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.
Yall So Stupid isn't a group that I was on board with when they were originally out in the 1990s. 1993 in particular was one of those years where there was a classic being released about every three hours or so, and a lot of really great groups flew under the radar during that time period. I discovered Yall So Stupid many years later, but quickly fell in love with that quintessential 90s sound that they brought to the table. It took me a while to finally track down the original pressing of that LP and I wrote about it a couple of years ago.
I sometimes hem and haw about whether I need to write about a reissued album when I've so recently written about another pressing that I picked up. Often I will skip it as I don't want to be repetitive, but sometimes the reissue is so great that I just have to go again. Such is the case with Yall So Stupid, which was my favorite reissue of last year year. But as always, I mismanaged time and didn't get to write about this one before the year ran out. Makes only logical to be the first Ed Lover Dance Day write-up of 2025.
90s Tapes does an absolutely impeccable job with all of their reissues and there are times where I think they should be the only people allowed to press hip hop records that I want. This pressing of Van Full Of Pakistans is no exception. It sounds amazing, with rich, full bass that can withstand me turning the volume up on my stereo to wife-annoying levels of loudness. Unlike the original pressing of the album, this version has every song from the CD on it (the original was missing four) plus an extra 7" with bonus remixes.
Expertly redone artwork in a gatefold sleeve just seals the deal. This is such a well done package and quite honestly, I can't think of anything that could make the record itself better. I mean a bundle with a shirt would make me even happier, but it's not like that would improve the record itself at all.
That's a lot of words about how great the reissue is, but let's not forget that the music that Yall So Stupid put out is the very definition of a classic for me. This is the soundtrack of my early teenage years, even if I wasn't able to hear this specific record at the time. When I refer to my golden era of 1988 - 1994, this is the sound I'm taking about. Killer production with killer lyrics. Sign me up for more of that. I just hope 90s Tapes can eventually get in on the second and third Maestro Fresh Wes albums at some point. For me those are the grails that need a treatment like this. Plus, I'm not about to pay $500 for an original pressing of Black Tie Affair...
Yall So Stupid - Van Full Of Pakistans:
https://90stapes.bandcamp.com/album/van-full-of-pakistans
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