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Given its one-off status and unique format, Are You In? is probably a diversion rather than a reinvention, a mixtape-style curio given big business backing, but hopefully some of its reinvigorated sonics find their way to the next proper De La Soul album.
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Grab this if you need a solid work-out mix, but do not expect much more than that.
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What's really impressive: this is intelligent enough to satisfy the conscious-cats with enough inspiring socio-political discussion (see Gina Loring's "Poetic Greed"), poppy enough for the club with some hype-generating hooks, and ideal for a 45-minute workout.
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The production is fantastic, De La go in with the lyrics and Flosstradamus tied everything together perfectly though.
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De La Soul has always worked better in lo-fi, and the cheesy Rock Band-like guitars and drums in the middle section sound suspiciously like Moby's disastrous collaboration with Public Enemy a couple of years ago, but this is still an album that clearly belongs to De La Soul, and they're not shy about it.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 3 out of 3
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Mixed: 0 out of 3
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Negative: 0 out of 3
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jamieMay 26, 2009Good solid hooks and tracks throughout.