Souls Of Mischief - No Man's Land 2xLP - Clear w/ Blue & Orange Splatter

Get On Down / Jive (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 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 long overdue reissue of the second Souls Of Mischief album came out as part of last year's Record Store Day Black Friday.  It has taken me a moment to write about it.  This is in large part because I've already written about this album when I picked up the original pressing of it a few years ago. I'm not as motivated to tackle an album just because it's a slightly fancier reissue.

That said, it's a slightly fancier reissue worth picking up.  It's a nice gatefold sleeve with thick card stock that is miles better than the original pressing.  My original has a pretty gnarly seam split as well, so that just makes this one even better.  The colored vinyl is sharp looking, though that means less and less to me as the years go buy.  You can usually trust Get On Down reissues to sound good, and I've heard no issues with this release.

The album itself is so much better than I gave it credit for in 1995.  I was really down on it when it was originally released, primarily because I thought the production was a step down from 93 Til Infinity.  I still think that it's a step down, but over the years I have heard so much boring, abysmal hip hop production that in comparison, No Man's Land is much better.  

As far as post-1994 hip hop goes, it's pretty elite production if we're being honest.  It's just that in 1995 I was coming right out of the golden era and was watching so much hip hop turn into something I wasn't interested in, so I had turned my attention to punk and indie rock.  But today, 30 years later in 2025. I can see this album for what it is, an unappreciated album from one of hip hop's best groups.

Souls Of Mischief - No Man's Land:
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=CdRNZZPU5mI

D-Nice – To Tha Rescue LP

Jive (1991)

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 been after a copy of this on vinyl for quite a few years.  It took a while to find one in as good condition as I needed, while not also being prohibitively expensive.  This copy found that sweet spot and as I am pretty doubtful that To Tha Rescue by D-Nice is very high on any label's reissue list, it was time to grab it.

When I was a much younger man than I am today, I was pretty obsessed with the first D-Nice album, Call Me D-Nice.  In particular the title track was (and still is, if I'm being honest) on of my favorite hip hop tracks.  As 1991 hit, I was really starting to get obsessed with hip hop and was either buying or Columbia House/BMG scamming as many CDs and cassingles as I could get my hands on.  I was really excited that D-Nice had a new album out and I'm pretty sure I got my copy from a BMG six CDs for a penny or something like that.

When I got it, I listened to it a few times, but was kind of disappointed in it.  I think hip hop was just moving so fast at that time that it kind of passed D-Nice by.  I moved on to other things and at some point, sold my CD copy during a purge.  However, many years later I went back and revisited.  With hindsight and not being as concerned about the newest, freshest thing, I was able to appreciate this album a lot more than I did when I first got it.

There are a handful of truly great songs on here.  "25 Ta Life" is excellent, "And There U Have it" has a rugged, aggressive feel to it and "Time To Flow," with an appearance from Treach of Naughty By Nature is probably the album's highlight.  Why there is a second version of "Time to Flow" that doesn't have Treach on it is something of a mystery for an album that only has 12 songs on it.

That said, there are some moments that aren't as great.  "Straight From the Bronx" is excellent for most of song, but there is a wacky keyboard-synth-horn-solo thing at the end that isn't really needed.  "Get In Touch With Me" is the worst of that R&B tinged crossover style that ruined the flow of a lot of records of that era.  And "Check Yourself" has Too Short on it and sounds like a Too Short song.  I don't like Too Short, so I'm not super into D-Nice rapping over beats that sound like that.

At the end, there is more good than bad on this record for sure and it's an album that I really didn't give a chance to when it came out in 1991.  While I still prefer D-Nice's debut, I'm glad to have this one on the shelf next to it.

