This is possibly the first rap song I ever liked — and the list of rap songs I like is still pretty short. The song contains many of the elements I tend to dislike about rap:
- Uh, rapping for one, then
- self-referential rapping, and
- self-aggrandizing rapping.
A great groove can overcome a lot.
I remember being in a department store in Phoenix in 1991, and this video was playing on a monitor. I thought the guitar had a West African feel to it. And of course the skateboarding caught my attention.
At the end of the video, I wrote down the name of the band and bought the cassette as soon as I could: Urban Dance Squad, “Deeper Shade of Soul.”