Admin Hero1 Posted May 31, 2006 Admin Report Share Posted May 31, 2006 Souls of Mischief - rebel return Written by Cyclone Friday, 26 May 2006 souls_of_mischiefCalifornia's Souls Of Mischief may have been off the radar, but the group are making a comeback - beginning with an Australian tour. 3D’s Cyclone joins the welcoming party. The Souls' A-plus recalls their inaugural visit to the Antipodes when he was hobbling on stage. "I busted my ankle in Japan and it was still really bad when I got to Australia," he rues. A-plus, Opio, Phesto and Tajai were childhood pals who devised Souls Of Mischief as a counterpoint to gangsta rap in the early '90s. They picked up where the Native Tongues acts left off, presenting a classic debut, 93 'Til Infinity, through Jive in 1993 and following with No Man's Land two years later. The troupe was never a viable commercial prospect for Jive. And the Souls weren't inclined to find a Fergie, as the Black Eyed Peas subsequently did to cling onto their deal with Universal, and so they split from the company. (The mighty A Tribe Called Quest had issues with Jive, too, and this was no doubt a factor in their dissolution.) Today A-plus holds that post 93 'Til Infinity Jive underwent a profound transition, abandoning hip hop for the pop market and signing Britney Spears. "They told us after our first record that they were gonna become more of a pop label and they wanted us to make more pop music," he says without bitterness - or irony. That did it for them... Since the mid-'90s Souls Of Mischief have reconnected with the underground, focussing on their posse, Hieroglyphics, which includes longtime mentor Del Tha Funkee Homosapien. The Souls were integral to the advent of Hiero Imperium. A-plus values the autonomy the indie has afforded them. "I think we were just real fortunate because we got the backing of a major label and a lot of people when they leave major labels they leave because they were unsuccessful and we just left 'cause we had problems with the label and so we were able to form our own record label." Souls Of Mischief last ventured out with 2002's Trilogy: Conflict, Climax, Resolution. The MCs haven't been idle. In 2004 Tajai dropped a solo album, Power Movement, and he has his own imprint, Clear Label. Last year A-plus, who's always been hands-on with production, issued the first in a series of mixtapes, Pleemix, Vol 1, with DJ Mere One of the Oakland Faders. He's preparing to unleash his LP My Last Good Deed. If the Souls have been less prolific in recent years, then it's because Hiero Imperium has switched distributors - a tricky manoeuvre. Things have finally fallen into place. "We're just gearing up to put out our first releases with the new distributor," A-plus affirms. There should be fresh music soon from the Souls. "Souls Of Mischief are working on an album with a special producer. We're doing a collaboration album with this producer - we can't say his name just yet, but when people hear it they're gonna be like, 'Oh ****, that's dope!'" The collective are upping the ante with their merchandise line - expect a quality line of streetwear. And the Hieroglyphics camp have new headquarters. "It's good, it's fun - it's like I go to work, I go to my office, man, and I love my job. That's it. It's real cool." A-plus is proud to call Oakland home. His parents, Jamaican immigrants, were attracted to the Californian melting pot. The community is open-minded - Oakland doesn't have the segregation of elsewhere in the US. "This is like the end of the Wild West. There's a lot of different cultures and a lot of different people out here. The people who made it here were on a trip, they were on a journey - kinda like go-getting-type people. "There's a certain attitude, a certain drive, to push the envelope a little bit, just in the spirit of getting out here and all it took to get here - no matter where [people] originally came from - and that still exists to this day. "People are always trying something new out here. There's so many more different things to influence you out here with the diverse lot of people. People just keep coming up with new ideas." Above all, the Souls have valiantly sought to redefine West Coast hip hop, liberating it from gangstadom. Ironically, Oakland spawned Too $hort, the pimp rapper of pimp rappers. Nevertheless, when it comes to espousing 'conscious hip hop', A-plus is no hardliner. His outlook is that of a pluralist. "We just make music the way we like to make it and hope people like it," he states. "We're fans of music in general, not just hip hop, and the particular form we make is hip hop music and we just try to do it well. "Everybody has a right to do whatever kind of music they want and, if you don't like a certain kind of music, you just don't listen to it. That's my take on it. "We just try to make our music the way we like it and we're thankful to whoever likes it as well." A-plus doesn't even seem frustrated with hip hop's rampant commercialism. It's a cliche yet he recognises just two manifestations of music: good and bad. "I've been listening to hip hop since '79 - and it's come a long way. A lot of people's complaint with the state of hip hop nowadays is that the commercial aspect of it is overblown and it's not really pushing the creative edge. But I look at it like the commercial side of hip hop and the underground side are symbiotic, you know? They work together, they need each other to work, and the bigger commercial hip hop gets, the bigger underground hip hop gets as well, so there's pros and cons to every situation. “But I think ultimately it's good that hip hop is so big, it's world-wide, and I could take any of the cons that come with it as long as it keeps getting bigger, 'cause it means it's still here. I remember when nobody thought it would last.” A-plus is amped to be heading to Oz again. "This time I'm gonna be healthy!," he jokes, referring to that ankle injury. The MC intends to do a sweep of the local scene and educate himself on Australian hip hop. Most of all he promises an energetic show. The Souls are big on interacting with the crowd. "It's not just them coming to watch us." A-plus recollects being a young music fan saving for concert tickets, only to leave disappointed by a half-assed performance. He doesn't want the Souls' fans to feel similarly crushed. "Any fan of any music hates that feeling." Souls Of Mischief remain fans themselves - hip hop stalwarts who are, as A-plus puts it, living "a ****ing dream". WHO: Souls Of Mischief WHAT: Play Prince Of Wales, Melbourne / Rebel Rebel at Home, Sydney WHEN: Friday 2 / Saturday 3 June MORE: www.rebelrebel.com.au or theprince.com.au Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WesSyde Posted May 31, 2006 Report Share Posted May 31, 2006 that was a dope interview and the info about the new album is definitely uplifting. have fun at their concert Tim! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luigie Posted May 31, 2006 Report Share Posted May 31, 2006 Interestin interview, hope the new album will be great Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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