D-Nice – To Tha Rescue:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lwfFA3Gd_PWhY0G_UFACAJ3vpJ2EIbybo

Souls Of Mischief – 93 'Til Infinity (The Remixes) 2xLP

Jive (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 actually picked this up on Record Store Day Black Friday last year, but didn't get around to writing about it until now.  93 'Til Infinity is one of my top five hip hop albums of all time, and most days I'd probably say it's in my top three.  I've been obsessed with it since the very moment I saw the title track on Yo! MTV Raps when it first came out.  

This album is meant as a companion piece, with remixes and a B side from the 12" singles that came out around the album's release.It's great to have these songs in one place, but it also feels like something of a missed opportunity to me.  While there was only one official B side on those early singles, "Good Feeling," this really was the time to finally get a version "Cab Fare" on to a proper release.  I know, I know - sample clearance.  But this was the time to try.  I also think that "Get The Girl, Grab The Money & Run" from the Low Down Dirty Shame soundtrack should have been added.  Two more new songs would have gone a long way.

As far as the remixes go, they are all stellar, but there's not that many.  Only four remixes are here, which is fine, because that's all that was made.  They're definitely worth checking out if you haven't heard them before, giving a completely new flavor to tracks like "Make Your Mind Up," "Never No More," "That's When You Lost" and of course the remix to the song "93 'Til Infinity." 

Let's do some math here.  One B side.  Four Remixes.  Why is this a double LP?  It's because the rest of the album is full of instrumentals.  Five instrumentals and an acapella version of the title track.  I'm not a DJ, so I really don't need these very much.  Are they cool to listen to?  Absolutely.  But it's kind of scattershot with instrumentals of three LP versions and two of the remixes.  If this was a whole album of the LP instrumentals, yeah - sign me up.  But this kind of feels like an unnecessary double LP.  I'm probably more sensitive to it than usual because of the RSD tax making this a pretty pricey record.  I would have been perfectly happy with a single LP that doesn't have any of the instrumentals.  And add in "Cab Fare!"

Souls Of Mischief – 93 'Til Infinity (The Remixes):

https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mCSBGVk3AseBaG81kdOUmmLA79TPQAlWg

Casual - Fear Itself LP (Black Vinyl, UK Version) & 2xLP (Black & Red Swirl, RSD Version)

 

Jive (1994, UK Pressing)
Get On Down (2024, RSD Pressing)

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.

Wrapping up the fifth and final Record Store Day purchase for 2024 is Casual.  But as an added little bonus, I'm also including the 1994 UK pressing of the album, which until this year was the only version that had a picture sleeve.  I picked up the UK version quite a while ago, maybe close to two years?  But it had remained in the 'to write about' pile as I had already written about the non-picture sleeve US version on this site at the beginning of the Ed Lover Dance Day project.  That made it not as big a priority to get to, but we can add it here for a two for one deal.

The picture sleeve is the only selling point of the 1994 UK version.  As a single LP, the album is crammed onto two sides of vinyl and does the dynamics no favors.  It doesn't sound bad or anything, but it definitely doesn't compare to either of the double LP versions.  I wasn't sure Fear Itself would ever get the proper reissue treatment, but it was important to me to have a copy with artwork.

The new double LP Record Store Day version on colored vinyl looks pretty good and sounds pretty great.  The bass sounds low and full on my stereo, and that's always been one of the real selling points of this record for me.  The colored vinyl matches the art well enough, but the black in it isn't really dark enough.  The inclusion of the obi strip covers up most of Casual's face on the art when everything is in a plastic sleeve, so I wouldn't say that's a bonus, but it is nice to have the bolder spine when it's sitting on the shelf.  I personally would have made the bulk of the obi also be based around that portion of the album art.  I've seen it enough times to know it's a thing and I'm not sure why they didn't go that route.

The album itself is among the very best.  If I'm ranking my favorite hip hop records of all time, this is my number two on the list, only behind Del's No Need For Alarm.  It's a nearly perfect record showcasing everything I love about that era's production.  Casual's rhyming has always been more straightforward that the rest of the Hiero crew, but that doesn't make him a lesser MC.  In fact, because his flow is a bit more straightforward, it sort of forces his to really show his command of rhyming and building complicated, but easy to follow patterns.  He can tell stories when he needs to and battles better than all but the absolute most elite rappers on the planet.

