Rough House Survivers – Straight From The Soul 2xLP +7"

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 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 wrote about the original pressing of this Rough House Survivers record a couple of years ago and looking back on it, I spend more time writing about what a great year 1992 was in hip hop than I did the actual record.  To be fair, I still don't think 92 gets the credit it deserves, but in some ways I didn't give Rough House Survivers the credit they deserved while trying to make that point.

Luckily I get another swing at it because hip hop's best reissue label has reissued this classic as a double LP (with a bonus 7"),  As usual, the pressing g sounds incredible and really highlights what I love most about this album, the incredible production work.  This is an album full of jazz based loops, be, fat drum beats and the sort of accompanying horn accents that set off the whole package.  There's a good, solid tempo throughout the album.  It never gets super fast or frantic, but it also never drags or becomes too slow to keep things interesting.

In addition to their DJ Swinn, Rough House Survivers have 3 different MCs taking turns on the mic,  As is the case with a lot of multi-MC crews that don't spend a lot of time identifying themselves, I won't pretend that I always know exactly who is providing the rhymes at every turn but whether it's Dread One, Kev or Roberto, all three rise to the occasion that the production provides.  You're never going to get a subpar bar.  That fact is even more impressive when you see the rogue's gallery of guest appearances with microphone killers like Grand Puba, CL Smooth and Sadat X dropping by to further light up a few tracks.  That the main 3 MCs are never overshadowed is nothing shot of remarkable.

Once again, I cannot say enough great things about the amazing work that 90s Tapes puts into their release.  I wish they were allowed to handle every hip hop reissue, though that sort of workload might be a tad overwhelming.  I can only be grateful for the classics that we do get to have and their Rough House Survivers reissue is a perfect example of how to treat an album.  While the group may not have gotten the attention and accolades that they deserved at the time, at least they have a incredible version of their album to put on the shelf.

Rough House Survivers – Straight From The Soul:

https://90stapes.bandcamp.com/album/straight-from-the-soul

Dredknotz - Under Pressure 4xLP

90s Tapes (2025)

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.

Dredknotz were a group that were active in the mid 90s.  Helped along by DJ Richie Rich of 3rd Bass fame, the tracks that comprise Under Pressure have been done and waiting for a release since 1995.  It wasn't until 2025 that they finally saw the light of day, courtesy of my favorite reissue label, 90s Tapes.

1995 is usually that line in the sand for me, it's where hip hop started to move in a direction that wasn't what I wanted out of it.  But as I've mentioned many, many times in the past, I have constantly found exceptions to this rule the more I dig around and I'd include Dredknotz in that list.  Under Pressure is built on the back of some dark, upright bass loops, blaring horn accents, alongside of plentiful kick and snare drum rumbling. It gives the album a post-Enta Da Stage Boot Camp Clik sort of feel when it comes to the production.  

Sometimes I wish the tracks were a bit faster, as slower tempos are kind of the bane of hip hop released after 1994 for me, but Dredknotz keep the energy level up with a lively, dynamic lyrical delivery.  While not to the same extreme as Onyx, there are times where Dredknotz remind me of a slower, moodier version of those kings of Queens.  The end result is an album that harshly rumbles along, never getting too wild, but also never slowing down to the point where I lose interest.

90s Tapes did another fantastic job with this reissue, from how great it sounds, down to the the smallest details of the art.  Not being a DJ and only being a person who likes to listen to records, the release being a quadruple LP to include all of the instrumentals is probably a bit more than I need personally.  Though I imagine there are plenty of folks significantly more talented than me that wouldn't have it any other way.  

Dredknotz - Under Pressure:

https://90stapes.bandcamp.com/album/under-pressure

Sons Of Sam - You Oughta Know 2xLP

90s Tapes (2023)

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.

You Oughta Know is another one of those albums that has been sitting in my to-write-about piles for way too long.  This came out in September of 2023.  That's almost two and a half years ago and it seems crazy that I still haven't gotten to it.  Better late than never I suppose, but this write up is not what I would call prompt.

