The Grind Date

Infobox Album
Name = The Grind Date
Type = studio
Artist = De La Soul


Released = October 5, 2004
Recorded =
Genre = Hip hop
Length = 52:43
Label = Sanctuary
Producer = Posdnuos, Supa Dave West, J Dilla, Madlib, 9th Wonder, Jake One
Reviews =
*Allmusic Rating|3.5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:kw6qoaraeijx link]
* Alternative Press rating-10|7 Jan 2005, p.114
*BallerStatus.net Rating|4.5|5 [http://www.ballerstatus.net/reviews/read/id/24772922/ link]
* Blender rating-10|7 Nov 2004, p.132
*RapReviews.com rating-10|10 [http://www.rapreviews.com/archive/2004_10F_grinddate.html link]
* Lost At Sea (8.5/10) [http://lostatsea.net/LAS/archives/reviews/records/delasoul.htm link]
* Los Angeles Times rating-10|8.5 24 Oct 2004
* Neumu.net rating-10|9.5 [http://neumu.net/fortyfour/2004/2004-00216/2004-00216_fortyfour.shtml link]
* Obnoxious Listeners Rating|4.5|5 [http://www.obnoxiouslisteners.com/album/the-grind-date-de-la-soul/ link]
* The A.V. Club (B+) [http://www.avclub.com/content/review.php?review_id=7868 link]
* Pitchfork Media (8.2/10) [http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/16903-the-grind-date link]
* PopMatters (favorable) [http://popmatters.com/music/reviews/d/delasoul-grinddate.shtml link]
* Rolling Stone Rating|2|5 [http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/6526174/the_grind_date link]
* ShakingThrough.net Rating|4.5|5 [http://www.shakingthrough.net/music/shakethrus/2004.htm#118 link]
* Spin rating-10|7.5 Nov 2004, p.118
* Stylus Magazine (A) [http://www.stylusmagazine.com/review.php?ID=2578 link]
* Tiny Mix Tapes Rating|4.5|5 [http://www.tinymixtapes.com/musicreviews/d/de_la_soul.htm link]
* Village Voice (favorable) [http://www.villagevoice.com/music/0445,cepeda,58231,22.html link]
* Vibe rating-10|8.5 Nov 2004, p.162
* Urb rating-10|9 Dec 2004, p.106
* The Wire (magazine) rating-10|8 #250, p.73
* AllHipHop Rating|4.5|5 [http://allhiphop.com/stories/reviews/archive/2004/10/11/18134273.aspx link]
Last album = "Live at Tramps, NYC, 1996"
(2004)
This album = "The Grind Date"
(2004)
Next album = ""
(2006)

"The Grind Date" is the critically-acclaimed 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 produced the street singles "Much More" and "Shoomp" featuring reggae star Sean Paul), 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

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 an important and influential group 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," [ [http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?id=337&name=De+La+Soul De La Soul] Robert Christgau] 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." [ [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:5huk6jph71w0~T1 De La Soul Biography] Allmusic] 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 being one of them 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

Album singles

Notes