No where near the AOI's or The Grind Date. This one just didn't do it for me. Those 3 albums were nice surprises from a group people thought were too old, they fucking bumped hard and even to this day aged well. This album feels exactly like how I kind of expect rappers their age to sound like. I'd love for them to do another AOI
4. "RE: It's really not " In response to Reply # 1
I was not a big fan of the AOI projects either. I think The Grind Date worked because of the fresh talent that produced it. Over half of that album was produced by Dilla, Madlib, 9th Wonder and Jake One. De La's production ain't really moved me since Stakes Is High.
The new album is cool at best. Royalty Capes the easy standout. Whoodeeni is like the Rock Co.Kane Flow of this album. I'm surprised the 2 Chainz feature worked this well. Glad he brought that Tity Boi flow back. The songs with Little Dragon, Damon Albarn, David Byrne and especially Justin Hawkins just didn't work.
****************************************** Falcons, Braves, Bulldogs and Hawks
**************** TBH the fact that you're even a mod here fits squarely within Jag's narrative of OK-sanctioned aggression, bullying, and toxicity. *shrug*
**************** TBH the fact that you're even a mod here fits squarely within Jag's narrative of OK-sanctioned aggression, bullying, and toxicity. *shrug*
2. "Everything i heard before the album dropped sounded great" In response to Reply # 0
but it is not a typical De La Soul sounding album. That will work for some, and it won't for other. But for die hard De La fans, "Royalty Capes" will definitely be a favorite.
10. "It's ....... different. Weird. But I like a lot of it." In response to Reply # 0 Fri Aug-26-16 09:26 AM by Brew
My main gripes are:
- Lord Intended: I hate the electric guitar. Not a good fit. Felt like it was a waste of some really good, aggressive lyricism - Property of Spitkicker.com: pretty boring, don't hate it just didn't love it - Snoopies & Drawn: the beats, once they picked up, were fire. Wish those parts were longer. I enjoyed David Byrne and Little Dragon's parts, but they both should have been WAY shorter to make room for the more upbeat parts and more lyrics from the guys - Here In After - loved the concept and lyrics, but didn't love the Kings of Leon feel to the music
On a macro level my biggest complaint is NOT ENOUGH DE LA. And more specifically, not NEARLY enough Pos. Dave stole the show IMO during the minimal time either were actually rapping. As much as I enjoyed a lot of the album, I'm honestly kind of confused as to the direction they went with it. It's almost as if Dave and Pos took a *major* backseat on their own album. Almost none of the lyricism made me jump out of my seat, which is something I could always count on De La for.
My other complaint is one already lodged by someone in here, the overall mood is just too lowkey/somber. There were 2 or 3 songs that could be considered upbeat, but even those lacked any significant hype or excitement.
Otherwise, there's a lot to like here and I'll have to take some more time to take in the lyrics (in the minimal time they *did* spend rapping, there seemed to be tons of little wordplay gems to decipher which I'm excited about), I'm just surprised and a little disappointed with the overall tone and the lack of hard-hitting beats and lyrics.
15. "their debut was 27 years ago" In response to Reply # 0
i didnt go into this expecting much, so Im not let down with rare exceptions like Masta Ace and maybe Snoop, we have yet to see a 40+ year old drop a great rap album (Nas was 38 when Life Is Good dropped) the 12 year gap between The Grind Date and this probably means they lacked inspiration, especially considering how much hip hop has changed over the years
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