Souls Of Mischief HHV Records 11 Items

Way ahead of the West Coast

California’s Souls of Mischief were way ahead of West Coast hip hop in 1993: while gangsta rap dominated the charts and vibrated in the clubs, the young crew of A-Plus, Phesto, Opio and Tajai recorded their first album 93 `til Infinity – a jazz and funk based record that barely made it to #85 on the charts but left a pulsating impact over the following years. The group members had known each other since high school and landed an underground hit on the indie label Jive with the album‘s title track 93 `til Infinity, which has been sampled countless times by other rappers to this day. Opting for a more nuanced lyrical approach instead of the usual street rap, Souls of Mischief’s debut made them more akin to East Coast greats like De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest. Lyrical complexity, multi-faceted beats, and a diverse range of topics – the crew remained outside the mainstream, but was earning a loyal following. They are also part of the collective Hieroglyphics, with whom they have recorded a total of three albums. For many, 93 ’till Infinity is one of the essential rap albums of the 90s.

From underground hit to niche success

After the underground success of the debut effort, expectations were high for Souls of Mischief, and for the crew, just 18 to 19 years old, it would probably have been easy to maintain the success formula and put together a funky-jazzy duplicate of 93. Instead, the second album No Man’s Land marks a departure from the style that had previously propelled the group into radio, and the Souls of Mischief delivered a raucous, battle-oriented and at times angry album: it cost them some of their fans, but among their remaining followers the work was celebrated as an artistic evolution. Where before there had been a kind of young naivety, now there were offensive lyrics on gritty beats, concocted by the MCs themselves and their Hieroglyphics colleagues. The rappers’ musical ambition hardly fit their label: after the release, they parted ways with Jive and released the next record on Hieroglyphics’ own indie label, where they didn‘t have to discuss their creative decisions with anyone. As an exclusive cassette release, they put out Focus in 1999 via their own website and didn‘t chart with it, but celebrated success in their niche fanbase. Lyrically, they were already superior to most others anyway, and still East Coast-inspired, they rapped socio-politically, this time mainly about the music business.

Legendary status outside the mainstream

Just one year later, the follow-up Trilogy: Conflict, Climax, Resolution was released. The journey into the world of dark soundscapes continued, the crew seemed as if they had grown up, and become more serious. As raw as never before, the Souls of Mischief had completely detached themselves from the “normal” industry with this record – they now made music exclusively for their fans and no one else, operating within their own Hieroglyphics microcosm. And there they could fully live out their artistic potential: their hard, raw sound culminated with the three-part Trilogy in an hour-long collection of battle-oriented tracks that built on each other and were atmospherically unparalleled. For the next record, the four took a longer time: Montezuma’s Revenge would not be released until 2009. Announced via the label’s own podcast, the Souls of Mischief got the renowned producer Prince Paul on board, who was so important for the creation of the record that he even appeared on the cover. The beats on the next effort, There Is Only Now, were then handled by Adrian Younge, and on the concept album released in 2014, the four MCs shared the mic with legends like Snoop Dogg, Busta Rhymes and Ali Shaheed Muhammad. Today, the Souls have cemented their status as legends – away from the mainstream and the stadiums, in a place where they are celebrated for what they are