Sons of Sam existed in the early 90s and were recording tracks during the peak of the golden era of 1993 to 1994.  They released one 12" single and that was pretty much all that was heard of them until some reissues later on.  You Oughta Know is the ultimate of this reissues as it puts out what should have been the groups debut album.  Recorded during the timeframe mentioned earlier (aside from bonus track recorded in 1996) this feels like the sort of record that would have slid nicely into a late 1994 release.

The beats are good and many of the tracks lean towards the more laid back side of the equation.  We're not yet at a full on 1995 and later snoozefest, there's enough ruggedness that propels the tracks forward with hard hitting drums.  If anything these songs are more like the jazzy mellower moments of Tribe with lots of upright bass, but with very different vocalists.  And it's not every song, you get to something like "Get It On" and the BPMs ratchet up while hitting the soul section of the crate digging and we're in the midst of a song that would have definitely been a favorite of mine if it had been released back then.

Lyrically PA-Kid and Xav both bring their A game and the result is two MCs that have that deep voiced gravitas that make their rhymes seem even more important.  Admittedly, I don't always know which one is which as they are not the type of MCs that say their own names all the time, but they are equally skilled and whoever is rapping gets the job done.  

The album recieves the usual lavish 90s Tapes treatment saving this album from the dustbins of history.  When they pull something like this out of obscurity and make it available, that's when they often do their best work.  And Sons of Sam is right up there with their best releases.

Sons Of Sam - You Oughta Know:

https://90stapes.bandcamp.com/album/ya-oughta-know

Harleckinz – 90two90six: The Demo Tapes 4xLP

90s Tapes (2024)

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'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:

https://90stapes.bandcamp.com/album/90two90six

The Future Sound - The Whole Shabang Volume 1 3xLP

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 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 could (and sometimes do) go on and on about what an amazing lebel 90s Tapes is.  They are the kings of the reissue game and release classic after classic, all of the absolute highest quality.  Even if the album isn't one I'm super into, the care they put into each album is the gold standard that all other labels should be held to.  Now, when you have that perfect storm of 90s Tapes tackling an album I genuinely love, that's been desperate for a real reissue, that's when the magic really starts to happen.

The Whole Shabang Volume 1 was the first and only album released by The Future Sound.  It originally came out in 1992, which I have said many times could be the absolute best year in hip hop history if you look at the overall quality of everything that was released.  Well, The Future Sound got lost in the that shuffle.  I have no memories of them from 1992 and it wasn't until decades later that I stumbled across the album on one of those internet lists touting under-appreciated albums. 

In the few years that I've been listening to The Whole Shabang, I've become completely enamored with it.  The incredible, upbeat production mixed with lyrics from Flashback and Relay create the sort of album that begs to be listened to repeatedly.  When I wrote about the original pressing of this album (a barebones, no artwork, single disc, promo only  endeavor) I compared them to UMCs and Lords of The Underground among others.   I still feel like that's the camp The Future Sound fits best in, feel good hip hop with killer production.  I wish they had the chance to follow this up with another album.

The 90s Tapes reissue is pretty much flawless.  We've finally got full artwork and the triple disc pressing not only sounds great, but includes pretty much every sound they could find that this group recorded.  Maybe noone really needs to listen to six remixes of "Lady / What's a Bro to Do?" in a row, but as a completist I sure do love having all of them at my disposal when I do want to listen to one of them.  I'm so thrilled that 90s Tapes was the label to finally reissue this semi-forgotten classic and it's on my shortlist for the best reissue I've picked up this year.

The Future Sound - The Whole Shabang Volume 1:
https://90stapes.bandcamp.com/album/the-whole-shabang-volume-1

Mad Skillz - From Where??? 2xLp + 7" (/750)

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.

This is another one of those albums that's been in my backlog to write about for ages.  90s Tapes rereleased this back in 2023.  Even though that doesn't necessarily make this the most timely time to write about From Where???, it has given me a good amount of time to sit with a record I had never heard before picking up.

