The Grind Date: Difference between revisions
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The first official single, "Shopping Bags", received little recognition by the media. [[Black Entertainment Television|BET]], for instance, refused to play the "Shopping Bags" music video and stated that it did not appeal to their targeted audience. In addition, [[BET]] claimed that De La Soul weren't relevant to [[BET]]'s viewers. Many hip-hop fans were likely outraged by this accusation, as [[De La Soul]] is considered to be one of the most important and influential groups in hip-hop history; this opinion is shared by large-audience music critics [[Robert Christgau]], who writes "partly our ears have changed and partly theirs have, so that their brilliant hunches now sound like glowing accomplishments,"<ref>[http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?id=337&name=De+La+Soul De La Soul] [[Robert Christgau]]</ref> and [[Allmusic|AMG]]'s [[Stephen Thomas Erlewine]], who notes, "At the time of its 1989 release, De La Soul's debut album, ''[[3 Feet High and Rising]]'', was hailed as the future of hip-hop."<ref>[http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:5huk6jph71w0~T1 De La Soul Biography] [[Allmusic]]</ref> The video did end up on rotation on smaller outlets such as [[MTV2]], but it never received much (if any) airplay from [[MTV]] or BET. |
The first official single, "Shopping Bags", received little recognition by the media. [[Black Entertainment Television|BET]], for instance, refused to play the "Shopping Bags" music video and stated that it did not appeal to their targeted audience. In addition, [[BET]] claimed that De La Soul weren't relevant to [[BET]]'s viewers. Many hip-hop fans were likely outraged by this accusation, as [[De La Soul]] is considered to be one of the most important and influential groups in hip-hop history; this opinion is shared by large-audience music critics [[Robert Christgau]], who writes "partly our ears have changed and partly theirs have, so that their brilliant hunches now sound like glowing accomplishments,"<ref>[http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?id=337&name=De+La+Soul De La Soul] [[Robert Christgau]]</ref> and [[Allmusic|AMG]]'s [[Stephen Thomas Erlewine]], who notes, "At the time of its 1989 release, De La Soul's debut album, ''[[3 Feet High and Rising]]'', was hailed as the future of hip-hop."<ref>[http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:5huk6jph71w0~T1 De La Soul Biography] [[Allmusic]]</ref> The video did end up on rotation on smaller outlets such as [[MTV2]], but it never received much (if any) airplay from [[MTV]] or BET. |
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Revision as of 14:33, 28 November 2010
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The Grind Date is the seventh album from hip-hop group De La Soul, released on October 5, 2004. The album was originally intended to be the final album of the Art Official Intelligence (AOI) trilogy, but as the album quickly changed focus, the group decided to put AOI III on hold and finish The Grind Date as its own work.
Overview
Music
The Grind Date is a notably brisker, and leaner work than the groups previous albums, and features a top of the line array of production talents including the late J Dilla (who was part of A Tribe Called Quest's production unit, The Ummah), Madlib ("Shopping Bags (She Got From You)"), and 9th Wonder ("Church"). Producer Supa Dave West, who handled the majority of the AOI albums, also contributes five tracks to the album. "Rock Co.Kane Flow" featuring MF Doom, was produced by Jake One, and sees Posdnuos addressing some recent trends in Hip hop with the line "Unlike them, we craft gems / so systematically inclined to pen lines / without sayin a producer's name, all over the track". The well received collaboration also brought attention to the then-unknown Jake One.
The album is light on guest appearances and features a total of four guest MCs, including Common. Unlike every De La Soul album before it, The Grind Date contains no skits at all, although a short musical interlude does precede the first song "The Future". The album's conceptual cover and sleeve booklet, based on a 2005 calendar, was designed by Morning Breath Inc.
BET controversy
 | This article contains weasel words: vague phrasing that often accompanies biased or unverifiable information. |
The first official single, "Shopping Bags", received little recognition by the media. BET, for instance, refused to play the "Shopping Bags" music video and stated that it did not appeal to their targeted audience. In addition, BET claimed that De La Soul weren't relevant to BET's viewers. Many hip-hop fans were likely outraged by this accusation, as De La Soul is considered to be one of the most important and influential groups in hip-hop history; this opinion is shared by large-audience music critics Robert Christgau, who writes "partly our ears have changed and partly theirs have, so that their brilliant hunches now sound like glowing accomplishments,"[1] and AMG's Stephen Thomas Erlewine, who notes, "At the time of its 1989 release, De La Soul's debut album, 3 Feet High and Rising, was hailed as the future of hip-hop."[2] The video did end up on rotation on smaller outlets such as MTV2, but it never received much (if any) airplay from MTV or BET.
Ironically, the group's collaboration with Gorillaz, Feel Good, Inc., was one of the biggest singles of 2005.