Can't say enough good things about the album and this new Get On Down pressing is the definitive version of it.  Even though it's a Record Store Day release, I still see it readily available on many online stores.  If you like 90s era hip hop and didn't catch this one first time around, I can't recommend adding a record to your collection more strongly than this one

Casual - Fear Itself:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_m61K-0X-SVBBfbt_K3FmNlIs8uu6DMgcw

Boogie Down Productions - Live Hardcore Worldwide 2xLP

Jive (2004, 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 wrote about the original pressing of this album at length a few months ago.  You can go here to see what I wrote in full: https://www.ibuywaytoomanyrecords.com/2023/04/boogie-down-productions-live-hardcore.html. In a nutshell, while live albums are not typically something that I drawn too, this is one of the few out there that has always been special to me, particularly because it was the only way for me to hear any of the songs from Criminal Minded for a few years.  But the CD was long and in order to make is fit on vinyl, they cut songs from the tracklist as opposed to making it a double LP.

I'm not sure what prompted it exactly, but in 2004, Jive corrected this issue (mostly) and rereleased the album as a double LP, finally including every song from the CD on vinyl.  Why they did this as a white sleeve DJ copy instead of a fancier reissue, I'll never know.  But at least I finally have all of the songs on vinyl.  Plus, I do have the artwork from the original pressing that I wrote about before, so I have everything that there is, it's just split across two releases.

Would I buy it a third time if a proper double LP reissue with full artwork was released?  I'd like to be fiscally responsible and say no, I wouldn't need to pick up yet another version of this.  But I think anyone reading this knows me well enough to know what the real answer would be...

Boogie Down Productions - Live Hardcore Worldwide: 

https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kwQhGQIdTAdPhjxad_3RyDAFzNm-xe0KQ

Boogie Down Productions - Live Hardcore Worldwide LP

Jive (1991)

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.

Boogie Down Productions has always been one of my very favorite hip hop groups, ever since I was a teenager.  I'm pretty sure the first time I heard them was on the Yo! MTV Raps: The CD compilation album.  It had a version of "My Philosophy" on it that is still my favorite version of the song (and one that I'm not sure was released on vinyl, at least not by cross checking run times on Discogs).  From their I started buying BDP albums and Live Hardcore Worldwide was the first 'new' release of theirs once I had started listening to them.

I've gone on record many times saying live albums are not usually my thing, but when I was fourteen years old, this was the only place I could find any way to listen to songs from the first Boogie Down Productions album, Criminal Minded.  It took another year or so before I was able to find a sketchy looking copy of that CD in a Coconuts one day that I had to convince my dad to buy me as I had no cash on hand.  Despite my feelings for live albums in general, I do like listening to this one still.  I'm sure it's fueled by nostalgia, but I also have more context on the shows themselves now.  

Several songs were recorded at S.O.B's in New York,  When I was a kid, I was really just imagining them playing arenas or gigantic venues because I really just had no idea.  I eventually went to S.O.B.s in the early 2000s to see Del The Funky v play and was pretty surprised how small that place was.  Imagining peak KRS-One just destroying a place that only holds six or seven hundred people is wild to imagine.  I was lucky enough to see him play last year in a small venue and he was amazing.  I can't even imagine what it would have been like to be there live in 90 or 92.

This is also the last of the Boogie Down Production CDs that I needed to get on vinyl.  And even though there are a few songs on the CD that didn't make it to the version on wax, I'm still really happy to have finally been able to find this at a good price.  Now the question is do I want to start hunting down their 12" singles.  I'm not sure I want to commit to that just yet, but I do need to do more research on that extended remix of "My Philosophy."