The story goes is that Mad Skillz debut album, packed with top tier producers and guest appearances, was dropped in 1996 the same day as a 2 Pac record and The Fugees.  This led to it being drastically overshadowed and resulted in Mad Skillz being dropped.  Which led to him changing his name to just Skillz and taking another swing at things in the early 2000s.  By 1996, I wasn't paying attention to hip hop at all really, so I wasn't aware of this album.  I'm not sure how I would have felt about it if I had heard it at the time.  I think that if From Where??? had dropped in 1993, I would have been into it.

We've got a rogues gallery of producers on here including Large Professor, The Beatnuts, Buckwild and J Dilla.  They've put together an album that's full of cool and interesting beats that are way better than the bulk of production that was happening in 1996.  That said, it does still suffer from slow-tempo-itis for the bulk of the album.  Don't get me wrong, it's good.  It's very good, in fact, if you think about the year it came out.  But I'm always going to be more interested in an album that has some higher bpm numbers.

Lyrically, Mad Skillz can really hold it down.  He reminds me a lot of Maestro Fresh Wes in his voice, cadence and subject matter.  He spends a lot of time talking about how good he is in relation to his geography.  Just as Maestro Fresh Wes liked to spit about how good he was despite being from Canada, Mad Skillz treads similar territory, but swapping Canada for Virginia.  This isn't a dig.  I love Maestro Fresh Wes, so if you have something in common with him, I'm going to be OK with that.  Guest verses by the aforementioned Large Pro and Q-Tip don't hurt either.

This is a fun record.  I wish it was a little faster and had it come out a few years earlier it probably would have been.  Considering the desert that 1996 hip hop was, Mad Skillz and From Where??? stand out as being among the top tier of that year.

Mad Skillz - From Where???:

https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_n5AE8o7T2ysIpYQmlSf5PRrVRRVORV35M

Ase Man - Step Into The A.M. 3xLP

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 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 can't say that I was familiar with Ase Man when I got his record along with the two Southpaw releases that 90s Tapes put out a few months ago.  Step Into The A.M. originally came out in 1997, which puts it deeper into the 90s than I typically prefer, though indie releases tend to age better for me than what was happening on the majors during that time.  

It's typically the production that lets me down in the late 90s, but Ase Man avoids this pitfall and has an album with robust production with those loud drums that I think is so important to hip hop.  As a whole the album is slower tempo than a lot of my favorites, and that's another part of the latter half of the 1990s that bugs me - slower songs, but Ase Man doesnt sacrifice enthusiasm and energy on these lower bpm tracks.

Lyrically, Ase Man carries this record just fine.  He's not top tier or the sort of MC that will reveal himself to be a forgotten revelation or anything like that.  But he's very good, has a strong voice and can keep track of rhymes that serve the stories he's telling.  His cadence reminds me a bit of Akinyele, but without that strange guttural noise that Akinyele randomly throws into his verses, which is a massive improvement.  All in all, a very good record by a new-to-me rapper that I'm happy to add into the collection.  90s Tapes strikes again.

Ase Man - Step Into The A.M.:
https://90stapes.bandcamp.com/album/step-into-the-a-m

Juggaknots - Re:Release 2xLP (/500)

90s Tapes (2022, 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.

This is another one of those albums that I've had in my to-write-about pile for a few years now.  Why have I not written about it yet?  I couldn't really tell you.  I've listened to it and I like it, but it's one of those albums that I have a hard time articulating my thoughts about.  It's not exactly in the pocket of my favorite sounds of hip hop, yet I still find it very engaging.

The first, first version of this album was an eight song version that came out on Fondle 'Em records back in 1996.  Over the years, it's be reissued several times, with more tracks being added over the years until we get to this 23 track behemoth on 90s Tapes.  The Juggaknots are heralded as being one of those early indie rap acts that separated themselves from the direction that hip hop was moving in the mid 90s.  While I find that admirable, I wish that had happened a few years prior so that the production sound that I like had an offshoot I could have followed.

While I do like the beats on this record, they are a lot slower than what I typically enjoy.  There's interesting sounds here and the deliberate, borderline sludgy vibe of songs like "Jivetalk" really work with the lyrical delivery, but I tend to still find myself wishing things were just a little faster.  That aforementioned lyrical delivery is the highlight of this entire album.  

