The Grind Date

The Grind Date
Studio album by De La Soul
Released October 5, 2004
Recorded 2002–2004
Genre East Coast hip hop, alternative hip hop
Length 52:43
Label AOI/Sanctuary Urban
06076-87512
Producer Posdnuos, Supa Dave West, J Dilla, Madlib, 9th Wonder, Jake One
De La Soul chronology
Live at Tramps, NYC, 1996
(2004)		 The Grind Date
(2004)		 The Impossible: Mission TV Series - Pt. 1
(2006)

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 a stand-alone work.

Overview

Music

The Grind Date is a notably brisker, and leaner work than the group's 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 prelude 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.

In November 2014, The Grind Date will be reissued by BMG Rights Management to commemorate the album's tenth anniversary. .

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic(80/100)[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllHipHop[2]
Allmusic[3]
HipHopDX.com[4]
Los Angeles Times[5]
Pitchfork Media(8.2/10)[6]
RapReviews.com[7]
Rolling Stone[8]
Tiny Mix Tapes[9]
USA Today[10]
Vibe[11]

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 21 reviews, thus giving it the "generally favorable reviews" tag.[1]

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."[6] RapReviews who rewarded the album with a perfect score wrote, "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."[7]

De La Soul, previously known for their skits, gained a lot of support from Stylus Magazine writer Josh Drimmer who wrote, "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." Entertainment Weekly gave the album a B+ and called it "worth keeping",[12] while Robert Christgau gave it a one-star honorable mention ().[13]

Despite generally favorable reviews and 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.""[8]

Track listing

Unless otherwise noted, Information is taken from Discogs.com [14]

# Title Length Songwriters Producers Performers Sample Credits
1 "The Future" 3:49 De La Soul, Dave West, Eddie Fluellen, Hazel Jackson and Jermaine Jackson Supa Dave West De La Soul "A Brighter Tomorrow" by Switch
2 "Verbal Clap" 3:16 De La Soul, J Dilla, Rick Wakeman, Leslie West, Felix Pappalardi, Norman Landsberg, John Ventura and Daryl Short J Dilla De La Soul *"Catherine of Aragon" by Rick Wakeman
*"Long Red" by Mountain
*"Dance Sister" by Peech Boys[15]
*"King of the Beats" by Mantronix[16]
3 "Much More" 4:05 De La Soul, J Dilla, Skip Scarborough and Shuggie Otis J Dilla De La Soul, Yummy Bingham and DJ Premier[17] *"Love Ballad" by L.T.D.
*re-sung lyrics from "Strawberry Letter 23" by Shuggie Otis
*"Bring the Noise" by Public Enemy[18]
4 "Shopping Bags (She Got from You)" 3:57 De La Soul and Madlib Madlib De La Soul and Daniel Wallace *"Brooklyn's Finest" by Jay Z and The Notorious B.I.G.[19]
*"We Got the Funk" by Positive Force[20]
5 "The Grind Date" 3:22 De La Soul, Dave West, Jon Anderson, Steve Howe, Chris Squire, Rick Wakeman and Alan White Supa Dave West De La Soul and Bönz Malone "Ritual (Nous Sommes Du Soleil)" by Yes
6 "Church" 5:32 De La Soul, Ninth Wonder and Marlon McClain 9th Wonder De La Soul and Spike Lee "Reality" by Pleasure
7 "It's Like That" 4:36 De La Soul, Dave West and Carl Thomas Supa Dave West De La Soul, Carl Thomas and Ghostface Killah
8 "He Comes" 3:44 De La Soul, Dave West, Ghostface Killah and Eugene Record Supa Dave West De La Soul and Ghostface Killah "Here Comes the Sun" by Eugene Record
9 "Days of Our Lives" 3:51 De La Soul, Common, Jake One, Leroy "Sugarfoot" Bonner, William Beck, Marshall Jones, Ralph Middlebrooks, Marvin Pierce, Clarence Satchell and James Williams Jake One De La Soul and Common "My Life" by Ohio Players
10 "Come On Down" 5:01 De La Soul and Madlib Madlib De La Soul and Flava Flav "Last Night Changed It All" by Esther Williams[21]
11 "No" 4:34 De La Soul, John "Butta Verses" Cullen, Dave West and Clifton Davis Supa Dave West De La Soul, John "Butta Verses" Cullen and Yummy Bingham *"Never Can Say Goodbye" by The Jackson 5
*re-sung lyrics from "The Bridge" by MC Shan[22]
12 "Rock Co.Kane Flow" 3:06 De La Soul, Daniel "MF Doom" Dumile, Jake One, Paul Greedos, Diddier Marouani and Roland Romanelli Jake One De La Soul and MF Doom "Deliverance" by Space
13 "Shoomp" (European Release Exclusive) 3:41 De La Soul J Dilla De La Soul and Sean Paul *"Genius of Love" by Tom Tom Club
*"Hot Caramel" by The Peppers[23]