Boogie Down Productions - Live Hardcore Worldwide:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kwQhGQIdTAdPhjxad_3RyDAFzNm-xe0KQ

A Tribe Called Quest - Midnight Marauders LP

Jive (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.

Buying Low End Theory by A Tribe Called Quest was a watershed moment in my hip hop education.  I loved the "Check The Rhime" video that ran on Yo! MTV Raps and just absorbed the CD the moment I picked it up.  Watching "Scenario" start to blow up a few months later was a little weird, but it was such a great song that it made all the sense in the world to me that it would start to leave to Yo! bubble.  By the time Midnight Marauders was ready in 1993, I was all in and so ready for some new Tribe music.  I was kind of disappointed when I finally listened to it.

I don't know what about this album didn't click with me in 1993.  Maybe I was too invested in Low End Theory?  Perhaps there were a lot of other eclectic hip hop acts to choose from?  I don't really know, but even though I didn't dislike it, I just didn't listen to it that much.  It took a while for me to finally revisit Midnight Marauders and as I listened to it, I couldn't figure out why I neglected it in high school.  It's probably not quite as good as Low End Theory, but it's really, really great.

The beats are innovative and are fresh sounding to my ears even in 2021.  The flow of the album from one song to the next is perfect and I could even argue that Phife shines brighter on this record than he did on Low End.  As I fill out my Golden Era vinyl collection, it was a no brainer that I need the three key Tribe Called Quest albums.  Sure, this is the third of the three to get picked up, but I fully expect to listen to it just as much as the other two.

A Tribe Called Quest - Midnight Marauders (YouTube Music full album playlist):
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kOrQZYtL5Bzd2S7IyP2nY3MDXd5Hc8c2E

 

Souls of Mischief - No Man's Land 2xLP

Jive (1995)

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.

Well, I'm out of Casual singles from the Fear Itself era, and while I don't have all of the Souls of Mischief singles from that time period, I figured now would be a good week to tackle the second Souls of Mischief full length, No Man's Land.  This was the follow up to 93 'Til Infinity, which was one of my all time favorite hip hop records when it came at and continues to be to this day.  

Now in 1995, I had really moved away from hip hop and was listening to much more punk and indie rock.  I was really disillusioned with the direction hip hop was moving, but in 1995 I was still game for a new release from anyone that was part of the Hieroglyphics crew.  I bought this CD right away and was extremely disappointed.  It just didn't connect with me at all and I pretty much filed it away after a few listens and moved on with my life.

It wasn't until many years later that I gave it another chance.  I liked it much better when I was a bit older.  While I still contend that the beats are not at the level of 93 'Til, they are way better than I gave them credit for in 1995.  Lyrically, the Souls are on fire and while their tone and delivery is more aggressive than on their debut, they still run circles around most multi-MC groups and pass the microphone back and forth with ease, never losing the flow of the song.

If I'm in the mood to listen to Souls of Mischief, I'm going to reach for 93 'Til Infinity nine times out of ten.  It's just one of those records that is embedded into my consciousness at this point.  But every so often I will pick up one of their other albums and I am never disappointed these days when No Man's Land is playing.  It's the true definition of an album that's a grower.  And I had to have the vinyl in my collection.

Souls of Mischief - No Man's Land:
https://hieroglyphicsimperium.bandcamp.com/album/no-mans-land

Casual / Souls of Mischief / Extra Prolific - A Low Down Dirty Shame 12"

Jive (1994)

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 last of the Casual singles from the golden era is this three-way split EP that also features fellow Hieroglyphics acts Souls of Mischief and Extra Prolific.  It features songs from the soundtrack of a movie called A Low Down Dirty Shame, which I've never seen despite it starring Keenon Ivory Waynes and me being a huge a huge fan of I'm Gonna Git You Sucka.  Maybe I need to check it out one day.

