De La Soul - Art Official Intelligence; "Mosaic Thump"

[claaa7]

01. Spitkicker.com/Say R
02. U Can Do (Life)
03. My Writes (ft. Tha Liks & Xzibit)
04. Oooh (ft. Redman)
05. Thru Ya City (ft. D.V. Alias Khrist)
06. I.C.Y'all (ft. Busta Rhymes)
07. View
08. Set The Mood (ft. Indeed)
09. All Good (ft. Chaka Khan)
10. Declaration
11. Squat (ft. Beastie Boys)
12. Words from The Chief Rocker
13. With Me
14. Copa (Cabanga)
15. Foolin'
16. The Art of Getting Jumped
17. U Don't Wanna B.D.S. (ft. Bumpy Knuckles)

[claaa7]

really good album, De La really managed to bring there (updated) sound to the fresh millenium. there are so many great songs on here such as "Oooh", "View", "Set the Mood", "U Don't Wanna B.D.S." and the Ghost Weed skits are hilarious plus it gives room for more ill features. the album packs a few average songs but nothing terrible, I really wish they would have been able to put out "AOI pt.3" before Tommy Boy folded because part II is even iller than this!

8/10

[Jeru]

Not a bad album...some songs are just ok but overall, good effort...the 2nd installment was a total let down. Did the 3rd one get out yet?

[claaa7]

^^ really?? ..I thought the second one was just as good if not better, it has a much smoother sound but still real nice IMO. i don't know if the 3rd chapter will ever be released, some of the tracks they recorded for it ended up on "The Grind Date" instead and I guess a few more on "Impossible Mission".

[Jeru]

^^ really?? ..I thought the second one was just as good if not better, it has a much smoother sound but still real nice IMO. i don't know if the 3rd chapter will ever be released, some of the tracks they recorded for it ended up on "The Grind Date" instead and I guess a few more on "Impossible Mission".

Nah I really didn't like that one...it was too smooth for my taste, especially when you compare it to Mosaic Thump

[LuckyTheWonderDog]

^^ really?? ..I thought the second one was just as good if not better, it has a much smoother sound but still real nice IMO.

I like the first one although it's uneven. I thought the second one was complete shit and I gave it away for free. I think The Grind Date is better than both though.

[ShaDynasty]

When I look at all the tracks, its actually pretty good. Theres no bad songs on there. That being said, its tied worst De La album with the other AOI. De La have had very good quality control over the years actually and they always stayed relevant. Does anyone know if they're making any more albums? Its been 4 years since the last one.

[claaa7]

listened to both "AOI" albums today and I gotta agree that the first one is the strongest though i'm feeling Bionix as well, really relaxing album though it features a few weak cuts.

to SoSa: i don't know what De La is up to, the last thing they released was "Impossible Mission" which is more like a mixtape but packed with good tracks. hopefully we'll see a new LP soon.

[ShaDynasty]

They seem to still be touring and stuff so hopefully they're working towards a new record. Yeah I heard about the mixtapeish album but I heard mostly bad things about it. You would recommend it?

[claaa7]

^^ I found it for a real cheap price but think i've only listened to it 2-3 times but as far as I remember it's pretty dope.. it has 3 unreleased songs from 1989-1993 and they flip a couple J Dilla beats, etc, yep it's a nice mixtape. it also has De La flipping the "Watch Your Mouth" beat and this was before the Wu song!

[oDoUoSoKo]

i voted good album, some songs were a bit boring, some where really good.

[claaa7]

i think the first half of the album is better overall, the first 10 tracks are absolutely brilliant and flows perfectly with varied production and great verses + ill guests. But after that some of the tracks are not up to par and there's a couple of songs that could've been left off to make it a stronger album in the end. after track #10 the two tracks i really like are "With Me" and "U Don't Wanna Bust Dat Shit" with Freddie Foxxx (that was an unexpected collabo).

Both Dave and Pos is killing the entire album with heavy verses and they do a lot of tag-team verses, going back and forth which sounds dope as hell. i stand by my 4/5 rating.

[CharlesJones]

Mosaic Thump is a good album and Bionix album sucks. The Grind Date album wasn't that good either.