- Critic score
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Without a concept to tout, The Grind Date doesn't gel like AOI: Bionix, but it does show De La Soul keeping everything together more than 15 years after their debut.
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Entertainment WeeklyNotably fresh for a group that's been rhyming for 15 years. [8 Oct 2004, p.117]
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The Grind Date is the sound of a rejuvenated heavyweight who may have lost his belt but has in no way has conceded the fight.
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The Grind Date is as notable for what it lacks--skits, filler, bullshit--than for what it has.
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Los Angeles TimesAs this standout collection of songs shows, with its astounding lyrical acumen and stellar beats, De La Soul surely ranks among the best rap groups of all time. [24 Oct 2004]
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A superbly sequenced set chock-full of clever entendres, oozing with existentialisms on par with those of Buhloone Mindstate and De La Soul Is Dead.
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VibeSophisticated compositions and insightful lyrics. [Nov 2004, p.162]
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The Grind Date is almost shockingly excellent. This is De La Soul at their most focused no skits, no filler, no weird interludes.
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Alternative PressA satisfying and surprisingly profane comeback. [Jan 2005, p.114]
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The dominant descriptive word for the album is "solid". That's no criticism, as De La Soul's intent seems to be to show that they're still creating rock-solid music over a decade after their supposed heyday.
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By corralling five hungry producers with a flair for the earthy funk and slippery samples that guided some of De La's best albums, the veteran trio have recorded the true successor to 1996's Stakes Is High.
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UrbWorthy of being considered among the year's finest. [Dec 2004, p.106]
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SpinTheir jabs cut and the beats burn. [Nov 2004, p.118]
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They were just waiting for the right time to kick precisely the right rhyme, so that "The Grind Date" would go down not just as an important date in rap history but in the pantheon of all musical endeavours since the dawn of mankind. It's that damn good.
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De La Soul [are] wise enough to keep the filler to a minimum, thus presenting a more consistent product than that offered by their followers/peers.
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The Grind Date brings together an unimaginable team of the underground's hottest producers and meshes their idiosyncrasies without dissidence.
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BlenderDulcet R&B hooks are spoonfuls of sugar that make De La catchy enough for a new generation of fans. [Nov 2004, p.132]
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Flying boldly in the face of youth-addicted popular culture, The Grind Date celebrates the joy and wisdom of adulthood.
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A great hip-hop album, an accomplishment that whipper-snappers in both hip-hop and the pop-music world at large would benefit from attempting to emulate.
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The WireThe best thing they've done since Stakes Is High. [#250, p.73]
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 19 out of 23
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Mixed: 0 out of 23
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Negative: 4 out of 23
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AlexHDec 1, 2006
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DaneCSep 3, 2005
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tomcMar 13, 2005super album from the smoothiest rap band ever!!!