As far as this single goes, we get two versions of an exclusive Casual song called "Later On."  The LP version features a laid back, storytelling vibe with a a jazzy drum vibe, some keyboards in the hook and some atmospheric chatter in the background.  It's not my favorite Casual song from this era as I prefer Casual when he's hitting a little harder, but lyrically there's good stuff here.  The remix of this is far superior in my opinion.  It has a completely different vocal take and some new lyrics over a beat that is still slower in tempo, but hits much harder than the LP version.

Souls of Mischief contribute "Get The Girl, Grab The Money and Run." The LP version probably isn't as strong as anything on their 93 'Til Infinity album that was released the previous year, but it's still a strong offering.  Hiero was operating at a level so much higher than most at this time, even their lesser tracks can hang with the best of the era.  The Souls remix has a beat that's a bit more minimalistic than the LP version.  It's good, but in this instance I think the one the put on the album was better.

Lastly we have the Extra Prolific track "In Front of the Kids."  Nothing really to see here as this is also on the Like It Should Be full length, so nothing exclusive here.  It's not even one of the better songs on that album.  This EP should be a perfect bridge from writing about Casual singles to writing about Souls of Mischief singles, but those Souls singles are expensive and I don't have them all yet.  Hopefully one day.

Casual - "Later On":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEZjTN-k15M&ab_channel=Casual-Topic

Souls of Mischief - "Get The Girl, Grab The Money and Run":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRzuTjbIqco&ab_channel=SoulsOfMischiefVEVO

 

Casual - Me-O-Mi-O 12"

 Jive (1994)

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.

This was Casual's third single from Fear Itself, but if I was in charge of the release I would have had "Me-O-Mi-O" the lead single.  I think that of all of the incredible songs on the full length, this is the one that would have the most opportunity for mass appeal in 1994.  The rumbling bass along with killer lyrics and an easily digestible sing along hook should have been a smash hit.  Why it wasn't I'll never know, but it's a true highlight on an album that is packed with high points.

We've got a bunch of extra tracks on the 12" version.  We have "Me-O-Mi-O (It'd A Me Thang)," which isn't a remix at all, but a new track with different production and different lyrics.  Aside from sort of referencing the original's hook in its own hook, I'm not sure why the two are connected at all.  The beat is a little sparser and more dark than you'd think for a Hiero cut from this era, but as usual, Casual is on point and turns in some great verses.

There's also an exclusive song called "Rock On" that features Pep Love.  This one is built off a jazzy brass loop with some great scratching and laid back performances from Cas and Pep.  It's a little on the slow side, but really everything these guys touched during this era was pretty flawless.  Lastly, we have the Disseshowedo remix of "That's How It Is."  Since that song is already on the That's How It Is 12", I'm not really sure why it makes another appearance here.

Casual - "Me-O-Mi-O" 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAO2CxOHlgA&ab_channel=UPROXXVideo

Casual - "Me-O-Mi-O (It's A Me Thang)" 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S79WRo8zUdQ&ab_channel=charlesshmickens

Casual - "Rock On" 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QurUOCM2pV4&ab_channel=grantp33

Casual - I Didn't Mean To 12"

Jive (1993)

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.

As much as I love the Casual album Fear Itself (and I do love it so very much), "I Didn't Mean To" was never one of my favorite songs on it.  It's a really good song, but considering how much of the album is next-level great, it doesn't stand out to me quite as much.  It's particularly weird to me that it was chosen as the second single off of the album with a video and the 12" treatment.

The highlight of the album version of the song is its excellent, slinky beat.  Lyrically, I'm not as into the ladies man vibe, though the storytelling is a unique taker on the subject.  I just enjoy Casual the most when he's unleashing battle raps and self aggrandizing lyrics.  That's where he really shines.

