I had every intention of picking the albums up. Honestly, I did; I just never had the opportunity. Believe me, if I could have picked up Parallel Uni-Verses and Montezuma’s Revenge before this year I totally would have.
It’s just that the store that I get my music from, The Sound Garden, didn’t have them in stock, and I know because I’ve looked for them every time I’ve gone in the last year.
And why wouldn’t I? Parallel Uni-Verse and Montezuma’s Revenge are like a mid-’90s hip-hop fan’s idea of a wet dream. Souls of Mischief produced by Prince Paul?! How awesome does that sound? Tame One and Del trading verses?!
That sound you just heard was my faith in hip-hop being brought back to life.
I’m a long time Souls fan. I can remember completely disbelieving the rumor that Hobo Junction had bested Hiero in battle. (I’m sure that last sentence doesn’t make too much sense in 2010, but back in 1994, those were practically fightin’ words.) I swear by 93 ‘til Infinity, though I’ll admit that after being completely turned off by my initial spin of No Man’s Land, I’ve never given it a proper follow-up listen.
So when I heard that the Souls were hooking up with Prince Paul, I couldn’t wait to hear the result. You’ve got one of the most criminally underrated producers around linking up with one of the hip-hop’s most fluid groups, and you’re guaranteed some good listening.
Now, in terms of the pairing of Tame One and Del, my enthusiasm was tempered a bit because I wasn’t familiar with producer Parallel Thought’s work. I couldn’t imagine Tame and Del picking wack beats, but then again, I’d never imagined that they’d link up either. And to be fair, I’d always been an El Da Sensei fan.
But when I saw those two albums during a trip to The Sound Garden last month, I knew I was going to cop them. Not just because I’m a fan of practically everyone involved, but also because I’ve desperately needed some hip-hop in my diet.
Needless to say, I wasn’t disappointed; in fact, I was pretty much slayed at how the albums were very much throwbacks to the heydays of the emcees rhyming on them. The Souls were in vintage form with their trademark chemistry and flows intact. And Tame and Del actually made for a good pairing. Their styles were different enough to contrast while still being complementary.
In fact, the only bad thing about the albums is that I didn’t pick them up last year, because they both would have made my “Best of 2009″ picks. They were easily two of the best albums released last year.
Seriously, if you’re (a) a fan of mid-’90s hip-hop, (b) a fan of any of the aforementioned artists and/or (c) someone who complains about the lack of “good” hip-hop, you owe it to yourself to cop Parallel Un-Verses and Montezuma’s Revenge. Trust me, you’ll end up 100 percent satisfied.
