Legendary Oakland hip-hop group Souls of Mischief are preparing to release Montezuma's Revenge, their first album in almost a decade. The album, to be released on December 1st, was produced by the renowned Prince Paul.After a nine-year hiatus, Souls of Mischief have reassembled to create a hotly anticipated new full-length album. While they may be best known for their debut album (and its title track) 93 'til Infinity, Souls of Mischief have been producing highly regarded albums and putting on wildly popular live shows for more than fifteen years.
After so long, it would be forgiven if fans assumed that the Souls had broken up, but those paying attention would tell you that A-Plus, Opio, Phesto, and Tajai never stopped collaborating. Whether through their shared venture Hieroglyphics or on each other's solo albums, the legendary emcees have clearly lost none of their verbal chemistry. Souls' trademark juxtaposition of complex, multi-syllabic lyricism against laid-back Cali flow remains as strong as it was in 1993.
Legendarily innovative producer Prince Paul (De La Soul, Handsome Boy Modeling School, Gravediggaz) was brought onboard to take Souls' sound to a new level. While the aforementioned and unmistakable Souls of Mischief sound remains very much intact, Paul's vision and risk-taking come through on the finished product. Tajai was comfortable from the start in working with the visionary producer. "Paul is a perfectionist and so are we so we took time with the beats and subject matter."
Despite the hiatus, Souls have stayed very much on their game. In fact, they believe they've stepped it up. Tajai says, "This album to me is a great insight into who we are as people and how important it is to progress stylistically, yet it retains a classic, timeless feel."
