Early- to mid-1990s hip-hop will go down as the genre’s golden age. As the next millennium approached and people readied their New Year’s Eve playlists, it had become increasingly clear that hip-hop had entered its poodle metal phase: The Puff Daddys of the world were slinging re-hashed samples while draped in gold sweats and dancing like flamingos, their street cred if not their credit lines exhausted in the wake of the murders of Biggie Smalls and Tupac Shakur.
The subequent rise of rappers like Master P and Silkk the Shocker made it clear that the hook was the only currency that mattered now, and the cartoonification of gangsta rap had taken the spit out of a hard-hitting, almost documentary medium. By 1999 a lot of hip-hoppers had forgotten where they came from.
But the people who stick to the art forms they’re passionate about with ethical aplomb see us through the bad times and out of the creative wilderness: Wu-Tang Clan; the Native Tongues collective; and Oakland, California’s Souls of Mischief — who took a step back, surveyed the landscape, and quietly decided to step around the pop carcass left on the curb.
The Hieroglyphics hip-hop collective that Souls of Mischief belong to has a far reach in and beyond the music world. But whatever branding or crypto ventures they’ve gotten on to, it always comes back to the music. So here we are 30 years on, celebrating Souls of Mischief’s highest charting album, 93 till Infinity.
Thirty years, and a resurgence of golden age hip-hop is again upon us. This year sees not only Souls of Mischief but Digable Planets, De La Soul and Jungle Brothers circulating again, online and on the road, bringing their perfect beats and rhymes to audiences starved for a refresher on the five elements of hip hop. Connoisseurs can tell the difference between Sanka and Folgers; when it comes to hip-hop, you better believe the cream can be skimmed from the top.
Souls of Mischief play an 18+ show 7pm Thursday, June 29 at Respectable Street in West Palm Beach presented by Heroes Live with BreakBeat Lou, Architect, Broot McCoy, and DJ Heron. soulsmischief.com TICKETS~ Tim Moffatt
