If this were, say, the mid-90s, the idea of a Souls of Mischief album produced by Prince Paul undoubtedly would have made me a little light-headed from excitement (OK, really, I might have peed my pants a little, too.)
As it stands, a decade later, cautious optimism has taken over. I took the same approach to news of Q-Tip’s new album in 2008 (I think we were all pleasantly surprised by the outcome there). That said, I don’t doubt that the Souls/Prince Paul pairing has some magic to offer. After all, they are responsible for at least two hip-hop classics: Souls of Mischief’s 93 ’til Infinity and the Prince Paul-produced 3 Feet High and Rising.
The first offering from the forthcoming album – for which I have no title and no release date – is a single called Tour Stories, a tale that is pretty self-explanatory from the title and is a little reminiscent of Chicago off the Hieroglyphics album Full Circle. It makes sense, though, since Tajai told me in an interview that the Hiero crew (of which Souls is a part) plays about 150 shows a year. If anyone can properly convey the ups and downs of being on the road, it’s gotta be Souls and Hiero.
Peep Opio’s verse, in which he name-checks Nate Dogg and Blackalicious. Love it. Next to Del, he’s probably my favorite Hiero member.
Three classics, De La Soul Is Dead. Everyone counts that as a classic nowadays, right?
Yep. Good call.