The problem with this De La Soul album is that there isn’t enough De La Soul on it. Almost every song includes a guest vocalist and often those guests steal the show. The Memory ballad is all about the glossy vocals of Estelle. Drawn is literally a Yukimi Nagano song. Lord Intended becomes a Justin Hawkins solo before the halfway point. It’s conceptually off-putting, odd even, how many bars go by with featured singers taking the place of the guys whose album this is supposed to be.
It’s not like the songs are good enough to get away with it. The rhapsodic changes of Snoopies; it’s not this but another song that features Snoop Dogg; is jarring. Most are so-so, though it’s worth mentioning that the Trainwreck beat, while amateurish, is quirky and cute. It’s also worth mentioning that Exodus, an “outro that’s also an intro”, could be something remarkable if it’s enchanting chorus and orchestration were developed into a proper song with actual rap verses.
my rating : 3 of 5
2016
Machiventa :
“The problem with this De La Soul album is that there isn’t enough De La Soul on it.”
Exactly! For me the concept, guests, music, and feel of the album are incredible, it just needs more Pos and Dave! It feels like all the Kickstarter funds went into paying the collaborators and actual making of the album, with them ultimately not having enough rhymes written to compliment the music. Maybe they were going for that intentionally but it leaves me wanting to hear more of them.