Check Out Vinnie Paz’s Homage To Philly Hip-Hop Circa 1993

When the humidity and the temperature alike hit a certain number and the smell of weed begins to waft over these streets like a forest of illmatic gingko trees, sometimes we can’t help but be transported back to the long 1990s in Philadelphia. The city felt slower then, but its beating (albeit at a relaxed pace) heart was a style of hip-hop that reverberates to this day. And Vinnie Paz’s new single and video, “Nineteen Ninety Three,” captures the vibe of that time perfectly, when The Roots had only recently made the switch from South Street buskers to recording artists, when King Britt was quietly spreading dance floor gospel all over courtesy Digable Planets, The Goats were on Ruffhouse Records and goddamn was it hot in the summertime. Paz, who with Stoupe The Enemy Of Mankind (if you’re going to have a rap name, go all-in) started Jedi Mind Tricks in ’93, plays around with his timeline a lot in clip above, so that, in its way, 1993 is now and now is 1993. That’s a mindtrick in play all over Paz’s most recent LP, The Cornerstone of the Corner Store, and the sum total of it is a summer sountrack we didn’t even know we wanted so bad until we heard it. Now, it’s all we wanna hear.