The MCs involved spin convoluted tales with no shortage of adjectives and rhyme structures.  There's an early Kool Keith vibe as far as how the lyrics are constructed, before he went off into outer space.  Though the delivery isn't that nasal, choppy flow that Keith was known for.  This is a slower, smoother and more deliberate flow, but sacrificing none of the complexity and wittiness.  Again, it's an album that sits a little outside of my usual wheelhouse, but the quality is so staggeringly high that it overcomes the style choices that would typically make me look elsewhere for my hip hop.

Juggaknots - Re:Release:
https://juggaknots.bandcamp.com/album/re-release

Tha Alkaholiks - Likwidation 2xLP + 7"

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:

https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mi0gOaOcBS7hBNFzLw3ik-kahNx0r0CvU

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

Southpaw - Left Hand Rule 2xLP

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 deals in two major types of reissues.  When there's a more well known album being released, that's termed a "classic" and when they delve deeper into the more obscure or previously unreleased recording, they tend to call that release an "indie."  What I have put together myself is that the "classic" tend to have a much better chance of being from that 90-94 sweet spot (my sweet spot is 87-94, but 90s Tapes doesn't do reissues for 80s records) that I like for hip hop, where the "indie" releases often are from the second half of the 90s.  

This has led me to discover many post '94 "indie" albums that I probably wouldn't have heard otherwise and has, to an extent, made me soften my stance that hip hop is no good after 1994.  But, the flip side of that is 90s Tapes have definitely put out some albums from that time period that aren't my cup of tea.  Even the indie scene of that era seems to be obsessed with slow, atmospheric beats that don't have the driving rhythm of the earlier 90s.  But every so often, the stars align (at least for me).  Southpaw's Left Hand Rule is the more rare "indie" release that originally came out in 1993.

What that means for me is that the beats on this album are much more in line with the sort of production I gravitate towards.  There's still some slower cuts on here, but the majority have those hard hitting drums that I like so much.  It's not upper tier 1993 production, but it's good and has a varied sound from song to song that keeps the album interesting.   

On the lyrics side we have two MCs, Pro K and Champion.  Both are pretty gifted MCs and have flows that are on the more complex side of what was common in that era.  Again, we're not talking elite flows for 1993, but they're not doing nursery rhyme raps.  They know how to work within a beat and hit that pocket right where they need to.  It's a fun record and one that I like having around when I need a change of pace from my "classics" that I've listened to 40,000 times each.

Southpaw - Left Hand Rule:
https://90stapes.bandcamp.com/album/left-hand-rule

Original Flavor - Beyond Flavor 2xLP + 7"

90s Tapes (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.

Original Flavor was one of those groups that I came across looking for 90s hip hop that I missed the first time around.  I checked out their debut album, This Is How It Is, first and it didn't really stick.  I didn't check out their second album at the time.  When 90s Tapes released Beyond Flavor, I pretty much bought it unheard as I trust their taste in reissues and when they drop an album it's very much a buy now or cry later situation.  I'm really glad I took the chance.

I'll start with what is typically the most important thing for me on a golden era hip hop album, the beats.  And the beats are great.  Upbeat, jazzy loops with strong drums and lots of great scratching in the breaks.  It's exactly the sort of production I am looking for in my hip hop and while it definitely leans towards a more accessible sound, it does so in a way that still feels real.

The lyrics are solid, but not spectacular.  They sort of come off like a lesser UMCs (first album) or Leaders of the New School (also first album).  Never as good as either of those group, but in the same wheelhouse and totally fine.  There's a lot of post Das-EFX "diggety" being dropped throughout the album and also by Jay-Z (yes, that Jay-Z) on "Can I Get Open," which is kind of wacky.  It's the production that makes the record though and this is going to be one of those records I pull out when I'm looking for some upbeat hip hop to brighten the day.

Original Flavor - Beyond Flavor:
https://90stapes.bandcamp.com/album/beyond-flavor

Illegal - The Untold Truth 2xLP + 7"

90s Tapes (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.

