''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 n ...

. 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'' and

Casual Casual or Casuals may refer to: * Casual wear, a loosely defined dress code **Business casual a loosely defined dress code **Smart casual a loosely defined dress code * Casual Company, term used by the United States military to describe a type of ...

'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 dat ...

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 e ...

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 dat ...

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 maga ...

''s 100 Best Rap Albums. The title track was also included on the compilation remix album '' Another Late Night: Zero 7'', released in 2002.

Influence

The title track " 93 'til Infinity" 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 ...

* 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 Mone ...

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 raise ...

* A Tribute to Souls (2008) - J. Rawls 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 labe ...

* 'Til Infinity (2009) - J.Cole * Infinity (2009) - Mathias Meyer * 09' Until (2009) -

Tyga Michael Ray Nguyen-StevensonMicheal Ray Stevenson ...

* Somedayz (2010) -

Big K.R.I.T Justin Lewis Scott (born August 26, 1986), better known by his stage name Big K.R.I.T. (a backronym for King Remembered in Time), is an American rapper and record producer. Born in Meridian, Mississippi, he started his musical career in 2005. A ...

* 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 na ...

- 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 Mis ...

- vocals * Phesto - 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. Di ...

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 *

– 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 standar ...

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 Hieroglyphics, also known as the Hieroglyphics Crew and Hiero, is an American underground hip hop collective based in Oakland, California. The collective was founded in the early-1990s by rapper Del the Funky Homosapien. The collective is current ...

- producer *Kwam *

Snupe Hieroglyphics, also known as the Hieroglyphics Crew and Hiero, is an American underground hip hop collective based in Oakland, California. The collective was founded in the early-1990s by rapper Del the Funky Homosapien. The collective is curre ...

– background vocals

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1993 debut albums Souls of Mischief albums Jive Records albums Albums produced by A-Plus (rapper)