Souls of Mischief - 93 'til Infinity [2LP]

Few rap records capture a moment as perfectly as 93 'til Infinity, the 1993 debut from Oakland's Souls of Mischief, presented here as a double LP.

A-Plus, Opio, Phesto and Tajai came up in Hieroglyphics, the East Bay collective that also counts Del the Funky Homosapien and Casual among its members, and they cut this debut for Jive. While much of the West Coast was riding G-funk, they came at it sideways, with jazzy loops, tangled internal rhymes and a loose, conversational chemistry that sounded like four friends finishing each other's sentences.

The title track is the reason the record lives forever. A-Plus built "93 'til Infinity" around a mellow, drifting loop and a bassline that seems to hang in the air, and its laid-back cool has soundtracked countless summer evenings since. Del produced "That's When Ya Lost," a sharp, story-driven cut, while "Never No More" and "Live and Let Live" show how effortlessly the four could pass the mic over dusty, head-nodding beats.

Decades later, it is still a touchstone for anyone who loves lyricism with a grin on its face, and a cornerstone of Bay Area hip-hop. Spread across two records, every intricate verse and warm, crackling loop gets room to breathe.