90s Tapes (2024)
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 thirty 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.
90s Tapes is one of the best record labels going these days, as far as consistency of releases, there are few that are at their level. In addition to rereleasing some incredible classics of the golden era, they constantly surprise me with indie rereleases of groups I was unfamiliar with. Now, I had heard of Troubleneck Brothers prior to this release, but honestly only by a couple of months. And then here's 90s Tapes swooping in with a double LP of early 90s hip hop greatness.
From what I have been able to surmise from various internet writings, Troubleneck Brothers were primarily active as far as releasing music from 1992 to 1994. Those that bother to read my writing about hip hop know that's my sweet spot where so much wonderful and innovative hip hop was being created. Love/Hate is a compilation of various material Troubleneck Brothers released as demo tapes and singles. They were signed to Step Sun for a time, which was a subsidiary of Tommy Boy. No clue why they weren't just on Tommy proper, I have a feeling more people would have probably heard them if they had been.
Troubleneck is a seven person crew, so I'll be the first to admit that I don't really know who is rapping when, but what I can say is every one of them has skills and shine when it's their time. And the best part is they're are all rapping over exactly the type of beats I'm looking for with lots of upbeat bass lines, hard hitting kick and snare drums and cuts in the hooks. It's absolutely a product of its era and I mean that as a huge compliment. Had I heard this back in my Source reading, Yo! MTV Raps! watching, I likely would have been obsessed.
I'm always grateful when 90s Tapes steps up and rereleases a classic, I'm especially thankful that they saved these tracks and gave them the classy treatment they deserve.
The Troubleneck Brothers - Love/Hate:
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