De La Soul still alive and kicking

Review

Twenty-five years after releasing the mercurial classic De La Soul is Dead, the Strong Island trio of Pos, Dave and Maseo return with and the Anonymous Nobody — a modern treatise of antiestablishment hip hop. For their first full-length album in 11 years, they used hundreds of hours of live music played with session musicians as a sample bank — and you can feel the analog warmth. The musical styles are all over the place. Lord Intended could be an early Rick Rubin production before The Darkness’ Justin Hawkins spirals into the abyss. Roc Marciano has a tongue that’s “forever under the weather.” On Pos’ word association could go on for days. The project was self-released and Kickstarter-funded, and even with all the guests (Damon Albarn, David Byrne, Snoop Dogg and Usher) this is really a De La thing. De La Soul is alive. And well. — AP