"De La Soul have long been the kings of hip-hop playfulness. Fun and mischief-making have been at the core of the trio's operation since the days they had fans counting the feathers on a Perdue chicken's ass. It was baked into their early beats, sonic Jenga towers constructed by Prince Paul and the trio themselves, stacked with dozens of samples from Schoolhouse Rock to Otis Redding and Funkadelic."
"Even at their most aggrieved, thumbing their noses at critics and wack MCs or reluctantly shaking hands with music industry devils, they planted their tongues deeply in cheek and had airhorns ready to blare. Their perpetual thesis always returns to how whatever issues they've faced-as Afrocentric outsiders unafraid to get buck, as abstract lyricists attempting to grow while caught in a 34-year bout of sample-clearance hell-could be spun into a roller-skateable hip-hop wonderland."
"Naturally, Posdnuos and DJ Maseo sound off, but Esposito lingers on Dave, the one missing voice in the room. Dave, formerly known as Trugoy the Dove, passed away in 2023, weeks before the trio's first four albums were made available on streaming services after decades of rights issues and, it seems, in the early stages of this album's creation; out of its 20 tracks, he has only six rapped verses."
De La Soul built a career on playful mischief, eclectic sampling and tongue-in-cheek humor embedded in innovative, layered beats. Early work featured sonic Jenga towers of samples ranging from Schoolhouse Rock to Otis Redding and Funkadelic. The group's approach mixes levity and pointed commentary on critics, wack MCs and music-industry pressures, including long sample-clearance struggles. Cabin in the Sky is the trio's tenth album and first in nearly a decade. The record opens with a Giancarlo Esposito skit framing perceptions of life and the hereafter. Dave (Trugoy the Dove) died during its early stages and appears on only six verses. The album balances grief and grown-man reflection with playful rhymes and beats.
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