Reception
The album met with a great deal of critical praise, as of February 25, 2008 according to Metacritic, the album has received an average critic score of 80%, based on 20 reviews, thus giving it the "generally favorable reviews " tag.
Pitchfork Media writer Jamin Warren praises the album writing, "The Grind Date brings together an unimaginable team of the underground's hottest producers and meshes their idiosyncrasies without dissidence." RapReviews who rewarded the album with a perfect score write, "They were just waiting for the right time to kick precisely the right rhyme, so that "The Grind Date" would go down not just as an important date in rap history but in the pantheon of all musical endeavours since the dawn of mankind. It's that damn good."
De La Soul, who, previously known for their skits gained a lot of support from Stylus Magazine writer Josh Drimmer who puts, "The Grind Date is as notable for what it lacks—skits, filler, bullshit—than for what it has." Lost At Sea also favored the no skits on The Grind Date, "The Grind Date is almost shockingly excellent. This is De La Soul at their most focused – no skits, no filler, no weird interludes."
Despite generally favorable reviews and surprising positivity towards their new style, especially in production, there were those who didn't praise it. Rolling Stone wrote, "There's little personality and no surprises here..." and regards to the production "...Flavor Flav's rote shucking on "Come On Down" to Madlib's Chingy-type beat for "Shopping Bags." On the closing track, "Rock Co. Kane Flow," Posdnuos raps, "We was told to hop for no one/S'what I dig 'bout Prince Paul/We stayed original ever since y'all." But Paul is the one who's still sounding original."
Track listing
| # | Title | Length | Songwriters | Producers | Performers | Samples |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Future" | 3:49 | De La Soul, Dave West, Eddie Fluellen, Jarmaine Jackson and Hazel Jackson | Supa Dave West | De La Soul | Switch - Brighter Tomorrow |
| 2 | "Verbal Clap" | 3:16 | De La Soul, J Dilla, Rick Wakeman, Norman Landsberg, Felix Pappalardi, John Ventura, Leslie Weinstein and Daryl short | J Dilla | De La Soul | Rick Wakeman - "Catherine Of Aragon" and Mountain - "Long Red" |
| 3 | "Much More" | 4:05 | De La Soul, Skip Scarborough and Shuggie Ottis | J Dilla | De La Soul, DJ Premier and Yummy Bingham | L.T.D. - "Love Ballad", Shuggie Otis - "Strawberry Letter 23" |
| 4 | "Shopping Bags (She Got From You)" | 3:57 | De La Soul and Madlib | Madlib | De La Soul | |
| 5 | "The Grind Date" | 3:22 | De La Soul, Supa Dave West, Jon Anderson, Steve Howe, Chris Squire, Rick Wakeman and Alan White (Yes) | Supa Dave West | De La Soul | Yes - "Ritual (Nous Sommes Du Soleil)" |
| 6 | "Church" | 5:32 | De La Soul, Ninth Wonder and Marlon McClain | 9th Wonder | De La Soul, Spike Lee | Pleasure - Reallity |
| 7 | "Its Like That" | 4:36 | De La Soul, Dave West and Carl Thomas | Supa Dave West | De La Soul, Carl Thomas | |
| 8 | "He Comes" | 3:44 | De La Soul, Carl Thomas, Ghostface killah and Eugene Record | Supa Dave West | De La Soul, Ghostface Killah | Eugene Record - "Here Comes The Sun" |
| 9 | "Days Of Our Lives" | 3:51 | De La Soul, Common, Jake One, William Beck, Leroy Bonner, Marshall Jones, Ralph Middlebrooks, Marvin Pierce, Clarence Satchell and James Williams | Jake One | De La Soul and Common | The Ohio Players - "My Life" |
| 10 | "Come On Down" | 5:01 | De La Soul and Madlib | Madlib | De La Soul and Flava Flav | Esther Williams - "Last Night Changed it All" |
| 11 | "No" | 4:34 | De La Soul, Butta Verses, Dave West and Clifton Davis | Supa Dave West | De La Soul, Butta Verses and Yummy Bingham | The Jackson 5 - "Never Can Say Goodbye" |
| 12 | "Rock Co.Kane Flow" | 3:06 | De La Soul, MF Doom, Jake One, Paul Greedos, Diddier Marouani and Roland Romanelli | Jake One | De La Soul and MF DOOM | Space - "Deliverance" |
| 13 | "Shoomp" (European Release Exclusive) | 3:41 | De La Soul | J Dilla | De La Soul and Sean Paul | Tom Tom Club - "Genius Of Love" |
Album singles
| Single cover | Single information |
|---|---|
"Shoomp"
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"Shopping Bags (She Got From You)"
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"Rock Co.Kane Flow"
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