I'm not positive, but I believe that Illegal was meant to be part of EPMD's Hit Squad before that collective (and EPMD) splintered.  It feels like the gimmick was every crew needed some kid rappers back then.  Illegal stayed affiliated with Erick Sermon and he produces three of the tracks on their 1993 album, The Untold Truth.  He's joined on the boards by Diamond D, Bi Markie, Lord Finesse and others.  A real smorgasbord of producers as was becoming the trend.  Luckily the album still sounds cohesive with the sort of '93 era beats that I do tend to enjoy.

Lyrically, Malik and Jamal are really skilled for being younger teenagers.  Their rhyme schemes are sophisticated and their delivery is about as rugged as you can be at that age.  The disses of other kid groups like Kriss Kross sound pretty silly these days, but it's not like they cornered the market on diss records back then.  More than anything, I think this record benefits mostly from coming out in 1993.  It was pretty hard to miss on beats back then, unless you were barking up some G-Funk tree, which Illegal is not.

As usual the 90s Tapes reissue is everything you'd want and more.  Even though the artwork is simple, it looks great.  The songs (which to be honest sometimes overstay their welcome a bit due to their length) are spread out over two LPs with a bonus 7" that has an extra Lord Finesse helmed remix of "We Gets Buzy."  While not a record I heard back in 1993, it's a slice of that time that I miss and am glad to have a new record from that time in the collection.

Illegal - The Untold Truth:
https://90stapes.bandcamp.com/album/the-untold-truth

Kamakaze - Head On 2xLP + 7" (/750)

90s Tapes (2023) 

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 still have piles of 90s Tapes reissues that I haven't been able to write about yet.  As I was going through some things, I noticed that I still hadn't gotten to Kamakaze, which had come out in late 2023.  This was the first official release for a shelved album that was supposed to have come out on Reprise back in 1995.  I'm not sure why it didn't get released back then, but if I'm being honest I probably wouldn't have heard it back then as '95 is when I was pretty checked out on what was happening in hip hop.

The production on this record was mostly handled by Marley Marl with a few tracks done by K-Def (who did one of my all time favorite beats on "Funky Child" by Lords of the Underground among others).  I think having Marley on beats mostly helps this album hold on to that sound that I prefer rather than dipping into the post 1994 style of production that I don't care for as much.  There are traces of that, as I don't like the G-Funk sounding keyboard whine on "Spread It Around" or the slowly, slinky sounds of "Da Rocks Ya'll" and "Goodlife."

But there are several songs on here that have good, hard hitting drums and an aggressive tempo that falls much more in line with the sort of early '90s hip hop that I prefer.  The tracks that are the ones that make this a record to keep on the shelves are the ones like "Snakes In The Grass," "House O' Hitz Crew," "Devastating" and the title track, "Head On." As far as lyrics and delivery goes, KL and Solo both sound great.  They've got gravelly flows that are engaging and are the type of rappers that I think would always excel if given the right beat.

For me, this isn't a top tier-untouchable lost gem of a record.  It's a really good album that is way better than a lot of records that came out in 1995 and beyond.  It's not perfect and there's a handful of songs that I don't dig all that much, but in general it's a solid album and one that I tend to enjoy more with each subsequent spin.

Kamakaze - Head On:
https://90stapes.bandcamp.com/album/head-on

Mystidious Misfitss – A Who Dat? 2xLP + 7" (/500)

90s Tapes (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.

If you are looking for a hip hop group that has a name that is difficult to remember how to spell, Mystidious Misfitss might just be the group for you.  Their lone album, A Who Dat?, originally came out in 1995.  I didn't make much of an impact at the time, and from what I gather, that seems to be because their original label, Epic, didn't even bother to release the album on CD in America.  But had I heard this album, it's definitely one that I would have been into.

I know there is only a one year difference between 1994 and 1995, but I can't even begin to explain just how different hip hop production in those two years sounds to me.  It's like almost an entirely different genre of music for the most part.  Over the years I've learned that there were good beats still being produced after 1994, but I still find them to be on the rare side.  But for whatever reason, A Who Dat? is absolutely full of them.  

