De La Soul Album: “Impossible Mission: TV Series, Pt. 1”

I loved the Grind Date - thought it was a great counterbalance to the AOI stuff - Impossible Mission is the most progressive and creative De La release to date- Some straight up shout-outs to their legacy in the form of a few un-released tracks from the Buhloone Mind and De La is Dead days. Somehow it works, and glues the tracks together. The rest is pure progress - amazing beats and classic mindful De La lyrics - the beats have a nice balance between old school references, and contemporary/progressive unmatched by anything I've heard so far. Thanks De la

Heads of real hip-hop understand how hard it is to stay at the top of the game. Well, these cats from the LI have been on top of things since "Plug Tunin'." reinventing themselves with each new release. This mixtape is no exception. Immediate standouts are "Live at the Dugout '87" (track is ill) "Respect" and "Freedom Train"; though the whole CD is bangin'. Even the previously unreleased tracks kick your mentals back to that old De La Sound that still sounds good today. This group will go down in hip-hop history as classic. Can't wait for Pt. 2.

It should be noted that this is a mixtape released to drum up interest in de la's next album. As such, I expect less of this release than a full length album. That said, this is a nice release. There's a good amount of older unreleased stuff, including "Just Havin' a Ball" (similar instrumental track can be heard on A Tribe Called Quest's first album and the Gravediggaz first album), and "Relax" (produced by the late J Dilla). Most of the newer stuff is good too. I especially like "You Got It". The different comments add alot of personality and comedy relief, making this a fun listen.

If this shows any indication of what their next album will be like, it should be their best in a while.