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Hieroglyphics’ Souls Of Mischief dropped a west coast classic with their Jive Records debut album, 93 ’til Infinity, which produced a hit single of the same name, alongside a series of excellent b-sides and remix tracks that held fans over until their next release. Despite a lukewarm response to their sophomore LP, No Man’s Land, the group still maintained a loyal fanbase, and solidified the Hiero brand with a series of independent albums and solo releases.


However like many groups from that era, they’ve never been able to recapture the magic found in hip-hop’s early 90′s “golden era”, largely thanks to strict sampling laws, making it impossible the reproduce that sound. This is where producer Adrian Younge comes in, on their new LP, There Is Only Now.


Younge, who is best known for his work on Ghostface Killah’s 12 Reasons To Die, takes a unique approach to hip-hop production, in that his beats are created from scratch, using live instrumentation. Unlike The Roots, however, Younge isn’t an ensemble, and samples his own work to create beats with that vintage, analog sound. This comes through all over his work on Souls’ new album, which is somewhat of a return to form for the twenty-year veterans of the game.


The title There Is Only Now is the antithesis of 93 Til Infinity, as it presents a philosophy of not looking towards a bright future, but instead living only in the moment, as today’s generation seems to do. The album also acts as an official sequel to 93 ’til, working as a tightly knit concept album, building a story around real life events that happened to the group in 1994, with a few creative liberties taken.


Without spoiling much, the story revolves around the members of Souls of Mischief beefing with a rival rapper, Womack, here played by Busta Rhymes on the track “Womack’s Lament”. The song, with a beat that plays like a slowed down version of “Scenario”, finds a wilding out Busta in character as Womack, hilariously threatening the whole Hiero crew, “Hey Dobalina, Mr. Bob Dobalina, ass nigga / pack the gat quicker, then I spit them at you / Casual, see actually I’ll throw a kitchen at you! As I come back!”


But the events quickly unfold into darker territory, gorgeously animated by Tajai, Phesto, A-Plus, and Opio’s bulletproof flows, which have only improved over time. The picture is painted with a fine brush, and Adrian Younge’s brilliantly crafted production gives it that lost, classic feel, as if he had the budget to sample Bob James or Herbie Hancock, yet he’s produced it all his own.


Narrated by A Tribe Called Quest’s Ali Shaheed Muhammad, who plays sort of a Do The Right Thing style DJ, the story takes a brooding turn towards the end, as the characters seek revenge upon one another, each time upping the ante until the game is over. Abandoning the 93 ’til Infinity philosophy of living forever, for a more “YOLO” approach of There Is Only Now, the album’s theme explores some of the socio-political problems in Oakland, and to a larger extent, that of millennials as a whole.


Sonically different from both Ghostface’s 12 Reasons To Die and Souls’ own 93 ’til Infinity, the sound of There Is Only Now meets somewhere at the crossroads of those two albums. This is very much a record for longtime fans of the crew, or at the very least, anyone who bumped that first album to death some twenty years ago.


SoulsOfMischief_Cover

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7 Responses to "Adrian Younge Presents Souls Of Mischief – “There Is Only Now” – @@@@ (Review)"
  • yungplex says:

    Bof this and the last roots joint was fo grown folks mayne.

  • Chad says:

    good enough pizz, would add another @ simply for the old school vibe and ali shaheed muhammed

  • Comments (7)

    Ozi battle

    September 5th, 2014 at 9:02 pm