Not Your Typical American

The Goats, Tricks of the Shade might be the last hip-hop (rap?) record I was really excited about. In high school (1989) I found rap through skating and was fueled by the groups of that time: NWA and Easy E, Ice T, The DOC, Beastie Boys, Run DMC, Eric B and Rakim, Stetsasonic, the mighty 3rd Bass and many more. Topping the list was Public Enemy. Not only did they have best sound, front man and DJ combo, the lyrics were amazing. Truly revolutionary ideas. While I did enjoy the bitches and hos style of most gangster rap of the time, PE was much more. At the time it seemed to be a pure alternative to the crappy Mtv garbage. New ideas and a more punk based hip hop. Around 1990 I started going into DC and discovered local hardcore and found a direct way to tap into a music scene that spoke even more directly to me as a (ahem) white teenager. I still spun PE quite a bit but lost interest in the whole hip-hop deal as it seemed the edge was gone.

Enter The Goats. In late 1992 I was working at a record store in Washington DC. A promo CD arrived with a few songs from Tricks Of The Shade. I was taken by the illustration on the front with the ‘Burn The Flag’ graphic. Woah. These three guys (black and two white) from Philly had amazing beats and political lyrics that really pushed the envelope at the time. A new Public Enemy for 92'. Taking down George Bush (Sr.), insulting Columbus and bringing up issues like abortion, Leonard Peltier’s imprisonment and many other touchy topics of the time. So, so good. Yeah, they did some weed-based songs, but I could deal with that. The clever skits between songs really pounded the message home.

In 1993 I was lucky enough to see them live at the old 9:30 club in DC. Fucking incredible. They had a live band and the songs sounded even better. I was working at the record store and the Ruff House / Columbia rep arranged to get me a shirt (they had none for sale) and introduced me to a pretty blunted band. Later that year their second album came out and it just didn’t have that same edge. The Goats seemed to just fade away, as did my interest in anything hip-hop. These guys should be on every hip-hop top ten list and are VERY under rated.

“Men never die for flags, they die for politicians, the shadiest breed of the mental magicians”

Download the entire Tricks Of The Shade album here

The official Goats website (lyrics and info)

The Goats My Space (songs and info)