It’s been 30 years since Souls of Mischief released their debut album, 93 ‘Til Infinity, and they’ve been putting in work to celebrate the milestone. Having been on the road since March, they’ve gone all throughout Europe on their 30th Anniversary Tour and are now kicking off the North American leg of the tour with two back-to-back shows in Toronto. Monday June 12th was a second show added after this June 13th concert quickly sold out, and so Souls of Mischief were set to rock a sold-out Adelaide Hall for a second time before they take the party over to other parts of Canada and the USA.

In a year where we’re celebrating Hip-Hop’s 50th anniversary, including the legacy of Souls of Mischief is a must. The four-man group hailing from Oakland, California have released six albums over the course of their 30-year career, plus three albums as part of the larger collective Hieroglyphics, and are among the most influential groups of the ’90s era. It’s been a long time since Toronto got to see Souls of Mischief perform live, as their last time here was when they headlined the 2013 Manifesto Festival in Dundas Square. These shows at Adelaide Hall would be a rare opportunity not only to see them perform live, but to also see them in a much more intimate setting than fans may be used to, with the club being filled to capacity at just a few hundred people.

While there weren’t any emcees opening for Souls of Mischief, the first hour of entertainment would be Toronto’s own DJ Law holding it down on the turntables. He’d be spinning a well-curated setlist that progressively took us through the ’90s followed by the early 2000s, covering all the notable Hip-Hop artists who were around at the same time as Souls of Mischief. The room slowly filled up with fans ready to turn up to these classic Hip-Hop tracks, and DJ Law brought back memories of when we saw him hold it down at the Smif-N-Wessun show at The Rivoli back in April, as one of the most hype songs in his set was “Sound Bwoy Bureill,” with the entire crowd enthusiastically rapping every word to the track.

After an hour of moving the crowd, DJ Law made way for Souls of Mischief’s two tour DJs to take over the turntables, and they’d take some time to spin some records before bringing out the headliners. Being a producer as well as a DJ, The Architect brought a different approach to the turntables, as he remixed classic songs by artists like MF DOOM and Gang Starr and played their vocals over alternate beats. Breakbeat Lou on the other hand blended classic beats together as he transitioned between some more ’90s Hip-Hop. The crowd was with the two DJs the entire way, energized and vibing to the beats, and pretty soon it would be time for them to bring out the crew we all came to see.

With a house packed full of fans ready to go back to 1993, Breakbeat Lou would play the first track off of the 93 ‘Til Infinity album, “Let ‘Em Know,” and Tajai, A-Plus, Phesto Dee and Opio each grabbed a mic to rock the track. It’s worth highlighting that all four emcees made it to the show, as those who were at the last Toronto concert back in 2013 might remember that A-Plus was missing from the lineup. While there were plenty of day-one fans in the building, for many it would be their first time seeing the full Souls of Mischief crew perform live, and we were turned up right from the first track!

After nailing their speedy flows on “Let ‘Em Know,” the four emcees moved right into the certified head-nodder, “That’s When Ya Lost,” getting the crowd to wave their arms and chant along to the hook. They would stick to mostly doing songs off of that classic debut album, next going into “Disses Howedo,” with the DJs adding a twist by flipping the beat to A Tribe Called Quest’s “Buggin’ Out” halfway through the track. The mashup of the break beats blended perfectly as Phesto nailed his flow over the Tribe track, and they’d continue on with more fan favourites from the first half of the album, including “A Name I Call Myself” and “Live And Let Live.”

Now approaching the halfway point of the album, Souls of Mischief would throw in a curve ball, pulling out “Proper Aim” off of their 2009 album Montezuma’s Revenge before going back to ’93 with “Never No More.” The fans were still with them, as even if they weren’t as familiar with the newer joints, Souls of Mischief still had the showmanship to make their rhymes stand out, backing up each others’ punchlines to give the bars that extra energy. They had great synergy with their DJs too, as Breakbeat Lou would have instrumentals playing during breaks between songs while the emcees took turns talking to the crowd, like with Opio bigging up Toronto’s food and multiculturalism over the beat from Redman’s “Tonight’s Da Night.”

After doing another ’93 fan favourite with “Limitations,” Souls of Mischief would pull out another obscure track for the ladies, with Tajai performing his verse from the standalone “Step To My Girl,” which doesn’t appear on any of their albums. They’d do another one of these later on in the night to see who the diehard fans were, performing “Cab Fare,” a track that didn’t make the cut onto 93 ‘Til Infinity due to sample clearance issues, only being released through compilations and bootlegs over the years. The crowd would stay turned up and vibe with the tracks, as the group did two more songs that appear towards the end of the album, “Make Your Mind Up” and “Batting Practice,” getting the crowd to join in on the latter’s hook. “It’s like this y’all, it’s like that y’all, I got a Hieroglyphics baseball bat y’all!!”

