really sound a ton like either of those groups.  Regardless, this is an album that my hip hop ear can enjoy, they are of their era enough that I'm interested, but left of center enough that they still sound like the sort of thing indie hip hop folks of today would enjoy.  Worth checking out, but be prepared to pay for the vinyl if you find it.

The Concept of A.L.P.S. - The Classic Collections:
https://90stapes.bandcamp.com/album/the-classic-collection

Gang Starr - Moment of Truth 3xLP

Virgin / Noo Trybe (2051, 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 Age' 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.

Daily Operation and Hard to Earn stand quite high on my list of all time favorite hip hop albums.  They came out in 1992 and 1994, respectively, and sit in that sweet spot of my own personal Golden Era.  I didn't look backwards as much back then, so I wasn't as familiar with their albums before 1992 and by the time Moment of Truth came out in 1998, I was pretty checked out on most hip hop.  I don't know why it took them four years between albums back then, but I'm not sure a year' or two difference would have put it anymore on my radar back then.

I came to find out over the years that many people, to the point where I would a say a majority, place Moment of Truth as the best Gang Starr album.  I don't know that I could say that, but it is really good and way better than I would have figured for a record that came out in 98.  The secret sauce here is how well DJ Premier puts together beats.  While there is certainly a slightly different vibe compared to their early 90s releases, for the most part the production still feels genuine and is similar enough to me that it works.  It does have something of a minimalistic feeling on some songs, but again it still sounds like Gang Starr.

And to me, Guru sounds exactly the same, which is a compliment, I don't want him to sound different.  His laid back, somewhat monotone delivery just works for him.  He's a skilled lyricist, but always shines the brightest when he's working with top tier production.  Do I think this is the best Gang Starr album? No, Daily Operation and Hard to Earn are superior in my opinion.  But Moment of Truth is really strong and is just as good as, and in some instances is better than, Step in the Arena.

Gang Starr - Moment of Truth:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lCXbcwQDrKmdSjIPEVJyI99YviaASHw2A

Wannadies - Västerbotten 3xLP

Startracks (2022)

The Wannadies had a several album span from the mid 90s to the early 2000s where they really just hit it out of the park every single time.  You want to talk about the best Weezer or Fountains of Wayne songs?  Chances are there's over a dozen Wannadies songs that are probably much better.  I'm not sure that any band does guitar pop better, especially when they really hit their stride.

But it's been a really long time since The Wannadies were putting out records.  Twenty years, if you want to get specific.  The band recently has gotten back together and is playing some shows.  There's no news of a new album just yet, but they have put together Västerbotten, a compilation of B sides and rarities.  Not to be confused with Skellefteå...also a collection of rarities?

Anyway, Västerbotten is a double LP release.  The third LP in my set is an extra 12" single with four cover songs.  Now, I have a bunch of Wannadies CD singles and 7"s, but listening to this set was a reminder that their non album songs are probably non album songs because they weren't quite as good as the ones on the actual albums.

That's not to say any of these songs are bad.  They're not and in fact many of them are quite excellent.  But my main takeaway is that a lot of the B sides are songs that are much slower and/or mellower than what made the albums.  A bit more introspective.  More acoustic guitar.  Still phenomenal songs, but lacking a little bit of the punch that really makes me connect to an album like Bagsy Me.

The cover songs on the bonus 12" are fun, but I prefer Wannadies originals.  I'm glad I got it, but I don't think people would be missing out on too much if they got the regular double LP, which is good news for you as the version with the bonus 12" is sold out now anyway.  I do appreciate so many of these songs being rescued from CD single purgatory in my collection, though this isn't where I would recommend someone start if they were new to The Wannadies.

Wannadies - Västerbotten:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLj-65NndXgpUn2MLYutuc2toQFEeCpuE7

Hard 2 Obtain - Ism & Blues 3xLP - Orange Vinyl (/300)

90s Tapes (2019)

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.

Hard 2 Obtain have a silly name.  It reminds me of N2Deep with their terrible "Back To The Hotel" song, but even if the name wouldn't be my first choice, this album is unbelievably great.  Ism & Blues originally came out on Atlantic records in 1994.  I have no memory of ever reading about them in The Source or seeing them on Yo! MTV Raps, so I didn't hear them when this first came out.

I stumbled across them when I was listening to the Kurious record.  One of the songs was really resonating with me and I saw that the production was done by the SD50s.  A production team that was also involved with some of the Hieroglyphics records that I love so much.  I decided to do a little bit of research to see what other groups they had worked with that maybe I had missed out on.  Hard 2 Obtain came up as not only a group they had worked with, they had essentially done the production for their entire album.

That's the strongest point of this record, the beats are just excellent.  Bouncing bass lines, upbeat drum beats.  It's such a quintessentially 1990s sound and something I wish was still prevalent in the world of hip hop.  As far as the vocals go, there are two MCs; Taste and DL.  I'm not sure which one is which throughout the course of the record but they have a solid flow and one of them sounds quite a bit like Grand Puba.  In fact the whole album does have something of a Brand Nubian feel to it and I can't think of too many groups that I would rather be compared to.

This album was rereleased in 2019 by the label 90s Tapes.  This is a label that I've gotten really into the past year or so and hunting for this record is what made me start looking at their other releases.  They did an incredible job with this album, expanding it to a triple LP and tacking on instrumentals and other tracks not on the original release.  Sadly this rerelease, like the original, is long out of print and I did have to pay collector prices to get my hands on a copy, but it's really worth every penny and might be one of the best albums from the golden era that sadly seems to have been mostly forgotten about.  I sure wish that I could have heard it in 1994.

Hard 2 Obtain - Ism & Blues:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nnDroDFaO7LUvoqb63OvJvwUau8mFBSI4

Hieroglyphics - 3rd Eye Vision 3xLP

 
Hiero Imperium/Fat Beats (2019, 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 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.

If you do not already know about my undying love for the Hieroglyphics crew, then you obviously have not been reading anything I have been writing of Wednesdays for the past year plus.  They are my favorite collection of hip hop artists and in 1998, they came together to release their first collective LP, 3rd Eye Vision.

While I cannot say that I like it quite as much as I liked the group's individual releases that came out in the earlier part of the 90s, there are still a slew of triumphant moments over the course of this record.  If anything, it's probably a little too long and could have benefitted from being trimmed down a bit.  I picked this album up on CD right when it came out and was one of the few hip hop releases I purchased at the time.  Honestly I was disappointed in it at first, but over the years it's grown on me greatly.

I think one of the main reasons this record didn't connect with me right away is because I do not like the opening song "You Never Know."  For a Hiero song, I think it has a really weak beat and I'll never understand why it was made the album's opening salvo.  It really not until the album's fourth song "The Who" where things really start to pick up.  This one is a genuine classic with a bouncing beat and excellent lyrical interplay between the various member.

When we get to Del solo cut, "At The Helm," I'm pretty much losing my mind over things at this point.  This song is one of my absolute favorite Del songs from throughout his entire career.  The Domino produced beat is thick with a bass driven funk and Del take full advantage of this canvas displaying his unique lyrical acumen.

The album does cool down a bit from here and while it is a strong sowing overall, particularly on the lyric/vocal side of the coin, the beats are a little more mellow than I am used to from Hieroglyphics.  It's absolutely an album that needs to be in my collection.  I'm just not sure that Hiero really needed to record a triple LPs worth of material back in the day.

Hieroglyphics - "At The Helm":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYyeGX2rgpI&ab_channel=Hieroglyphics-Topic

Hieroglyphics - "The Who":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeHjVeyMaR0&ab_channel=softieboy