Tha Alkaholiks – Coast II Coast 2xLP - Blue Vinyl (/500)

HHV (2018, 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.

As I mentioned when I wrote about the first Alkaholiks' record, 21 & Over, I hadn't listened to them back in the 90s when they were first coming up.  They flew under my radar and it wasn't until many years later that I took a chance on them.  After really enjoying their debut, I decided to hunt down their second LP that originally came out in 1995.  As frequent readers of this nonsense may remember, 1995 is typically where hip hop fell off a cliff for me.  1994 is the definitive end of my golden era.

That said, for a 1995 release this is pretty solid stuff.  I don't think Coast II Coast is anywhere near as good as Tha Alkaholiks' debut was, but in comparison to most releases of 1995 it's a good listen.  As with most hip hop after 1994, the main issue I have with the record is the beats.  They just are not as innovative as what was being done on 21 & Over and they feel slower.  The upside of that is that the slower beats seem to give the Liks a little more room to grow as lyricists.

I think the rhyming is much improved on this outing.  Before, they were totally fine - I can't say anything negative about any of those songs.  That said, the growth to this second album is considerable with more complicated rhyme structures and just what feels like a lot more words per minute.  If the beats were a little bit more in line with the sort of thing I like better, this would be a killer record.  With how it stands, it's still good and a fun listen, but I like 12 & Over better.

Tha Alkaholiks – Coast II Coast:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lTxSE3V0satyB2fWTe_9AZ3UoreZdJbbo

Smif-N-Wessun - Dan Shinin' 2xLP

HHV (2018, 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've mentioned it before, but my definition of the Golden Era stops in 1994.  That's kind of where I checked out on hip hop as a teenager.  It was partially fueled by my newfound interest in punk and indie rock, but it was also because there were fewer and fewer hip hop albums that I was getting excited about.  There was some sort of seismic shift that happened that rendered post 94 albums useless to me.

Dah Shinin' came out in 1995 and I never heard it.  I remember hearing the name Smif-N-Wessun and thinking it was kind of a goofy name, but I never listened to it.  I don't think I knew that they were affiliated with Black Moon and the Boot Camp Clik, I might have given them more of a chance at the time if I did.  But as I've been digging around for lost (to me) classics, I stumbled across Dah Shinin' and finally picked up a copy.

I can't, in good conscious, say this is top tier Golden Era stuff.  It is good and I like it way more than most records that came out after 1994, but it suffers a little bit from being kind of slow.  Both MCs are also on the more laid back side and coming in at an hour and eight minutes long, it probably goes on a little longer than it needs to.  That's a lot of criticisms for a record that I'm trying to convey that I think is actually good.  

What I can say on the positive side is that the beats are really strong.  They're full and layered and while I do wish they were a little more upbeat, they do match the vocal stylings of the group quite well.  And lyrically, Smif-N-Wessum really bring it on Dah Shinin'.  They are focused and creative.  They are laid back, for sure, but it does typically work out for them.  I do wonder what I would have thought of this record if it had come out in say 1993 and had some Yo! MTV Raps videos behind it, but for now I'm happy that I was able to discover it for the first time now, when I do have a greater appreciation for things I missed out on the first time.

Smif-N-Wessun - Dah Shinin':
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mm04Ke2Ku48cM7kATnimgR51NAOz5qjnk