A round of applause for De La Soul

While people like Talib Kweli and Mos Def have released sexier, more eagerly anticipated albums recently--And no doubt, I was at the record store the minute both those albums dropped. And that's after I'd downloaded both of them weeks ago.--the new De La Soul album is the one I can't take out of the CD player. The Grind Date is the newest in a long line of top notch efforts by the cats from L.I. Guess what guys? You can be a grown man and still MC. De La has shown you the way. These cats are older than me, and they don't sound dated or corny at all. And they also aren't talking about the same things they were talking about when they were 17 years old. Do you hear me Mr. Cool J? Not that I needed another reason to love Posdnous, but it doesn't hurt when he drops lines like: "My moms died from second hand smoke. So I wish you ass would die from them second hand rhymes you wrote."
Ill.

Speaking of Mos Def, is there a cooler human being on the planet right now. Devistating MC who's respected in the hard core hip hop community? Check. Commercially successful actor who's performed on Broadway and managed to outshine both his co-star and the actor he replaced--One named Don Cheadle, the other Jeffrey Wright--? Check. Rock star? Check. I've heard and read a lot of criticisms of The New Danger, but all I'm hearing is some really good music. Mos seems determined to take rock & roll back from white people.

Talib Kweli was able to find an excellent balance between commercialism and underground credibility on this last album. On The Beautiful Struggle, it seems like he's trying just a little too hard to recreate that sound. I like the album, but it just feels a little forced.

Now if these guys would just bring their asses to Tucson.