Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump [PA]

Performer: De La Soul
Artist: Beastie Boys; Xzibit; Redman; Tash; Busta Rhymes; Dv Alias Khryst; Pharoahe Monch; Chaka Khan; Phife; J-Ro; Indeed; Ad Rock; Mike D; Freddie Foxxx
Distributor: Alternative Dis. Alliance

Notes: A bonus track from the ART OFFICIAL INTELLIGENCE sessions is available at www.tommyboy.com/aoi. De La Soul: Kalvin "Posdunos" Mercer, David "Trugoy The Dove" Jolicoeur (rap vocals); Vincent "Maseo" Mason (turntables). Additional personnel includes: Hope Wilson, Chaka Khan, Aiya Merier, Jean Francois, Supa Dav West (vocals); Mike D, Ad Rock, Tash, J-Ro, Redman, Pharoahe Monch, Indeed, D.V. Alias Khrist, Busta Rhymes, Indeed, Freddie Foxxx (rap vocals); Pino Palladino (bass); Scratch (turntables). Producers include: Supa Dav West, De La Soul, Ad Lib, Jaydee, Rockwilder. Recorded at Mirror Image Studios, New York, New York. "Oooh." was nominated for the 2001 Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. A bonus track from the ART OFFICIAL INTELLIGENCE sessions is available at www.tommyboy.com/aoi. De La Soul: Kalvin "Posdunos" Mercer, David "Trugoy The Dove" Jolicoeur, Vincent "Maseo" Mason. Additional personnel includes: Chaka Khan, Xzibit, Redman, Pharaoh Monche, Busta Rhymes, Beastie Boys, Freddie Foxxx (rap vocals); Pino Palladino (bass); Scratch (turntables). Producers include: Supa Dav West, De La Soul, Ad Lib, Jaydee, Rockwilder. Recorded at Mirror Image Studios, New York, New York. "Oooh." was nominated for the 2001 Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. De La Soul is one of the few groups that consistently release albums that leave a lasting impression on hip-hop. Its fifth album, ART OFFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, is the first installment in a three CD set that's intended to be the trio's farewell to rap. With this in mind, De La Soul gives its fans the same flavor it has become famous for over the years. It blurs its own sonic boundaries with songs like "Thru Ya City," featuring DV Alias Khrist, which sounds harder than is usual for the former Daisy Agers. On "Squat," Pos, Dove, and Mase collaborate with The Beastie Boys for a different effect, but the majority of the album remains calm; check out "Oooh!" featuring Redman for De La Soul at its best.

Rolling Stone (8/17/00, pp.109-10) - 3.5 stars out of 5 - "...Continues their strange evolution as hip-hop elder statesmen....De La Soul show hip-hop lifers can grow up on the job..." Spin (8/00, p.148) - 8 out of 10 - "...Pleasures in its 'obtuse slang' and thorny truth-telling. Bass lines snap and snake, R&B-ish choruses are sung with glee....De La further explore a genre they've practically trademarked: the Disillusioned Club Jam..." Q (9/00, p.97) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...As ever, the rhymes...are flavorsome and funky, interspersed with a running skit which has them imbibing helium and impersonating rival rappers....infectious and intelligent..." Alternative Press (10/00, p.81) - 3 out of 5 - "...[They] are at the top of their game....this album is squarely in [the] rap-for-grownups territory..." Mixmag (8/00, p.171) - 4 out of 5 - "...[They] are just as creative, witty and downright silly as ever....there's something here for everyone....De La Soul are the most discerning judges of all things wack and they're never afraid to say so. It's a welcome return." Muzik (10/00, p.105) - 4 out of 5 - "...This album will grow on people and is yet another strong album from De La Soul..." CMJ (8/14/00, p.3) - "...The quintessential thinking person's hip-hop group....[They] have updated their sound, but not their b-boy parlance, which remains as sharp and quick-witted as ever..." Vibe (9/00, p.240) - 4 records out of 5 - "...[Their] most obvious nod to rap orthodoxy yet....maintaining their firm sonic hand, proving that old-head rappers don;t have to fall off, as long as they've got a solid grip on who they are." Melody Maker (8/15/00, p.49) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...17 wildly eclectic (yet cohesive) tracks....Suffice to say that impeccable style and a knowing, ironic smirk pervade." Mojo (Publisher) (9/00, p.96) - "...An earthy, beat-oriented album that boasts cameos from friends and peers....the beats thud and pump while the rhyming puts words and phrases together like interlocking segments of though and exhortation..." NME (Magazine) (8/5/00, p.28) - 7 out of 10 - "...A display of diamond-hard skills....They're still carving out their own path....a mature victory."

Skit comedy, abstract rhyming, samples from pop's left field, and a self-consciously intellectual approach to rap became hip-hop staples after De La Soul's 1989 debut, 3 FEET HIGH AND RISING. But despite the group's widespread influence, no one ever has ever come close to appropriating their singular style.

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