If you told me this came out in 1993, I wouldn't even bat an eyelash.  To the point where I'm mostly convinced this was recorded much earlier and the release just got delayed to 1995.  I haven't read that anywhere and have no proof other than the aforementioned nugget that this didn't come out on CD in the US, but this just sounds like that perfect, early 90s golden era sound that I love.  On top of the strong beats are 3 MCs that do a great job.  It's similar to other multi-person groups of that like Yaggfu Front, Pharcyde and maybe Leaders of the New School as long as you understand there's no one like Busta in Mystidious Misfitss.  There's a few too many skits, but that's not a problem unique to Mystidious Misfitss.

As usual, 90s Tapes sets the bar as high as high could be with this reissue.  It's a thoughtfully put together package with excellent artwork, great sounds and everything you would expect from them.  There's a reason I set an alarm multiple times a month to wake up in the middle of the night to buy their releases.  I don't deprive myself of sleep for just anything.  If you see one of these on Discogs or eBay or whataever and it's a nice price, go grab it.  Mystidious Misfitss created a great record that more people should hear.

Mystidious Misfitss – A Who Dat?:
https://90stapes.bandcamp.com/album/a-who-dat

Intelligent Hoodlum - Intelligent Hoodlum 2xLP

 

90s Tapes (2021, 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.

Intelligent Hoodlum (aka Tragedy) is a name that for whatever reason I was pretty familiar back in the 90s when I was originally discovering hip hop.  I don't know why I knew his name though as I didn't have any of his records back then.  It would take decades before I actually listened to music, but it seemed like there was some sort of lore about him back them that I can't quite pin down.  This probably just reads as me rambling, but the point I'm trying to make is that I was aware of the legacy of Intelligent Hoodlum before I got my hands on his music.

This album originally came out in 1990, so it does have a sound that's probably a little dated, in comparison to the type of records that were being made in other years of the early 90s.  That isn't to say it's bad, in fact there's something that's equally charming and exciting about how the production was handled during that time period.  It feels like the beats on this album as about as cutting edge as they could have been in 1990 apart from your Public Enemys, Ultramagnetics and Tribes.  And it's over this production that Tragedy lets loose.

Lyrically, it's pretty obvious that this came out in the early part of the 90s, due to subject matter and some of the tropes that are leaned into.  But aside from that, Tragedy is among the upper tier lyricists of that type, especially as far as how his rhyme schemes flow.  Is he a Rakim or a Chuck D?  Of course not, barely anyone else is.  But in a time period where Kid N Play and Young MC ruled the roost, it's immediately apparent how much higher Tragedy floats.

90s Tapes handled this reissue and while I missed the boat on it when it originally came out in 2021, I was able to hunt down a copy at a reasonable price.  It's the best version of the record that is out there and while it may not be packed full of the bonus material as some of their other releases, they handle the album itself with the best possible care.  It's another stellar reissue.

Intelligent Hoodlum - Intelligent Hoodlum:
https://tragedykhadafi252.bandcamp.com/album/intelligent-hoodlum

Bomb Threat - Bomb Threat LP

 

 90s Tapes (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.

Originally released on cassette in 1995, Bomb Threat was definitely not something on my radar back then.  It's another one of those misplaced relics that 90s Tapes has leapt in to rescue and give a proper reissue to.  It's a short album, clocking in at 25 minutes and really only has six actual songs, making it one of the rare single LPs in the 90s Tapes discography.  But it's still treated with the usual respect, looking and sounding great.

Bomb Threat is a crew and the album plays more like a compilation.  Five of the six songs are helmed by specific MCs or groups and it's not until the final track that the whole unit is credited for a song.  I don't know any of the individual groups or MCs on this record, but I certainly wouldn't mind hearing more from some of them.

As I've mentioned many times, 1995 is that line in the sand year for me with hip hop most of the time.  1994 and earlier is where my heart typically lies.  If a record came out in 1995 or later, it's more of a rarity for me to connect with it.  It does happen though, and Bomb Threat is one of those time, and it really boils down to the production for me.

