#30thAnniversary – Leaders of the New School “T.I.M.E. (The Inner Mind’s Eye)”

by Kramos of The CooksOctober 19, 20232 min read

After an acclaimed first album titled “A Future Without a Past…” and a lauded apparition on A Tribe Called Quest “Scenario” where Busta Rhymes stole the show, it was time for Leaders of the New School to take advantage of the hype and drop a new full length. When Busta, Charlie Brown, Dinco D and Cutmonitor Milo delivered the album to the Elektra label and their A&R Dante Ross, it was not what they expected. They were hoping for an effort similar to the first one, with a possible emphasis on who they think was the star of the group (Bus-A-Bus of course, can’t blame them), but they instead got a darker and more mature album, not as “high energy” as the first one. Dante didn’t like the record and most critics thought LONS fell off and didn’t recreate the magic on this LP, which is kind of weird listening back more than 30 years later. “T.I.M.E. (The Inner Mind’s Eye)” is far from being a bad album, probably less accessible, certainly less marketable, but still an opus that aged well and can stand it’s ground with the greatest releases of 1993.

The lack of support from the label mixed with all the attention put on Busta’s talent created tension in the group. They ended up breaking up live in the middle of a “Yo! MTV Raps” episode (you can find the video in the “live performances and interviews” playlist below), which opened the way for Busta Rhymes to have a successful solo career, still going today, while the rest of the band sadly didn’t create much music after the split.

Below, you have the full album, videos, dope remixes by Large Professor and Diamond D, live performances and interviews. You can also dig in the samples on www.whosampled.com. Enjoy!