This year is an important one for Hip-Hop. It marks the anniversary for many important bodies of work for pioneers in Hip-Hop and the genre, itself. One of those bodies of work is the Souls of Mischief’s debut album, 93 ’til Infinity. The Oakland group of emcees and producers made their own wave to ride out with their smooth Jazz samples and hard hitting rhymes. Although they’re not as celebrated on a superstar status across the globe as some groups, their impact was just as important. The group took a moment to talk about the beginnings of the group, the underground culture, and the future of Souls of Mischief, including the Almyghty Myghty Pythons.

How did you come up with the name, Souls of Mischief?

Phesto: We had another name before that name and then there was somebody that we were in contact with in the industry, and he suggested we come up with a better name. and we just sat around and brainstormed new names and that was the name we came up with.

What was that first name? Is that G-14 classified?

Phesto: I can’t remember man. It’s so long ago (laughs).

How did the name of the album come about?

A-Plus: Originally, we had a song we were working on in high school-”91 Til Infinity.” It never really got finished and recorded. So when we ended up in the studio in 1992, we were about half way done with that. So we finished that one and decided on “92 Til Infinity” but we knew the album wasn’t coming out til 93, so we named it “93 Til Infinity.” But it was a concept we had from before. For us it meant what it is, til infinity. It’s not like we were thinking way ahead and had the foresight to see it ahead 20 years. We were still in high school, really young, and excited. The sense was for it to go on forever. This was our shot so we wanted to make it count.

Phesto: Once the name came about, it was the obvious choice. We were like, “We should name the album that!”

How did you come up with your emcee names?

Phesto: Tajai’s and Opio’s are our real names. A-Fresh’s real name starts with an A. And then Young Fresh Diesel, my real name is Damani, so my whole rap name is Manifesto. If you look at my name, it’s real Da Manifesto, so I just took the “Da” off. And I was Manifesto so I abbreviated that to Phesto. After a while, it was just Sto.

In the background: Sto up! (laughs)

What was the chemistry like for you guys in the studio, figuring out the verse order for each track?

Opio: You can’t really be too cookie cutter with it when you got four emcees. That kind of naturally forces you to be more creative with how you set things up. It’s a lot more people and less time to get your concept out. You kind of build off each other. We tried not to do things the same way over and over again.

What were some of the pros and cons, if any, for having such a monumental debut album?

Phesto: Can’t be no cons.

Opio: The only con that I can really think of is probably the same for anybody who makes a good first album-it’s a standard you set. No matter what you end up doing or progress as an artist, a lot of times the listeners want to hear a repeat of that because they like that. That’s just specific for anybody with a good first album. All we wanted to do was make an album that put us in the same category as the people we looked up to.

What was the process for coming up with the album artwork?

Phesto: What was his name? Mannion or something. He came up with the concept that we’re under a pier so it seems as though it goes infinitely. It was just a good, clean shot-before Photoshop was big.

How did the Hieroglyphics come about? What did that supergroup mean to you guys?

Phesto: We basically all kind of grew up together. We lived in close proximity to each other. It’s really Souls of Mischief as a group and then we have three other solo artists-Del, Casual, and Double L. And Domino was introduced to use by Dante Ross, who signed Del. We all had a mutual interest in making forward thinking Hip-Hop.

Underground Hip-Hop then and now is different in the style and hype. How would you guys say it’s changed over time?

A-Plus: Hip-Hop is a lot bigger now. There are a lot more entities who have a hand in it now. The underground was like a culture or slang that people used to talk about. It was like, “I’m not a Pop artist but I’m still Hip-Hop.” Now an underground artist is someone who doesn’t sell or have as many records as most people. It was more of a style thing. Even artist that make Pop music can be an underground artist if their style is real Hip-Hop. Like if you care about the lyrics and use real Hip-Hop beats.

Phesto: There are hella underground artists that make Pop music.

I saw that you guys performed with Ab-Soul at the Family Affair concert. What are your guys’ opinion on the state of rappers repping the West Coast?

Phesto: It’s grown like all other aspects of Hip-Hop. Now since we’ve kind of opened the door for non-Gangster in California, you look at the Dom Kennedy’s and Kendrick’s and all that kind of stuff. It’s not just the Tiger style. It’s a larger lane now. It aint’ no different than from before. I wouldn’t say it’s different from when we came out except the world is now accepting more genres from California.

The first time I heard you guys, I remember saying that it was a crazy dope mix of Tribe Called Quest and Wu-Tang Clan. You had the throwback Jazz beats but vicious lyricism. How did that style come about?

Opio: We were certainly influenced by the Native Tongues, Gang Starr, and Lord Finesse. Just the whole sample based thing was what was going on in the industry. We just like those kind of beats. As far as how we rapped, we were on our own thing. We were trying to show that there’s something else out there. Remember, at the time when we came out, it was like a gold rush in California by the industry for gangster rap artists. And as a result, that’s all you saw come out. Our style is more cerebral. We like vocabulary and different words that other people didn’t use.

Do you guys think artists nowadays are trying too hard to imitate their favorite rappers? Or has that always been an issue?

Phesto: Yeah, but there’s negative pressure from the industry to do that as well. Nobody gets signed for being original. We got signed because of a guy, Spec and the Native Tongues. A&R’s are running around looking for the next big thing that sounds like the previous big thing. Tribe Called Quest got signed because of De La. De La got signed because of Jungle Brothers. Before it was different, a long time ago, with Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons throwing parties.

What’s each of your guys’ favorite track on 93 ’til Infinity?

Opio: “Make Your Mind Up” – Produced by Del. The beat was floating around for a while and I always had a strong appreciation for the beat itself. We finally had a chance to rock it on the record and I feel like everybody stepped up to the plate and had some of their dopest rhymes. That sample is so buttery and these crazy water sounds. It’s a crazy sound to trip off if your high. That’s my favorite verse that I kicked on that album.

Phesto: “That’s When Ya Lost” – That song was my first single but it introduced us to the world as the Souls of Mischief. I just really liked that drum break, that Biz Markie break. It makes you want to rhyme over it-the horns and the basslines. It really exemplified what we were about at the time.

Tajai: “Let Em Know” – I remember we wanted that song first. I like how it has two samples. That’s a hard question.

A-Plus: “93 Til Infinity” – I’m partially biased because I made that beat. It’s the song we’ll be known for the most. I’m hella proud because of the positive effect it’s had on the world, across generation to generation. That’s one of my favorite songs in the world.

Will there be a new release from the Almyghty Myghty Pythons (Souls of Mischief + Pharcyde) that fans can expect?

A-Plus: (laughs) We’ll see what the future holds.

Phesto: The music is dope. We just need to let it age and put it in an oak barrel. We let it age to bring out the character.

How did you guys even come up with that name?

Tajai: It just sounded like a really raw a$$ little league team like bad news bears.

So what about new music from just the Souls of Mischief?

Phesto: New record coming out next year. We have a title for it but we don’t want to give up the gold just yet.

The Souls of Mischief are currently on tour so check out if they’re coming to a city near you here.

Bryan Hahn (@notupstate)