Tag: Native Tongues

De La Soul – “Cabin in the Sky” review

One of the most beloved hip hop groups of all-time from Amityville, New York consisting of Posdnuos, Dave & DJ Maseo a.k.a. De La Soul. Their first few full-lengths 3 Feet High & Rising, De La Soul is Dead, Buhloone Mindstate & stakes is high under Tommy Boy Records would all become some of the greatest of the late 80s & early/mid 90s. Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump & Art Official Intelligence 2: Bionix were both solid although I wouldn’t call them classics like their earlier material, but The Grind Date might be the most underrated entry in their discography. 1st Serve came out during my sophomore year of high school through Duck Down Music Inc. & it was a fun conceptual listen, putting out & the Anonymous Nobody… under their own label AOI Records almost a decade ago next summer. Dave unfortunately passed away in 2023 of congestive heart failure & he still appears posthumously throughout De La’s 10th album, which marks their debut for Mass Appeal Records serving as the 6th & penultimate installment of their Legend Has It series.

After the “Cabin Talk” intro performed by Giancarlo Esposito from the Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul & The Boys/Gen V franchises, the first song “YUHDONTSTOP” beautifully opens up with the group assuring that the magic will forever come in 3 whereas “Sunny Storms” produced by DJ Premier takes a symphonic boom bap route instrumentally slowing down the sample he used during the final verse explaining there’s no need to grieve over the old you. “Good Health” keeps it dusty thanks to Supa Dave West for an ode to staying healthy in light of Plug 2’s death leading into “Will Be” colorfully talking about nobody stopping them.

Pete Rock flips both “7 Years” by The Impressions & “Uphill Peace of Mind” by Kid Dynamite during the lead single “The Package”for Posdnuos & Dave to trade verses with one another rightfully boasting their status amongst the finest in all of Long Island while “A Quick 16 for Mama” featuring Killer Mike talks about their respective mothers over a soulful Nottz beat. “Just How It Is (Sometimes)” turns up the funk so they can explain the way life goes occasionally until “Cruel Summers Bring FIRE LIFE!!” samples “Everybody Loves the Sunshine” by the late Roy Ayers fighting for love.

“Day in the Sun (Gettin’ Wit U)” featuring Q-Tip reaches the halfway point with the 2nd & final single talking about another day beginning with them having nothing to do while “Run It Back!!” featuring Nas joins forces over more sampling to get in their battle rap bags lyrically. “Different World” soulfully talks about being in a place in their career where they’re no longer tasting the grit that they were craving almost 4 decades earlier while “Patty Cake” heads for a conscious direction thematically over a soothing Jake One instrumental.

Meanwhile on “The Silent Life of a Truth”, we have Premier hooking up a gospel sample cautioning that parents will still push the harsh realities away from children to make sure the fairy tales stay in place & to stay vigilant while “EN EFF” featuring Black Thought jazzily suggests not to make them laugh because muhfuckas be funny out here. “Believe in Him” turns up the gospel influences a lot higher talking about spirituality while “Yours” featuring Common & Slick Rick advises to not to be left astray.

“Palm of His Hands” kicks off the final leg of Cabin in the Sky with some sumptuous pianos talking about not wanting to get any older & the truth being a little heavy to lift up at times while the title track remembers Trugoy the Dove on top of a Supa Dave beat that kinda reminds me of some of A Tribe Called Quest’s material. “Don’t Push Me” finishes De La’s debut for Mass Appeal with a bittersweet self-produced Dave solo joint homaging “The Message” by Grandmaster Flash & the Furious 5 during the hook.

As we prepare for Nas & Premier to end the Legend Has It series in 3 weeks, De La Soul’s return after almost a decade could most likely become my favorite of theirs since The Grind Date & rivals Mobb Deep’s final album Infinite for the right of being called the best entry in this whole run Mass Appeal Records has been on. Posdnuos & DJ Maseo not on oh honor the legacy of Trugoy a.k.a. Dave, but they extending that tribute much further to all the loved ones they’ve lost along the way 24 hours after what would’ve been the late Phife Dawg’s born day.

Score: 4.5/5

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Phife Dawg – “Forever” review

Phife Dawg was a 45 year old MC from Queens, New York who came up in the mid-80’s alongside childhood friends Q-Tip as well as Ali Shaheed Muhammad & Jarobi White when they formed A Tribe Called Quest. They would go on to become one of the most well respected groups in hip hop history with a discography that pretty much speaks for itself, especially The Low End Theory & Midnight Marauders. But after The Love Movement came out in the fall of ‘98, the group disbanded & Phife put out his solo debut Ventilation: Da LP at the beginning of the new millennium to moderate reception. Tribe eventually got back together 15 years later by recording their swan song We Got It From Here…Thank You 4 Your Service following their performance on Jimmy Fallon in secrecy & Phife passed from type 2 diabetes right before it was finished. The end result was my 3rd favorite Tribe album & now to commemorate the 6 year anniversary of his death, DJ Rasta Root is overseeing a posthumous effort from the 5 foot assassin & giving it to the world.

After the “Cheryl’s Big Son” intro, the first actual song “Only a Coward” is peppy boom bap jam produced by 9th Wonder talking about acting your own age whereas “Fallback” with Rapsody goes into more soulful territory thanks to Khrysis talking about not knowing how to act around their crews. The remix of the J Dilla produced “Nutshell” is superior to original down to the newly added Busta Rhymes & Redman verses just before “Sorry” comes through with a smooth ballad to his other half hooked up by Nottz.

Meanwhile on “Dear Dilla”, we have Phife delivering a touching open letter to the late hometown producer with Q-Tip delivering an emotional ass hook leading into “Wow Factor” works in some dusty drums & a vocal loop to show off some phenomenal wordplay. “Residual Curiosities” goes into a cloudier direction to show his appreciation for the Cory of Detroit, but then “God Send” talks about life’s curveballs on top of some horns & a funky bass-line.

After the heartfelt spoken word poetry that Phife’s mother Cheryl Boyce-Taylor delivers during the “Round Irving High School” interlude, the track “French Kiss Trois” with Redman & Illa J is basically a 2nd remix of a joint on the latter’s eponymous sophomore album while the penultimate song “2 Live Forever” by Little Brother & Posdnuos finds the 3 on top of some summery guitar kicks & glistening pianos to talk about how much they miss the 5-Foot Assassin. The title track then ends the album on an orchestral note touching down on eternity with “Ms. Jackson” sample during the scratch hook.

Now that Rasta Root has finally given us Phife’s swan song, I think it bittersweetly shows that his significance to the culture will live on until the end of the time from the touching performances to the organic production. Long Live the Funky Diabetic!

Score: 4/5