93 ‘til Infinity: Bay Area hip hop and punk rock revolutions in 1993

I was in my friend’s car stumbling along the landscape when “93 ‘til Infinity” by Souls of Mischief trinkled out of the speakers and changed the way that I think about hip hop. Thirty years after its initial release it held as much relevance and vitality as it did when it dropped on September 28, 1993, enthralling hip hop fans and misanthropes alike with their calculated rhyming of jabberwocky and counsel. Back then, it caused a surge within the hip hop community in the Bay Area and formulated an infectious strain of rap that is cemented in its timeless influence. The Bay Area is alive and ridden with the dust of musical interventions. Tajai, one of the founding members of this hip hop group and juggernaut, proclaims in the early seconds of this song, “But right now, you know, we just maxin’ in the studio/We hailin’ from East Oakland, California/And, um, sometimes it gets a little hectic out there/But right now, yo, we gon’ up you on how we just chill.” Souls of Mischief is made up of Tajai, A-Plus, Phesto, and Opio and they began cultivating their adoration for rhyme and hip hop in the wee years of their youth. Tajai and A-Plus flabbergastingly formed this partnership in elementary school and added the others along their way to high school as they experimented and built their identities in the music community. Tajai explained it as, “…you know, graffiti, breakdancing, everything, but rap music is something that I think it doesn’t require a lot of pens, it doesn’t require turntables necessarily and everything — it’s portable…” (NPR Music Interview)  That it was something they could bond and grow within separate or together no matter how life contorted. This absurd passion is something that allowed them to forge friendships with other hip hop connoisseurs and semi-professional artists in the area. It was their connections to older artists like Del the Funky Homosapien that expanded their opportunities outside the bubble of the Bay. Together, they formed the hip hop supergroup, Hieroglyphics and were able to shape an empty space in west coast rap that was begging to be filled. They began putting on their own shows all over Oakland and Berkeley at a time where there was a dependence on  word of mouth that simply does not exist anymore. With no technology to fall back on in the early 90s, it gives a new meaning to spreading the word. They were carving their own path and attempting not to be defined by hip hop cultural stereotypes running rampant around them. Especially following behind the success of Too $hort in Oakland, there were a lot of pressures of their identity after being associated with such a definitive lifestyle. Too $hort morphed into a best case scenario and represented everything they could become, but it didn’t mean that they wanted to simply fit his mold of success. Souls of Mischief wielded a different vision and subgenre of rap. They genuinely just wanted to “chill.” Tajai explained it as “…you get to a certain age in life where your friends are going down more of — we’re from Oakland — the gangster path, or you can go be a doctor..” Souls of Mischief didn’t want either and they were ready to do just about anything to allow their beloved subculture to bubble to the surface with confidence and comfort. The promotion of something unearthed and raw from the streets of Oakland, but simultaneously, “Eclectic, jazzy, digging for records, peace and love…” and such. They wanted to be heard over the chronic conversation and fixation of the violence between West and East coast rappers. That they had different priorities, those of creating thought-provoking and concurrently amusing lyrical rap. In hotels known to house higher-ups in record labels and significant music critics, they would linger by elevators and force their freestyling talent upon them. Hoping that their witty lines and phrases made all their dreams tangible. Their expertise was apparent and unpracticed and it was kicking up dust and whispers amongst these powerful people in music. Their good friend and Hieroglyphics band member, Del the Funky Homosapian was conveniently cousins with Jive Records’ Ice Cube. This connection allowed Souls of Mischief to sign to the same label after some pulling of strings. In 1992 as 16 year-olds, they were signed on the same label as musical totems such as A Tribe Called Quest, with publishing rights, and ready to bear the fruits of their long crafted labor. The following year they released their sharp and mind bending album titled 93 ‘til Infinity which launched them into the thick of the music industry and has grown to be one of the most notable rap albums of all time. These 14 songs string together with vibration, energy, and ingenious presence that trickle into every crevice of hip hop. Souls of Mischief couldn’t be put in a box and were instrumental in the momentum of setting West Coast hip hop aflame. 

Hieroglyphics, Discog

In the magical year of 1993 Souls of Mischief was putting on shows at the locally famous Berkeley Square Club.  That same year another group from the likes of Berkeley called Rancid frequented this same stage. Originally under the name Operation Ivy, Tim Armstrong and Matt Freeman were testing fate and building their punk rock careers in the Bay Area. They craved individuality the same way that Souls of Mischief did, as they blended ska, reggae, and heavy metal to their heart’s desire. More importantly, their work was truly integral in reviving punk rock at the time. They could be recognized by trudging around in their bondage pants and sporting statement mohawks that rested upon minds carrying heavy metal dreams and gritty lyrics spawned by years of kicking it in Berkeley grime. Their rugged sound and signature guitar riffs with immense reggae undertones protruded enough to gain attention in the scene. They were so eminent that when searching for a new guitarist, their close friend, Billie Joe Armstrong, almost seamlessly filled in. In 1992 they signed to Bad Religion’s guitarist’s record label called Epitaph Records. They then released their debut self-titled album, Rancid in none other than ‘93. During this time the 924 Gilman Street Club in West Berkeley became a hub for burgeoning punk rock groups similar to them. They hosted Rancid, The Offspring, and Green Day quite consistently and their intertwining of influence and impact is evident. Rancid even accompanied The Offspring on tour. 

Green Day & Operation Ivy, Alt 77

Billie Joe Armstrong, being a colossal Operation Ivy fan, credits their driving force in causing him to commit to forming a band. He and Mike Dirnt were merely 15 year olds that didn’t know a thing about punk in Vallejo, California. It was their presence in Berkeley that sharpened their musical knives as they signed on to 924 Gilman Street Club’s label called Lookout Records. They carried unprecedented melodic punk rock power articulating the angst of teenagers everywhere. Green Day frequented the Gilman and it launched their first little fragments of sound into the music industry. The Bay Area was a centerpiece in their development into popular music. Even their name derives from Bay Area slang for dedicating a day to the utilization of cannabis. Green Day carried a restlessness that other bands will chase for a lifetime, but never find. In 1993 they left their hole in the wall in the Bay and followed Bad Religion on tour. They returned with a taste for fame and hunger for more, playing their last Gilman show on September 3, 1993 before being banned due to signing with a major label. The following year they dropped their poignant album, Dookie, and punk was never the same.

The Bay Area atmosphere allowed for the growth and development of hip hop and punk rock revolutions and enlightenments that spanned way farther than this powerhouse of an area in California. No matter the genre, it all began with curious, passionate, and talented teenagers. Too big for their britches and lucky enough to make it professionally and cause little pieces of Oakland and Berkeley to be everywhere and be heard everywhere. Souls of Mischief with their eccentric wit and clean cut hip hop staining every corner of the rap industry with messages of peace and love. Their rhymes then echo, bounce, and overlap in the Berkeley Square Club where Rancid plays another gyrating set of spitting kids and unrequited love. It was Rancid’s notion for punk that caused Green Day to form and popularize their sensibility for punk rock that blasted in every agitated and unsettled high schooler’s basement for decades to come. All of this hard work, fervor, and creativity amalgamated in the Bay Area in 1993, changing music forever. As Opio raps in Souls of Mischief’s everlasting hit, “ ’93 to infinity — kill all that wack shit!”

Article by Katie Hulse

Photos by Discog and Alt 77