Soul Party - Da Bacyard LP

De Rap Winkel / Fat Flava (2021)

Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo! MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for twenty-five plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

If you follow me on Twitter you may have seen that I took an informal poll about what truly qualifies as a 2021 release.  That was prompted by this Soul Party album.  Da Bacyard was originally recorded in 1992, but it was never released.  I don't really know the story behind why it didn't come out, but it didn't see the light of day until 2021 with a CD and now a vinyl reissue.  The unanimous consensus from those that responded to me is that if this record never came out in any way before, it's absolutely a 2021 release and eligible for top album of the year lists. 

That's a great thing because this is definitely one of the better albums I've heard this year.  Yes, it is one hundred percent rooted in 1992 and the golden era of hip hop and I'm sure that's why it appeals to me so much.  But that doesn't change the fact that I've been listening to it constantly since I got my hands on it.  The production is strong East Coast style hip hop.  Boom bap influenced with cracking snare drum and jazz and funk fueled bass lines.

Lyrically, both MCs (Boogie and Double A) can hold their own with most anything that came out in 1992.  Are they elite level? No, they're not, but they fit into the production perfectly and keep the songs flowing.  When you're talking about the sort of quality that was coming out in 92, being middle of the pack is nothing to be ashamed of as the bar was so damn high back then.  Pretty much every song hits.  The only one that stands out to me as being slightly less than is "You Big Raggamiffin."  It dips its toe a little too deep into reggae-land for me, but it's not what I would call bad,  It just stands out from the other tracks and not really in a super positive way.

This is kind of a pricey import.  For whatever reason, the only labels reissue old hip hop seem to be based overseas.  That said, Da Bacyard is absolutely worth hunting down if you're looking for some old school hip hop.  Even though this is definitely a 2021 release.

Soul Party - Da Bacyard:
https://soul-party.bandcamp.com/album/da-bacyard