93 'til Infinity

The four members of Souls of Mischief appear in a hazy, layered green and gold photograph on the cover of their debut, their figures half dissolved into the background, with the group's yellow logo in the top corner.

Souls of Mischief, part of Oakland's Hieroglyphics crew, were teenagers when they made the album. A-Plus, Opio, Phesto and Tajai traded fast, intricate verses over jazzy, mellow beats, and the title track became one of the most loved songs of the decade, a laid-back anthem for a West Coast scene that had little to do with gangsta rap.

The dreamy, faded image suits the song's mood of hanging out and looking ahead. Released in 1993, the album gave the Bay Area underground its classic and inspired generations of independent rappers who saw it as proof that skill and style could thrive outside the major-label mainstream.