“There Is Only Now” is the titled cut from the forthcoming collaborative concept album, There Is Only Now, between the Souls of Mischief and Adrian Younge’s new label, Linear Labs.
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Earlier this month, SPIN announced that prolific Oakland hip-hop group Souls of Mischief joined forces with multi-instrumentalist producer Adrian Younge for a collaborative concept album, There Is Only Now, which will be releasing via Adrian’s newly launched label, Linear Labs, on August 26. Premiering via Complex, the first single and title song, “There Is Only Now” features Snoop Dogg trading verses with the Hieroglyphics quartet for the very first time. The song is now available for sale both digitally and as a 7″ single with the accompanying b-side, “All You Got Is Your Word.”
Taking inspiration from a real-life nearly fatal incident involving the group at the peak of their seminal hit “93 ‘Til Infinity,” in 1994, the concept album of There Is Only Now begins with Souls members A-Plus, Opio, Phesto, and Tajai fearing for their lives as a masked gunman takes aim. What unravels throughout the 19-track masterpiece is a dramatic tale full of love, loss, and revenge, as fictional characters collide with a non-fictional event that nearly destroyed the group near the start of their career. On this title song (track #8,) listeners are introduced to a love interest between two characters, Stoney and his girlfriend Miriam. “Can’t nobody tell them nothin’, their love is unstoppable,” claims A-Plus, rapping bar-for-bar with Opio, who quickly adds “overcome any obstacle, together they will always grow.” Enter Snoop Dogg, who shares his perspective on young love, while also hinting at the development of a precarious love triangle, rapping “the homie Stoney in love with his girl, and so is his big homie/ now what a pity, a foot note to the cut throat/ it’s rare, see I was told all in love is unfair.”
Recorded solely on 2″ analogue tape using only live instrumentation, Adrian Younge and his band Venice Dawn offer break-beat drums, flurrying keys, and warm bass as the back drop for the Cali-bred MC’s. In addition to Snoop, the album includes features from Busta Rhymes, William Hart of the Delfonics, and Scarub of the Living Legends crew and narration by Ali Shaheed Muhammad who takes on the character of a radio DJ for the fictional radio station K-NOW, as he narrates parts of the story. “There Is Only Now” is currently available on 7″ single, with the accompanying b-side “All You Got Is Your Word.” With all iTunes pre-orders, purchasers will receive a free download of digital versions of “There Is Only Now” and “All You Got Is Your Word.”
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