Album Review: De La Soul – “and the Anonymous Nobody….”

By: Ben Wagg –

‘De La Soul is Dead’, or so they rapped on their 1991 LP of the same name, but yet after an 11-year hiatus, it seemingly fits just as well in 2016. After waning influence and radio silence, the possibility of another album seemed unlikely. However, following a successful $600,000 Kickstarter campaign that catapulted them back to the spotlight once again last year, the people had chosen them as their champions, and De La Soul has represented them with moderate success on their new album, and the Anonymous Nobody….

The album opens with spoken words advocating to pursue love “when it’s reached its lowest and you don’t believe in it anymore”. The album delivers this message through a flurry of indie sounding rap, 80’s style David Byrne pop, and the same daft energy that fueled their classic debut album, 3 Feet High and Rising, almost three decades ago.

As the trio approaches the age of fifty, topics of age becomes inevitable. Some older rappers like Jay-Z commit to braggadocio to capture a glimmer of their youth, however De La Soul instead acts as rap’s spirit guide. They offer meditations on feelings of life’s finiteness; “Two words (I’m mortal)/ But the fans lift ‘em both together and remove the apostrophe” Posdnuos contemplates over the jazzy, sullen piano of the song “Drawn”.

Age though, doesn’t disqualify them from being competitive MCs. It strengthens the album as they keep up with contemporaries like 2Chainz and Usher.

The mournful, Usher featuring track “Greyhound” is a highlight on the album. Greyhound buses serve as a clever frame for the song, through which the verse’s protagonists come and go. They chronicle people going to New York for their chance at success, only to be treated “like just flesh comin’ off a greyhound”. This poetic track channels Usher’s R&B swagger into a thoughtful medium.

Songs like “Sexy bitch” and “Trainwreck” however sterilize Greyhound’s emotional heft. These playful tracks discuss hot women that people should beware of because they’re “a train-wreck”. Yet lines about a woman who “lives by the name of a sexy bitch” tarnishes the album’s flow. Flow issues arise in the in the album’s 67-minute length. Where Run the Jewels can pack a double album’s worth of music in 40, De La Soul struggles to justify this duration. Long, angst ridden songs like “Lord Intended” cause this.

The album’s sonic diversity ensures that these blips don’t linger. Successes such as Royalty Capes capture this sound spectrum. De La Soul flows over regal trumpets like rap gladiators fighting in the arena. Disses like “Androids read raps off iPhones/ I choke the blood out of felt tips” are a triumphant reminder that De La Soul can do battle rap as well as indie odes.

De La Soul also retreads past glory, recapturing the spark of previous collaborations (like “Feel Good Inc”) with Gorillaz front man Damon Albarn in “Here in After”. In this inspirational rock song, Albarn plays the cynic while De La Soul preaches how people “should be thankful” despite adversities.

As a guiding work from rap veterans, this album powerfully reminds us of why we need De La Soul as indie, battle rap, and rock rarely sound so smooth packed into a single album. Although they’d never admit they’re immortal, it’s starting to feel like it. Still, after years apart though, De La Soul can’t help but feel a little soulless.