''93 'til Infinity'' is the debut studio album by American
hip-hop group
Souls of Mischief
Souls of Mischief is a hip hop group from Oakland, California, that is also part of the hip hop collective Hieroglyphics. The Souls of Mischief formed in 1991 and is composed of rappers A-Plus, Opio, Phesto, and Tajai.
History
East Oakland nat ...
. It was released on February 13, 1993 on the
Jive label.
Composition
The sound of ''93 'til Infinity'' is characteristic of the distinct style explored by the collective, including a rhyme scheme based on
internal rhyme In poetry, internal rhyme, or middle rhyme, is rhyme that occurs within a single line of verse, or between internal phrases across multiple lines. By contrast, rhyme between line endings is known as end rhyme.
Internal rhyme schemes can be denoted ...
and beats centered around a live bass and obscure jazz and funk samples. ''93 'til Infinity'' was released during a period in which the collective released several critically acclaimed albums (including
Del tha Funkee Homosapien
Teren Delvon Jones (born August 12, 1972), better known by his stage name Del the Funky Homosapien (sometimes stylized as Del tha Funkee Homosapien) or Sir DZL, is an American rapper.
Music career 1988–1997: Early life and beginnings
Born in O ...
's ''
No Need for Alarm
''No Need for Alarm'' is the second solo studio album by American hip hop musician Del the Funky Homosapien. It was released in 1993 through Elektra Records. Recording sessions took place at Hyde Street Studios in San Francisco and at Chung King H ...
'' and
Casual's ''
Fear Itself'') and rose to national prominence.
''93 'til Infinity'' met commercial success with its title track and lead single, which reached #72 on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100. It also featured singles "That's When Ya Lost" and "Never No More" which reached the
Hot Rap Singles
Hot Rap Songs (formerly known as Hot Rap Tracks and Hot Rap Singles) is a chart released weekly by '' Billboard'' in the United States. It lists the 25 most popular hip-hop/rap songs, calculated weekly by airplay on rhythmic and urban radio stat ...
but never charted on The Billboard Hot 100. According to
Allmusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
author Steve Huey, "Although the title cut is an underappreciated classic, ''93 'til Infinity'' makes its greatest impression through its stunning consistency, not individual highlights."
Huey also goes on to remark that ''93 'til Infinity'' is "one of the most slept-on records of the '90s".
Reception
''93 'til Infinity'' was critically acclaimed for its subject matter, production, and rapping. Although it was not as popular as other
West Coast hip hop
West Coast hip hop is a regional genre of hip hop music that encompasses any artists or music that originated in the West Coast region of the United States. West Coast hip hop began to dominate from a radio play and sales standpoint during the ea ...
albums at the time of its release, it received positive acclaim. Suzann Vogel of ''
Philadelphia Weekly
''Philadelphia Weekly'' (''PW'') is a website based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded as a newspaper in 1971 as ''The Welcomat'', a sister publication to the ''South Philadelphia Press''. In 1995, the paper became ''Philadelphia Weekl ...
'' praised it:
Steve Huey of
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
also gives ''93 'til Infinity'' much praise, calling it "the best single album to come out of Oakland's Hieroglyphics camp" as well as saying how Souls of Mischief "completely redefined the art of lyrical technique for the West Coast."
In 1998, the album was selected as one of ''
The Source
''The Source'' is an American hip hop and entertainment website, and a magazine that publishes annually or . It is the world's longest-running rap periodical, being founded as a newsletter in 1988 by Jonathan Shecter. David Mays was the ma ...
''s 100 Best Rap Albums. The title track was also included on the
compilation
Compilation may refer to:
*In computer programming, the translation of source code into object code by a compiler
**Compilation error
**Compilation unit
*Product bundling, a marketing strategy used to sell multiple products
*Compilation thesis
M ...
remix album ''
Another Late Night: Zero 7'', released in 2002.
Influence
The title track "
93 'til Infinity
''93 'til Infinity'' is the debut studio album by American hip-hop group Souls of Mischief. It was released on February 13, 1993 on the Jive label.
Composition
The sound of ''93 'til Infinity'' is characteristic of the distinct style explored b ...
