Art Official Intelligence (Mosaic Thump)

By most standards, Mosaic Thump would be considered an excellent album, but this is De La Soul.

This time around, the group eschews player-hating specificity but hits equally hard (albeit with subtler blows) against the commercially dominated empire of gangsta and hoochie rap.

Many will be quick to dismiss this as a shadow of 3 Feet High, but it's their loss when hip hop's as infectious and intelligent as this.

The lyrics are intelligent of course, clever and moral and street-conscious and just gnomic enough, but their art is in their beats and flow and tunes too.

The grooves are righteous and the vibe is right.

The group spiffs up their sound and takes it cruising in a modern direction -- proving that there's plenty of life left in them yet.... The caveat? In updating their grooves to sound like everybody else's, the band has succeeded in -- well, sounding like everybody else.

Musically, AOI melds the compufunk of 'Stakes' with the soulystics of the trio's earlier work, adding in a healthy supply of guitar twang to boot. [#2, p.109]

The immediate impression of 'Art Official Intelligence' is of one big party. [Sep 2000, p.104]

This, like the last joint 'Stakes Is High', sees the crew making even more stylistic space between themselves and their very own creation of the late eighties, 'the daisy age'.

Although their music has gotten smoother, it remains witty, eccentric and full of left-field sonic detours.

The first De La Soul full-length lacking a consistent vibe throughout... [#147, p.81]

It's clear that despite laudable ambitions, comeback albums should be focused and lean, not as flabby as this one.

De La Soul's latest doesn't blaze new trails as much as it blithely hopscotches through a chill out lounge of modest beats and a chop shop full of spare samples.

Yes, nearly every track is a Jeep-worthy jam, and, yes, guest vocals from the likes of Redman, Chaka Khan, Busta Rhymes, and the Beastie Boys introduce unprecedented name-recognition, but this isn't a pop album by any stretch of the imagination.

But despite collaborators as diverse as Chaka Khan, Busta Rhymes, and Mike D of the Beastie Boys, the album sounds more like the result of a raucous block party than of a careful marketing plan.

Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump, their most contemporary offering yet, is the trio's successful return as ousted royalty destined to reclaim their kingdom in hip hop.

This album showcases De La Soul's more playful side while maintaining the group's intelligent, witty lyrics.

A clever party record, complete with oodles of guest appearances and multiple R&B hooks.

"Mosaic Thump" still suffers many of the weaknesses of its genre. Like most rap LPs it's overlong and features too many guest stars.

An earthy, beat-oriented album... It ain't '3 Feet High'--or even 'De La Soul Is Dead'-- but it ain't half bad. (Sep 2000, p.96)

The freshness that figured into De La's previous four albums feels a touch staler here. (#78, p.116)

But while packed with great songs--"The Art Of Getting Jumped" and "All Good?" also stand out--AOI is inconsistent, undermined by battle raps that feel limp and overly familiar coming from artists of De La Soul's stature. It doesn't help that the production tends to be weak and colorless, particularly when compared to the Technicolor vividness once provided by longtime collaborator Prince Paul.

De La may have made their most formulaic album to date in order to speak against the formularization of hip-hop.

The production, supplied by stellar guests ranging from Jay Dee and Rockwilder to the Plugs themselves, is clean and airy, with the boys floating on bubbles of flatulent bass and high-stepping over chirping guitar chords.... But if anything foils Art Official Intelligence, it's the wrath of the math: 11 of the album's 17 tracks feature guest appearances.