Photo courtesy of Wikimedia CommonsJared Chestnut - Staff Writerredc@uab.edu
We find strange times in 2016 as a society that is rapidly becoming more and more obsessed with nostalgia for the ‘90s.
Nickelodeon is bringing back shows from their golden age, remakes of the decade’s classic films are becoming dime a dozen and you can find cans of Surge and cases of Ecto Cooler at your local Walmart. The whole aesthetic is coming back into style as fast as Hammer Pants and Lisa Frank, and may well flame out just as quickly. This is where we find a group of legends in the hip hop scene: New York’s De La Soul.
At their apex, the trio of Maseo, Dave and Posdnuos were at the helm of conscious, socially-aware hip-hop that addressed many of the racially charged issues of the time, and fought the pessimism and wariness levelled against the African American community. In recent years, they are better known for making waves for their work on Gorillaz albums, for giving away their back catalogue free and for Maseo’s progeny, Tre Mason, making his mark as one of Auburn University’s best running backs of the last decade.
It was not until the announcement was made that “and the Anonymous Nobody” was being funded and recorded as a Kickstarter project with a supporting cast from all over the musical world that it became clear: this was not just some sort of cash in for all the ‘90s love, no power play for holding on to past relevance and fame, but a statement to be made to the modern era: don’t call it a comeback, De La’s been here for years.
Immediately, it is clear that Anonymous Nobody is a throwback to a bygone era of hip-hop, with a spoken word monologue by singer/poet/actress/Renaissance woman Jill Scott kicking off the album, backed by a string section. Snoop Dogg feature “Pain” feels like a 1993 West Coast/East Coast dream collaboration that never made its way out of the studio, with backing vocals and a bassline that feels ripped out of time.
“Memory of,” a track featuring UK songstress Estelle (of “American Boy” fame), evokes a soul and takes the album in a very poignant, string and brass heavy direction. There is even a skit or two peppered throughout the album. While so much of the album feels like De La trading in what they’ve done since the early ‘90s, it doesn’t feel like a tired retread, but masters of their craft doing what comes so naturally.
Features by the Talking Heads’ David Byrne, Usher, Little Dragon, 2 Chainz and Gorillaz mastermind/frequent De La assist character Damon Albarn complete the shift into some sort of a new face of De La Soul: One that mixes in various genres and references to Starbucks with their bars.
Anonymous Nobody seems to be a bit more than just a clever album title, as the contributions from each collaborator tends to give the album so many different identities and styles it may well suffer from split personality disorder, with little buffer between, say, the new wave urgency of “Snoopies,” the sequencer constructed lo-fi bedroom producer jam “Whoodeeni,” and “Drawn’s” cocktail of plucked strings and Yukimi Nagano’s sultry “on the rocks” vocal stylings. While it’s a lot of fun to ride along on all the detours through the minds of Plug One, Two and Three, it’s tough to really key in on one core persona for the album. The album closes with “Exodus,” a bit on the nose for its intents and purposes, but otherwise a heartfelt outro that calls to mind emotions and memories built on thirty years of dedication to the craft via an open letter to inspire the future generation of beatniks and hip hop heads.
All in all, “and the Anonymous Nobody,” while nothing game-changing, is a fun listen front to back, and shows off a De La that exists in two times: one who is unafraid to use their past to anchor a sound that is unlike anything else in hip hop right now, yet refuses to stay stuck in a far-gone time and forges ahead with a cadre of friends and collaborators. While there has been better work from other artists this summer and better De La albums, the return of De La Soul is still worth taking notice of, particularly if this is their swan song. If this is the passing of a torch, it’s one that should shine on in the hands of whoever steps up to claim it.
