Artist De La Soul

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De La Soul

Is it possible to grow old gracefully in the youth-obsessed world of hip-hop? The career of backpacker legends De La Soul suggests so. The group’s last studio album, 2004’s The Grind Date, found the Long Island trio joining forces with underground royalty like MF Doom, Ghostface Killah, Madlib, and 9thWonder. It was a gloriously adult album that underperformed commercially. The trio continues to tour and record with like-minded artists. Its latest release is Are You In?, an installment in Nike’s ongoing series of original music mixes from respected artists. The disc is designed as a soundtrack to morning runs but it can presumably be listened to from stationary positions as well.

Updated 08/12/2009