Written by: Alex Green
De La Soul surprised everyone today with the announcement that the Long Island hip-hop group’s long-awaited new album now has a title and a release date.
Dubbed and the Anonymous Nobody the record is due to be out this Fall. It’ll be the band’s first new studio album since 2004’s The Grind Date.
The album is available now for pre-sale at $15 (digital) and $25 (CD copy) on Kickstarter.
You can order and the Anonymous Nobody here:
De La Soul posted the following about the new album: “…Thank you for sticking with De La over so many years. We never take any of you for granted, and because of this, we’ve got some big news for you that we want you to have first. It’s the biggest news we’ve had in about 11 years. We’ve been in the studio, at the mixing boards, working with incredible musicians, producers, and GUEST ARTISTS, making an amazing album. Even more, we’ve been using an incredible new process to do it: one that’s even blown our OWN minds! To say that we’re amped and excited would be an understatement: We. Cannot. Wait. to share this album with you.”
As for the significance of the album’s title, the band also wrote: “The Anonymous Nobody: that everyday individual who one day, when least expected, stands up and faces the challenger. He/she refuses to accept… They defy in the hopes of rebirth, growth, and change. They’re the ones who smirk at accolades and take the blow in exchange for the comfort of others. We are those nobodies. We want change from our industries past… labels and lawyers, shackles that kept us bound, at times unable to express our total creative voice. So we stand… bravely trying something new, facing that challenge, fighting for change, fighting against the sample police and fighting for our (and hopefully yours too) continued freedom.”
Getting their start in 1987, De La Soul’s confluence of jazz, hip-hop, psychedelia and innovative electric sampling have made them one of the most influential and highly regarded acts of the last thirty years. The Grammy-Award winning group is not only consistently critically revered, they’re one of the most enduring bands of the Native Tongues collective. Along with A Tribe Called Quest, the Jungle Brothers and Queen Latifah, The Native Tongues movement got its start in the late ’80s and was noted for its use of positive lyrics, Afrocentric themes and jazz rhythms.
