Let’s make this short, but sweet: De La Soul, the original masters of the artfully deployed eclectic hip-hop sample, have just announced a new studio album. Specifically, the news about the influential rap group’s 10th studio effort came courtesy of producer (and De La Soul devotee) Pete Rock, who revealed on Twitter that the untitled album will be out some time in 2019.
Although they took an eight-year studio break between 2004's The Grind Date and 2012's Plug 1 & Plug 2 Present…First Serve—instead hanging out with The Gorillaz and snagging a Grammy for “Feel Good Inc.”—the three-member rap group has been remarkably consistent over the years. Their most recent album, Kickstarted for $600,874 back in 2015, was the inspired And The Anonymous Nobody…, described in our review as “the sound of a veteran act taking joy in its newfound freedom.” It was a clear statement that—no matter the vagaries of music industry bullshit, litigious sample-protectors, and the general troubles of life—Posdnuos, Trugoy and Maseo are still out there, demanding to be heard.