Get On Down (2018, Reissue)
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.
Tha Alkaholiks are one of those Golden Era hip hop groups that I was absolutely aware of back when I was in high school, but I didn't have any of their records and I don't remember seeing their videos on Yo! MTV Raps. They're probably just another one of those acts that I read about in The Source but was not ever able to follow up on due to access or financial limitations, so I hadn't heard anything of theirs until the last few years.
The real highlight here is how great the beats are throughout the album. They're cobbled together with quirky, funky bass lines and trunk thumping percussion. As MCs, these boys hold their own for sure, though I can't say any of them really comes off as being an elite lyricist. They carry the songs just fine though and I find myself engaged the whole time. There's more sophomoric references to being drunk than I think are necessary, but again in general the lyrics are solid and compliment the production.
I do think I would have liked this even more if I had been able to hear it back in 1993 when it originally came out. Coming at it twenty plus years later was cool, as it's always nice to hear something new that sounds like the sort of hip hop I enjoy listening to, but if I had been able to live with the record more intently as a youngster I can only assume it would have stuck with me pretty good.
Tha Alkaholiks - 21 & Over:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mJuHTafRFFmShFygn8Bk_SJUNbUrXRvcs
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