The 12" also comes with a remix of the main track.  It uses the same vocal take, but has a beat that's a little punchier and has a nice baseline.  I don't like it as much as the album version, but it's a fun listen.  In addition to instrumentals of the LP version and the remix, we also have one exclusive track, "That's How It Is Part II."  I'm not sure why it's considered part two, as the beat is new and really it's a brand new song featuring a verse by A-Plus of Souls of Mischief.  It's an awesome track and it is kind of a shame it's relegated to B side status and has been somewhat forgotten as it is as strong as anything on Fear Itself.

Casual - "I Didn't Mean To (Album Version)":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMOJ9rqwuKg&ab_channel=489seven

Casual - "I Didn't Mean To (Remix)":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8cvB6xVZJY&ab_channel=RAWflava

Casual - "That's How It Is Part II":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Odk2qHqu9jQ&ab_channel=boothe

A Tribe Called Quest - People's Instinctive Travels & The Paths Of Rhythm 2xLP

Jive (1990)

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 discovered A Tribe Called Quest in 1993 after seeing their video for "Check The Rhyme" on Yo MTV Raps.  I loved that song so much and was even more enamored with them once I had dug into the full Low End Theory album.  Shortly after that I picked up their debut, People's Instinctive Travels & The Paths of Rhythm.  I am fairly positive I grabbed it as part of one of my Columbia House/BMG Music Club scams.  While I have never liked it the album quite as much as Low End Theory, which to be fair is a tough comparison for album, this debut has its share of great moments.  

I've often felt People's Instinctive Travels was something of an overlooked part of the Tribe discography and listening to my newly acquired copy on vinyl, I'm more sure of that than ever.  The beats are just a step below what you'd hear on Low End Theory or Midnight Marauders, but again, that's a pretty high bar I'm comparing it to.  The same sort of jazzy samples and steady percussion is constant throughout the album and there's no doubt about it, you are listening to a Tribe Called Quest album.

Lyrically, Q-Tip is every bit a great as he is on any other Tribe release and Phife is right there with him.  The interplay between these two as they trade verses is something that has always been special.  They have very different styles, but they are incredible compliments to eat other and every song where they both make an appearance is something special.  I'm thrilled to have this in the vinyl collection and I really need to pick up Midnight Marauders at some point.

A Tribe Called Quest - People's Instinctive Travels & The Paths Of Rhythm (YouTube Music full album stream):
https://music.youtube.com/browse/MPREb_3eauGuTWkgP

Boogie Down Productions - Edutainment LP

Jive (1990)

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.

Edutainment was the most recent Boogie Down Productions full length album that was out when I first started listening to them.  It's never been the album that I tend to go to the most.  I like most of the others better, but I think because of that it always sounds fresh and exciting every time I put it on.

I was never the biggest fan of the album's main single, "Love's Gonna Get'cha," and I think that might be the reason I wasn't as drawn to the album as a whole when I was younger.  But today, when I put on the album and spin through classics like "Blackman in Effect," "Ya Know The Rules" or "The Racist" you get that incredible mix of killer beats with intelligent and well composed lyrics that dominates just about every BDP album.

So maybe this is the least successful of the 5 BDP albums for me, but when you are comparing it to some of the most incredible and well regarded albums in the history of hip hop, you may come up a little short here and there.  That's not to say that Edutainment isn't a classic in its own right, it's just probably not the album I would direct a new fan to first.

Boogie Down Productions - Edutainment (Youtube full album steam):
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_niBt3FGQ7FGaec2AvItUXIQ5-YIuPkHA0

Extra Prolific - Like It Should Be LP

Jive (1994)

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 25+ 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 Extra Prolific LP is kind of the forgotten Hieroglyphics release.  It came out to little fanfare in 1994 and from rumors, innuendo and gossip that I've read on the internet, they were dropped from the label almost immediately.  I've even read that an undescribed incident happened at the album's release party and the label severed times right there.  I don't know if any of this is true, but Like It Should be hit with little noise back in 94.

