The East Oakland backpacker crew are members of the loose underground hip-hop consortium known as Hieroglyphics. The group consists of four erudite but hardcore MCs: A-Plus, Phesto, Opio and Tajai. Their debut album in 1993, ’93 Til Infinity, produced an early-’90s anthem of the same name and spawned a movement towards bohemian yet rugged hip-hop. The crew drew comparisons to De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest for their abstract, whimsical style of storytelling. Their debut was a youthfully impressionistic album echoing jazz and funk influences combined with precocious lyrical gestures. Two years later, SOM shucked off their reputation for their sophomore release, a derisive and brash departure from the first LP. Their Northern California mindset combines chaos, danger, and the avant-garde, all from a very intellectual B-Boy perspective.