Casual "Fear Itself" (1992 Demo)

Out of all of the dope Hip Hop collectives that have blessed us with their incredible music (and trust me there are alot), one of my all time favorites are The Hieroglyphics Crew coming straight out of Oakland, California. The Hieroglyphics consists of Del the Funkee Homosapien, Souls of Mischief (A-Plus, Opio, Tajai,& Phesto), Casual, Pep Love, Toure, Domino, and at one point Extra Prolific (Snupe & Mike G), Jay-Biz, Mike P & Kwam.

One of my FAVORITE albums to come out of the Hieroglyphics camp was Fear Itself ,the 1994 debut album by Casual. This album was DOPE from front to back with amazing production from Domino, Jay-Biz, Del, & even Casual himself. The album also featured dope guest verses from other members of the Hieroglyphics AND a guest verse from Saafir of Hobo Junction, who was the only NON-Hieroglyphics member to guest on the album. So for all of you who are familiar with the Saafir VS. Casual (Hieroglyphics / Hobo Junction) battle, you know that Casual and Saafir have a long history.

Due to the fact that I love Casuals' Fear Itself, I was very excited to get my hands on this 92' demo version of Fear Itself. At just over 19 minutes, this demo contains the original versions of some of my favorite songs off the commercial version of Fear Itself. For the most part, the songs sound the same as the final album. The beat and the lyrics are the same. But you will find minor differences in Casuals' delivery. Also the hook is different in "Thoughts Of The Thoughtful" and "Follow The Funk". The original version of "Who's It On" features the biggest difference. The demo version uses the same beat but features different lyrics from Casual and Pep Love. And Opio rhymes on the original version instead of Del the Funkee Homosapien. The demo version of "Who's It On" also features nice scratching. :)

So there you have it! Like most demos, the sound quality isn't the best (the sound even goes out for 3 seconds during one of the songs). But in no way does it take away from the fact that this 1992 demo is DOPE! So to all of my Hiero & Hip Hop heads click here to own a piece of Hip Hop history!

PEACE!