Consisting of Tajai, Phesto, Opio and A-Plus, Oakland’s Souls of Mischief emerged from the larger alternative-rap collective Hieroglyphics in the ’90s, ready to propagate a new sound and perspective in West Coast hip-hop. The group’s signatures were verbose wordplay, laidback deliveries and defining themselves against the prevalent gang culture. After attracting attention from Jive Records, in 1993 the quartet released 93 ’til Infinity, a bolt-from-the-blue mission statement that combined musical complexity in its raps and beats with a potent combination of humour, hedonism and hard-nosed narratives. The 1995 follow-up, No Man’s Land, was a bleaker affair in both content and production sound. The group’s subsequent releases were independent, coming alongside solo releases from their members and the larger Hieroglyphics posse. After several years’ hiatus, the 2009 Prince Paul-produced Montezuma’s Revenge felt like a return to the more playful ethos of SOM’s earlier work.