" proved to have an enduring legacy, being referenced and/or sampled in more than 40 songs to date. Some of the most notable include:
* You Never Knew (1998) -
Hieroglyphics
Egyptian hieroglyphs (, ) were the formal writing system used in Ancient Egypt, used for writing the Egyptian language. Hieroglyphs combined logographic, syllabic and alphabetic elements, with some 1,000 distinct characters.There were about 1,00 ...
* Lysol (2007) -
Curren$y
Shante Scott Franklin (born April 4, 1981), better known by his stage name Currensy (often stylized as Curren$y), is an American rapper. In 2011, he founded the label Jet Life Recordings.
Music career
2002–2008: No Limit and Young Money ...
feat.
Young Roddy
Roderick Brisco (born September 20, 1986), better known by his stage name Young Roddy (or simply Roddy), is an American hip hop recording artist signed to Jet Life Recordings and iHipHop Distribution.
Early life
Young Roddy was born and raised ...
* A Tribute to Souls (2008) -
J. Rawls
Jason Rawls (born February 27, 1974), better known by his stage name J. Rawls, is an American hip hop musician, producer, disc jockey (DJ), educator, and speaker born in Columbus, Ohio. He is best known for his work with Masta Ace, Mos Def ...
presents The Liquid Crystal Project
* How We Do (2009) -
Freddie Gibbs
Fredrick Jamel Tipton (born June 14, 1982), better known by his stage name Freddie Gibbs, is an American rapper from Gary, Indiana. After initially being signed to Interscope Records in 2006, Gibbs recorded his debut studio album under the label ...
* 'Til Infinity (2009) -
J.Cole
Jermaine Lamarr Cole (born January 28, 1985) is an American rapper and record producer. Born on a military base in Germany and raised in Fayetteville, North Carolina, Cole initially gained recognition as a rapper following the release of his ...
* Infinity (2009) - Mathias Meyer
* 09' Until (2009) -
Tyga
Michael Ray Nguyen-Stevenson[Micheal Ray Stevenson ...](_blank)
* Somedayz (2010) -
Big K.R.I.T
* Infinity and Beyond (2012) -
Capital STEEZ
* 95 til' Infinity (2013) -
Joey Bada$$
Jo-Vaughn Virginie Scott (born January 20, 1995), known professionally as Joey Badass (stylized as Joey Bada$$), is an American rapper, singer, and actor. A native of Brooklyn, New York City, he is a founding member of the hip-hop collective Pro ...
Track listing
Charts
Weekly charts
Singles
Credits
Souls Of Mischief:
*
Opio
Souls of Mischief is a hip hop group from Oakland, California, that is also part of the hip hop collective Hieroglyphics. The Souls of Mischief formed in 1991 and is composed of rappers A-Plus, Opio, Phesto, and Tajai.
History
East Oakland ...
- vocals
*
Tajai
Tajai Massey, known by the stage name Tajai (born April 21, 1975), is an American rapper and producer. He is one of the four founding members of the Oakland, California-based underground hip hop group Souls of Mischief and, with Souls of Misch ...
- vocals
*
Phesto
Damani Thompson, known by the stage names, Phesto and Phesto Dee (born April 29, 1974), is an American rapper and producer. He is one of the founding four members of the Oakland, California-based underground hip hop group Souls of Mischief, a ...
- vocals
*
A-Plus – DJ, producer
Additional personnel:
*
Pep Love
Pep Love is a hip hop artist and a member of the Oakland, California-based hip hop collective Hieroglyphics.
Personal life
Born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi, Pep Love relocated with his family to Oakland, California as a teenager.
Dis ...
*
Del the Funky Homosapien
Teren Delvon Jones (born August 12, 1972), better known by his stage name Del the Funky Homosapien (sometimes stylized as Del tha Funkee Homosapien) or Sir DZL, is an American rapper.
Music career 1988–1997: Early life and beginnings
Born in O ...
- producer
*
Casual – rap, vocals
*Bill Ortiz –
trumpet
The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...
*
Domino
Dominoes is a family of tile-based games played with gaming pieces, commonly known as dominoes. Each domino is a rectangular tile, usually with a line dividing its face into two square ''ends''. Each end is marked with a number of spots (also ca ...
- producer
*
Jay Biz - producer
*Kwam
*
Snupe – background vocals
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
1993 debut albums
Souls of Mischief albums
Jive Records albums
Albums produced by A-Plus (rapper)