producers: de la soul, supa dav west, jaydee, rockwilder, mr. khaliyl, others.

guests: redman, chaka khan, xzibit, busta yhrmes, mike d and ad rock of the beastie boys, busy bee, others.

De La Soul went from joking to visionary to artsy to unfocused and are partying now. Call it a progression, or call it an adaptation, or call it falling off. Still De La are legends, and it's very unfortunate, that the listener can't just look forward to their albums like he used to. But that seems to be normal nowadays. A lot of names that used to be a guarantee for classic records, either changed, fell off, quit or are still dope, but just not as dope as they used to be. But heck, we are talking here without even having checked out "Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump". So let's not just yet cut the cake or jump the gun or nail the coffin.

After the "Spitkicker.com / Say R." intro, the record truly starts with "U Can Do (Life)", produced by Supa Dav West. This introduces the vibe of the album, some Neo-Soul type beats, crooned singing and a party ready De La, abandoning what they have pioneered and Pos seems to comment this with "while they stressing back in the day / I'm at the front of the night". "My Writes" is cool, but is it De La worthy? That's the whole point with the beef right there. They team up with J-Ro and Tash of the fka Alkaholiks (now Tha Licks), Xzibit and Scratch is doing jiggaz jizza sounds. Ad Lib did the beat and Dave opens going "yo, who hold guns and rock ice bigger than life/ got bitches throwing they drawers on stage? that ain't me!". Pos addresses the new indy emcees with "they librarian flows keeps the party real quiet" and delivers punchlines like "in this we'll stay down like seats found in sorority bathrooms", what makes this track cool with it's straight and fun, handing the mic back and forth, rhyming.

The first single "Oooh." does not have to be introduced, it being part of many radio and club nights. It is followed by the first of several interludes, that as a storyline, has some kids in a cipher smoke a special ghost weed herb, that allows them to metamorphose in so and so emcee, the first being Pharoahe Monch. He drops rhymes lovely with "how many niggaz who will actually kill still rhyming? / how many niggaz who are actually signed still killing?". And yip, this is a series of interludes worth listening to. The party continues on "Thru Ya City" feat. D.V. Alias Khrist doing the hook. The featured artist on "I.C. Y'all" goes by the name of Busta Rhymes, who's not limited to just doing the hook. The Rockwilder beat is limited in appeal though. "View" on the other hand is okay, with an oldish drum but well received wordplay like Pos saying "while you claiming shepherd that you heard this / you, heard this on day first / watch my man, he'll make it worse / ain't no new click, we still Native". Keeping the different producers coming in, Mr. Khaliyl drops by on "Set The Mood" featuring female emcee Indeed. Pos gives us another dope punchline, him going "me getting taken out is rare like a smile from Rakim", before we enter the second installment of 'ghost weed', this time with Phife Dawg.

The second single "All Good?" shows up next, with Chaka Khan blessing the track. This does sound funky enough and it makes us wiggle and dance in no frantic but pleasant mode. Again the lyrical moment belongs to Pos, him going "a lot say they wanna walk in my size 10's / aight then, here's a pair / lace 'em up, tight then you might feel what was dealt to me / you see, ain't no young boys up in here / keep a clear head / trying to keep my pockets on stuffed, like deer heads". "Declaration" might just be the best track on this record. Showing they don't need no first draft pick producers, De la make everything right themselves with this beat, dropping real veteran rhymes. More veterans appear on "Squat!", as Ad Rock and Mike D of the Beastie Boys drop by to kick some rhymes over a reduced beat. And heck, another veteran appears on "Words From The Chief Rocker", with Busy Bee rapping over a certified classic break. The party is continued on "With Me", where Dave opens with the pick up line "how you gon' tell me to mind my own biz / when you looking like something I need to know about?" This then takes us to the last 'ghost weed' interlude, this time Black Thought being the metamorphosis.

The Bacardi and Tequila drinks are getting sipped on "Copa (Cabana)", with a chorus that sounds like lifted from a Black Eyed Peas track and does not appeal too much. And so we attack "Foolin'", a night light travel and as such enjoyed. And very much more enjoyed than the annoying "The Art Of Getting Jumped" beat. That does even prevent us from checking out the interesting story line. We rather progress to the energetic "U Don't Wanna B.D.S." featuring Freddie Foxxx (Bumpy Knuckles) and Maseo remembers his rhyming contributions on "De La Soul Is Dead" and steps to the mic.

And so now we are allowed to talk about the album. It gets slack from all kinds of people and sides, but it's actually not that bad. It's actually a cool album, and everyone would say so, if it wouldn't be De La. But De La are not supposed to do good albums, they should be doing excellent albums. Yes, "Art Official Intelligence" is well worth your time and happily enjoyed. But still, it goes the ways of today, and De La shouldn't adopt to anything, but be adopted to.