The past hurtles toward the present, and when the two collide, the future is born. No, it's not physics. It's just rap music.
This formula of combining the past and present is what drives the legendary rap group De La Soul's eighth and latest studio release, "The Grind Date."(2004)
With so much self-consciously commercial rap being made and blasted out of radios, it's becoming harder to navigate what direction hip-hop is evolving. But De La Soul (no longer tied to former label Tommy Boy Records) recently stepped up with an album that just might serve as a map.
The group, famous for its diverse taste and its sampling of witty lyrics and lighter beats, gets a little more serious on "The Grind Date." The result is a sound that isn't entirely cutting edge, but is at once a monument to and an obvious progression of, what was hot in old school rap.
Throughout their career, De La Soul has done their best to explore the outer limits of music and still stay relevant. They surprised listeners with their 1989 debut, "3 Feet High and Rising," which included bits of soul, jazz, funk, and psychedelic within its hip-hop tracks.
For "The Grind Date," the group instead looks back to its own past. They delve back into their body of work to compile a new sound. De La's eclectic approach to making music allows the group to borrow directly from its own history without creating a recycled product.
The first track, "The Future," is fresh with an intoxicating melody that will keep your head bopping. Despite the title, the lyrics reference the people and ideas behind old school rap, a theme that runs throughout the album.
Another important subject surfaces in the title track, "Grind Date." De La drops a lot of street knowledge and experience on this one, but the lyrics are wrapped in another upbeat melody. This contrast between challenging lyrics and soulful beats is what made De La Soul famous.
Despite their obvious knowledge of what lifted them up in the past, De La tries to establish a weathered adult sound beyond their usual style. The group occasionally overcompensates with spurts of grimy lyrics that turn out to be too hard for the stylish beats underneath and don't stay true to the smart and funny rhymes that dominate the album.
Perhaps the harsh lyrics (like in the title track, which for some reason ends with unnecessary misogyny) are a part of the dissent and defiance that has characterized the rap group's career. De La has struggled with dueling desires for commercial success and a commitment to "staying real" since they emerged in '89.
Their desire to balance is also apparent in their choice of featured artists that are also included on the album. The best guest on "The Grind Date" is MF Doom, one of the best rappers still in the underground.
Thanks to MF, "Rock Co. Kane Flow" is easily the dopest track on the entire album. The dark beat better suits the lyrical intensity of the album.
Sean Paul appears on "Shoomp", automatically giving the track commercial appeal as well as a dance hall groove. Also featured are Flava Flav, Common, and Ghostface, all artists whose careers have drifted in and out of between the spotlight and the underground.
Even though the tracks alternate in style and seriousness, none of them are bad. The "Grind Date" is basically a smooth listen all the way through, the jilting and harsh "Shopping Bags" as the only possible exception. This club constructed track is noticeably formulaic with a marching beat that aggravates over time.
It's easy to understand that rap is something that De La Soul's members Posdnuos, Trugoy, Pasemaster Mase physically must take part in actively and continue to need even after fifteen years. As they say on one track that you can't, "... outgrow rap like it's a size-five shoe."
