Back on double vinyl! A daunting task reviewing this record, but here's a try. Not to get all textbook, but 93 Til Infinity is one of finest embodiments of youthful expression. This is the Lebron of hip hop records, a young prize pit bull on a chain link leash. Somehow on this album the producers were able to harness the complete wildness of Souls into 14 coherent hip-hop classics. It's what separates NBA from And 1. Ever hear an early Hiero freestyle? It's one of the baddest things on earth, but freestyles don't make a classic record (just axe Supernat). There was magic in the studio, and it's fitting that the Souls Of Mischief give it up to this magic in the album's title track. "Anything Can Happen" rivals a young Nas in vivid storytelling, but Nas didn't have to coordinate 4 separate voices. That's finesse, and "That's When Ya Lost" is straight fire. Combine "Lost" with "Let Em Know" and "Live and Let Live" and you have one of the most dynamic openings since, hmm... Midnight Marauders? For kicks, throw in equinox apocalypse Del on a track like "Limitations" and see how wild it can get. This review is starting to get sporadically hectic, precisely the opposite of what the Souls did on this one. Excellent quality reissue spread over 2 LPs with pic sleeve, recommended.

• black double vinyl pressing
• original release year: 1993
• music label: Jive 2012

reviewed by the mgmnt 08/2005