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In 1989 the world was introduced to a trio from Long Island
who jumped on the scene with the classic album 3ft. High
and Rising. Posduos, Trugoy the Dove and Maseo- better
known to Hip-Hop masses around the globe as De La Soul- are
back at it again with the release of their 8th
studio album entitled AOI Presents- Impossible: Mission T.V.
Series Pt. 1.
With seventeen years in the game, some might be tempted to
place them into the category of old school; but after
listening to Impossible Mission you would be hard
pressed to find anything old school about them. Almost two
years to the date after the release of The Grind Date,
an album that ventured away from the De La main stay of
comical skits, Impossible Mission is peppered with
various sound bites of Posdnuos and Dave introducing songs and
concepts like “What If”, and “What the F*#$”.
The album has a mixtape feel to it with short songs and some
beats you will recognize- but not so much on the lyrical side.
A traditional mixtape will have many songs that you have heard
before and rhymes that sound like freestyles or at least are
called freestyles; this is not the case with Impossible
Mission. With the exception of three songs, two of which
were released on Prince Paul productions and the other a live
rendition of the classic “Buddy”, the album is full of new
material. New in a sense that they had never been released,
which must be made clear because the series called “What The
F*#$” consists of pre-recorded songs that didn’t make the
albums that they were recorded for.
There are several moments when the production can get your
head nodding, or you will catch your body in a smooth groove
sway from side to side, and you will be tempted to overlook
what Plug One and Two are doing on the mic. But I beg you, pay
attention.
Album highlights include, among others, the albums first song
“Live @ The Dugout 87’” which opens with what sounds
like a record message ala Mission Impossible (the movie)
which ends with “…your mission, if you so choose, is to
continue to do what you do best, Hip-Hop…”. Then the beat
drops and you’re off; from then on, it’s pure unadulterated
Hip-Hop. “You Got It” which contains a sped up sample
from “I Know You Got Soul”, the Eric B. & Rakim
classic, which has Posdnuos, Trugoy and Butta Verses trading
verses over the track. The two tracks that have the most
familiar sound are “Relax” -the dedication to J-Dilla(RIP)-
and “The Corner”, which makes excellent additions to
this mixtape, almost lending themselves as the blend tracks.
However, both are owned by De La and become De La tracks by
the time you reach the end.
In the end, you can’t go wrong with a mixtape, or an album
full of great emcee skills and great production-which is what
Impossible Mission is. My only complaint-which isn’t
really a complaint, but more of something that I would like to
know for my own satisfaction: is this album a mixtape to serve
as filler between albums, or are Trugoy, Dove, and Mase so
great at making a concept album that this mixtape concept has
me fooled?
-->Gerald L. Lowery Jr. |