Album singles

Single information
"Shoomp"
  • Released: 2003
  • B-side: Much More
"Shopping Bags (She Got From You)"
  • Released: 2004
  • B-side: "The Grind Date"
"Rock Co.Kane Flow"
  • Released: 2004
  • B-side:

Notes

  1. 1 2 "The Grind Date Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved 13 June 2012.
  2. ↑ Burton, Orisanmi (11 October 2004). "The Grind Date". AllHipHop.
  3. ↑ Bush, John. "De La Soul: The Grind Date > Review" at AllMusic. Retrieved 1 September 2011.
  4. ↑ J-23 (18 October 2004). "De La Soul: The Grind Date". HipHopDX.com.
  5. ↑ Baker, Soren (24 October 2004). "De La Soul as boldly creative as in the '80s". Los Angeles Times.
  6. 1 2 Warren, Jamin (7 October 2004). "De La Soul: The Grind Date". Pitchfork Media.
  7. 1 2 Juon, Steve (12 October 2004). "De La Soul :: The Grind Date". RapReviews.com.
  8. 1 2 Relic, Peter (25 November 2004). "De La Soul: The Grind Date". Rolling Stone.
  9. ↑ marti332. "The Grind Date". Tiny Mix Tapes. Archived from the original on 24 October 2004.
  10. ↑ Jones, Steve (4 October 2004). "De La Soul, The Grind Date". R.E.M.'s 'Sun' sets a dark tone. USA Today.
  11. ↑ Sanico, Jeff (November 2004). "De La Soul: The Grind Date". Vibe: 162.
  12. ↑ Fiore, Raymond (8 October 2004). "The Grind Date Review". Entertainment Weekly: 117. Retrieved 13 June 2012.
  13. ↑ Christgau, Robert. "CG: De La Soul". RobertChristgau.com. Retrieved 13 June 2012.
  14. ↑ De La Soul. "Grind Date" (CD, Album). BMG. 2004.
  15. ↑ "Verbal Clap" sample of "Dance Sister". WhoSampled.com. http://www.whosampled.com/sample/90011/De-La-Soul-Verbal-Clap-Peech-Boys-Dance-Sister-(Biofeedback)/
  16. ↑ "Verbal Clap" sample of "King of the Beats". WhoSampled.com. http://www.whosampled.com/sample/65526/De-La-Soul-Verbal-Clap-Mantronix-King-of-the-Beats/
  17. ↑ De La Soul. "Much More Lyrics". Genius Lyrics. http://genius.com/De-la-soul-much-more-lyrics
  18. ↑ "Much More" sample of "Bring the Noise". WhoSampled.com. http://www.whosampled.com/sample/13240/De-La-Soul-Yummy-Bingham-Much-More-Public-Enemy-Bring-the-Noise/
  19. ↑ "Shopping Bag" sample of "Brooklyn's Finest". WhoSampled.com. http://www.whosampled.com/sample/90028/De-La-Soul-Shopping-Bags-(She-Got-From-You)-Jay-Z-The-Notorious-B.I.G.-Brooklyn%27s-Finest/
  20. ↑ "Shopping Bags" sample of "We Got The Funk". WhoSampled.com. http://www.whosampled.com/sample/425889/De-La-Soul-Shopping-Bags-(She-Got-From-You)-Positive-Force-We-Got-the-Funk/
  21. ↑ "Come On Down sample of "Last Night Changed It All". WhoSampled.com. http://www.whosampled.com/sample/20076/De-La-Soul-Flavor-Flav-Come-on-Down-Esther-Williams-Last-Night-Changed-It-All-(I-Really-Had-a-Ball)/
  22. ↑ "No" sample of "The Bridge". WhoSampled.com. http://www.whosampled.com/sample/410849/De-La-Soul-Butta-Verses-Yummy-Bingham-No-MC-Shan-The-Bridge/
  23. ↑ "Shoomp" sample of "Hot Caramel". WhoSampled.com. http://www.whosampled.com/sample/171361/De-La-Soul-Sean-Paul-Shoomp-The-Peppers-Hot-Caramel/
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/4/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.