I had first heard of Extra Prolific as part of The Source's Unsigned Hype column.  They did a feature on Snupe, the main MC behind Extra Prolific.  That column's review left an impression and I was eager to find out more.  It took a while to hear about Snupe again (about a year and a half, which is an eternity in high school years), but by October of 94 I was already starting to become disillusioned with a lot of hip hop records.  I was deep into listening to Beck and other left of center indie rock by the time this record came out.  If I remember correctly, I even think my younger brother may have picked up the CD before I did.

Regardless of who bought it when, I sure didn't listen to it much back then.  In the intervening years I've tried a few times to relisten to see if it was a lost gem.  In all honesty, it's really not.  Like It Should be is a perfectly serviceable mid 90s hip hop record, but it seldom rises to the level of of most of the more well known albums of the era.  And it can't touch any of the other Hieroglyphics releases that came out at the same time.

Like It Should Be has its moments. "Brown Sugar" and "Is It Right?" have killer looped jazzy beats that really could have been on another Hiero release at the time.  But the vast majority of the songs are unnecessarily slow and don't showcase particularly creative beat making.  On top of that, Snupe is probably the most paint by numbers MC of anyone that was ever part of the Hiero crew.  He's not bad at all, but he doesn't have the dexterity or the complex wordplay of his stable mates.  Unlike the other 93-94 Hieroglyphics albums that raised the bar on what hip hop could sound like, this album just kind of sits there.

I liked it enough to grab the vinyl for my collection (which is practically available for free on Discogs), but it's just not something I expect to listen to all that often.  Snupe parted ways with Hiero before the release of 1997s Third Eye Vision.  Again, the rumors have it that his verses were physically removed from existing songs.  Unsure of what happened there, but I don't think many people noticed that he left.  Most probably weren't aware he was there to begin with.

Extra Prolific - Like It Should Be (Youtube full album playlist):
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mv3n-KnU-f-KgNFeTyGbSDYSTSYnEWV_Y

Kool Moe Dee - Funke Funke Wisdom LP

Jive (1991)

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 25+ 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 only ever had one Kool Moe Dee record when I was younger and it was Funke Funke Wisdom.  As with so many albums of that era, I picked it up based on a video that was played pretty frequently on Yo MTV Rap.  That song was "Death Blow," an LL Cool J diss track that was pretty much a direct response to LL's "Mama Said Knock You Out."  "Death Blow" plays off of the same sort of boxing motif and while the song wasn't ever as popular as "Mama Said," it's arguably just as strong and is my favorite Kool Moe Dee track by a country mile.

That's not to say that there aren't other tracks worthwhile on the album.  Kool Moe Dee has a gruff and rugged delivery with strong rhyme structure with one foot in an old school vibe and the other in the creative peak of the golden era.  The beats are mostly hard hitting with funk samples and DJ scratching in the breaks, but it's really the lyrical flow of Kool Moe Dee that is the main draw of Funke Funke Wisdom. That said, even the wordplay of Kool Moe Dee can't salvage a handful of the slower songs that do drag down the album in places.  The lest said about the smooth jazz of "How Kool Can One Blackman Be" the better.

What's interesting to me is that Kool Moe Dee apparently thinks this is his worst album and in many ways it began his fall from hip hop grace.  Perhaps it's because it is the album of his that I'm most familiar with, but I would disagree with Dee's assessment. I had to pick this up on vinyl and I actually found a copy on eBay that was still sealed.  If that was because some others don't like the album as much as I do, so be it.

Kool Moe Dee - Funke Funke Wisdom (full album playlist)
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lH-t7V7fBjXW7HaTFEC-riK34_oPHjLE4

D-Nice - Call Me D-Nice LP

Jive (1990)

As we go through Wednesday Ed Lover Dance Day each week, there will be some things that start create a pattern and explain where my brain was at in the late 80s and super early 90s.  Boogie Down Productions was probably the first hip hop group that I would have considered my favorite when I started to fall into that world in grammar school.  When D-Nice's debut album came out, I remember him being featured pretty regularly on Yo MTV Raps and it being mentioned that he was part of the BDP crew. 