There are great beats on this album, and while they tend to lean towards the mellower side of the golden era, they also lean close enough to that rougher early 90s sound to grab my attention.  This is particularly apparent in the first two songs.  "Phenomenal" by Bleak may not quite be phenomenal, but it's awfully good with a killer beat that Bleak runs roughshod over.  The other highlight for me is "Sabotage" which is attributed to Lifesavas & Sly Brown Da Hornet.  Again it's the production that seals the deal for me, though everyone on the mic gets the job done on this as well.

The rest of the songs are all good, there's nothing on here that I don't like, it's just those first two that tend to steal the show every time I listen to it.  I'm not sure if any of these guys have more material from the early to mid 90s but if they do, I'd love to hear it.

Bomb Threat - Bomb Threat:
https://90stapes.bandcamp.com/album/bomb-threat

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

Da Homlez – Abandoned In Da Streetz 2xLP + 7"

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.

Abandoned In Da Streets was originally released on CD and cassette on a label called Noir.  A quick peruse of Discogs shows that this album and an accompanying 12" single may have been the only releases that the label ever put out.  The same can be said for this group.  I certainly never heard of Da Homlez back in 1995, when this was originally released.  I imagine they didn't make a lot of noise being on a new, independent label.   And to be honest even if they had gotten a sniff of exposure on Yo! MTV Raps or the Source, I wouldn't have heard anything about it in 1995 as I had moved on from those.

What I can say is that if I had heard Da Homlez back then, there is almost no way I wouldn't have immediately loved it.  Even though I am pretty sure I only bought one hip hip album in 1995, that one was the second Souls of Mischief CD.  Even as I had started losing interest in the hip hop I had access to, I was still taken in by Souls and Hieroglyphics.  And that's the niche that Da Homlez kind of slides right into.  Maybe they are not quite as left of center as Hiero, but they are mining a similar west coast vibe, particularly when it comes to production.  Another kindred spirit definitely being the first Pharcyde record.

Over strong, jazzy beats, the multi-MC crew trades killer lyrics back and forth.  For a lot of the forgotten classics of the golden era that I have come across in later years, I have often said that the production is great and the vocals are good, or fine, or don't get in the way.  That isn't the case with Da Homlez.  These guys are great and if anything their skill only elevates the beats even higher.

As usual, 90s Tapes does a flawless job with this reissue.  Everything looks amazing and sounds even better.  There's more than one reason they are my favorite reissue label.  There's the quality of the packaging and vinyl, of course, but they have done an incredible job of finding these hidden gems and making them available.  I am pretty confident I would have never heard of Da Homlez if not for 90s Tapes, and man is my record collection better off having heard it.  Highest recommendation if you can find a copy.

Da Homlez – Abandoned In Da Streetz:
https://90stapes.bandcamp.com/album/abandoned-in-da-streetz

Yaggfu Front – Action Packed Adventure! 2xLP + 7"

90s Tapes (2024)

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 written about this record before when I picked up a copy of the original pressing, but I felt it was important to say a little bit about this reissue from 90s Tapes that came out a few months ago.  90s Tapes is the absolute gold standard for hip hop reissues and the care that they've put into Action packed Adventure is right up there with the best releases in their catalog.  The original UK version was a single disc, so it was nice to have it expanded to a double LP so that the songs have a little more room to breathe.  Plus the extra LP and bonus 7" allows for six extra tracks that weren't on the original including remixes and an instrumental.

I said most of what I needed to say about the music itself the last time I wrote about this album.  I'll just mention again that this is classic Golden Era greatness from 1994.  The production is everything I want out of an album that came out in '94.  And while I wouldn't describe the MCing as elite for the time period, it gets the job done and makes for a super enjoyable album.

This is the version to hunt down if you need a copy.  No one does reissues like 90s Tapes and with Yaggfu Front, they pay the appropriate respect to a lost classic of the Golden Era.

Yaggfu Front – Action Packed Adventure!:

https://90stapes.bandcamp.com/album/action-packed-adventure