While the group had been doing Souls of Mischief songs all night, Tajai checked the crowd to see how many Hieroglyphics fans were in the building, shouting out fellow group members Del The Funky Homosapien, Casual, and Pep Love before actually bringing out the group’s producer Domino from backstage. The crowd cheered as Tajai brought up the idea of bringing the entire Hiero crew back to Toronto for a concert, something the city hasn’t seen in at least a decade. This would of course transition into the performance of a Hieroglyphics song, as they got into an ’03 track produced by Domino himself, “Powers That Be,” with Opio especially standing out with the different flows he has in his verse, nailing it word for word.

Souls of Mischief would take some time to reflect on the achievement of still being together and performing live after 30 years, with Phesto mentioning how their first ever tour was with other iconic groups including A Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul. Moving into some songs from later in their discography, the group performed 2009’s “Tour Stories” between giving an RIP shoutout to De La Soul’s Trugoy The Dove, who passed away earlier this year, and A Tibe Called Quest’s Phife Dawg. The four emcees would then come together for a team huddle where they’d power up and burst into a high-energy performance of the closing track to their 2014 album, There Is Only Now, with the song “The Last Act.” Those unfamiliar with the group’s latest album stood in awe as the emcees nailed every word in their rapid-fire cypher over the up tempo Adrian Younge production.

After that intense microphone slaughter, the group would mellow out as A-Plus got the crowd to wave their arms and sing along as he did a cover of Queen Latifah’s “U.N.I.T.Y.,” spreading the positive energy. With everyone now relaxed, he’d do a call-and-response to bring the energy back up again, shouting the lyrics “it’s like that and a-“ and getting the crowd to shout back “-a Hieroglyphics, yea!” You could feel the excitement as we all knew what song was coming next, the 1998 Hiero classic “You Never Knew.” The crowd turned up the energy as each of the four emcees spit their verse on the track, and got especially hyped for Opio’s verse as we shouted out his lyrics “we unstoppable, droppin’ flows in Toronto!!”

The emcees would take a bit of a break before the next track, giving Breakbeat Lou a moment to shine on the turntables. To celebrate Hip-Hop’s 50-year anniversary and the reach the culture has had across the world, he’d mash up some songs to show the connection between the culture’s birthplace New York and other cities. One highlight was him connecting New York, Massachusetts and Texas by playing Gang Starr’s “DWYCK” and cutting off the track to let the crowd rap Greg Nice’s verse, and the Toronto crowd impressed by rapping it all the way through. In a tribute to the late Trugoy The Dove, he’d play Pete Rock & CL Smooth’s “T.R.O.Y.” before letting Souls of Mischief take over again to close out the show.

We all knew Souls of Mischief had to close out the show with their biggest hit, “93 ‘Til Infinity,” and the crowd was as energized as they’d been all night when the beat dropped. Wanting to capture the special moment, many fans had their phones out as they waved their arms to the beat, and the four emcees each spit their verses with a ton of enthusiasm. It was all positive vibes as the crowd joined in for the chorus and chanted along to the lyrics “this is how we chill from ’93 ’til!!”

On some old-school Hip-Hop vibes, the group would take turns giving shoutouts and thank-yous before leaving the stage. Tajai would reflect on the blessing it’s been to still have the group together after 30 years, having been independent for 28 of those years and thanking the fans for the continued support. A-Plus would thank everyone in the building, from the light and sound crew to the bartenders and security, and of course thanking the fans. Phesto would shoutout the 50 years of Hip-Hop we’re celebrating, plus 30 years of friendship with his crew, highlighting how rare it is for Hip-Hop groups to still be together, healthy and active over so many years. Opio would shoutout some local Toronto emcees, including Raz Fresco and Lord Fury, before closing it out by getting the crowd to say peace.

Overall, Souls of Mischief put on an incredible performance that showcased authentic Hip-Hop in its purest form. The four emcees put on a show with their stage presence, coordination and timing, and of course their bars and microphone skills, with no need for extra visuals or gimmicks. The DJs started the show by taking the fans through all the incredible artists who represent the golden era of Hip-Hop, and Souls of Mischief came out and showed where they belong within that era. The Toronto crowd also had great energy for the group to feed off of, as they stayed turned up, shouting out the lyrics with the group and keeping the positive vibes going all night. The fans are definitely thankful that this tour is happening, as it’s becoming a rarity to see groups like Souls of Mischief get to celebrate 30 years with all of the original members still going strong.

The Souls of Mischief 30th Anniversary Tour continues through Canada and the U.S. all summer, tickets for other tour dates can be found here.

Special thank you to MRG Live for granting this blog access to review this show!

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