In addition to playing the video a decent amount, I also remember him appearing on the show live to preform.  I won't say that it is for sure the first live act I saw on the show, but it's the earliest one I can remember.  I definitely got the CD as part of one of my BMG music club scams, but have just recently added the vinyl to my collection.

I think this album holds up really well considering that it's creeping up on thirty years old.  The one-two punch of opener "Crumbs On The Table" and lead single "Call Me D-Nice" still hit pretty hard all of these years later.  While the record doesn't really maintain those sorts of highs throughout, I think it's a much better album as a whole than it's probably given credit for.  "A Few Dollars More" combines a slick bass line with forceful lyrics.  "It's All About Me" is built off of a repeating 60s sounding sample, that mixes with bouncing bass and solid scratching in the breaks.  Closing track "And You Don't Stop" loops some 70s funk sounds that provide a base for D-Nice to throw out some 90s shout outs and lay down some quick rhymes on his way out the door.

The whole record is strong.  There was a period of decades where this wasn't an album I really listened to at all, but relistening to it with fresh ears for the last year or so made me realize that not having it on vinyl was a pretty glaring hole in my collection.

D-Nice - "Call me D-Nice":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbWnRyPzce4

D-Nice - "Crumbs On the Table":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xP0-e0seNII

Casual - Fear Itself 2xLP

Jive (1994)

Wednesday is Ed Lover Dance Day and this album is the last of the records that were already in my collection that I'm going to write about.  As I start writing about the various golden age hip hop records I've picked up over the last couple of months (finally upgrading the CDs I've had since high school), I wanted to talk about the three most important hip hop albums to me.  I've already written about Del the Funky Homosapien's No Need For Alarm and Souls of Mischief's 93 'Til Infinity, and now we're going to complete the trifecta with Fear Itself, this debut from Casual.

Like Del and Souls, Casual is part of the Hieroglyphics crew.  Fear Itself came out after their records did and was released at the beginning of 1994.  In some ways, it was the last truly mind blowing rap album I ever heard.  To this day, I haven't heard anything that has been released since then that is as good as this.  Though in fairness, it is my second favorite hip hop album of all time, so it's a pretty high bar to try to reach.

Everything about Fear Itself is perfect.  The album slams from start to finish and not only is there not a weak track in the bunch, there isn't really much of anything sub-phenomenal.  I guess "Interlude" might not stack up as high as everything else, but Casual doesn't even rap on that song, so I don't think that counts.  The beats on this record are some of the most consistently incredible I've ever heard.  Innovative sampling that bridges funk, soul, jazz and boom bap.  Whether it's the bounce of "Me-O-Mi-O," the upbeat piano and bass of Hireo posse cut "Who's It On" or the slow dragging bass of "This Is How We Rip Shit" and album closer "Be Thousand," Casual hits it out of the park every single time.  He even manages to put to tape my favorite ever verse from Del The Funky Homosapien on the all too brief "A Little Something,"

It's just a pretty unbelievable album from start to finish, yet I've always felt that Fear Itself didn't get the accolades it has deserved over the years.  I think a lot of folks have either never heard of or have forgotten about this classic album.  It's not super available on vinyl.  I have the old Jive release and that doesn't even have proper artwork.  There is a UK version that does, but the price and shipping costs have kept it just out of arms reach for me over the years. I wish one of those 'Respect The Classics' type of reissue labels would get their hands on this and give it the lavish reissue it so rightly deserves.  When you are talking about the best hip hop albums of the 1990s, they don't get much better than Fear Itself.

Casual - "A Little Something":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdHkZfRSYfM

Casual - "This Is How We Rip Shit":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M44ZLp1tuTw

Casual - "Who's It On":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JH5m5ErAOs8

Casual - "Be Thousand":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I81CnjhcyXU