“…And The Anonymous Nobody” is the eighth studio album to be released by the American hip hop trio De La Soul. I can’t claim to be the biggest follower of their music – I think I heard a few of their earlier tracks on the radio before I knew who was behind the tracks, and I only really started paying attention when “Oooh” was aired on Radio 1 sometime in the early 00s. Nevertheless, their material has often impressed me with the catchy beats, smooth melodies and tight rhymes, and so I looked forward to checking out “…And The Anonymous Nobody”. This new album began life as a Kickstarter campaign in March of last year and the project easily surpassed the orignal funding goal. Even though I wasn’t able to personally back it – I didn’t know about the Kickstarter roots until after the campaign was over – I picked up a copy of the album on the day of release and have already found a few favourites sneaking into my playlists.

…And The Anonymous Nobody – good vibes

With over an hour of content spread across seventeen tracks there’s a lot here to enjoy, and the slick grooves and tight rhymes of “…And The Anonymous Nobody” couldn’t have come at a better time. Released earlier in August, the smooth sounds make for great summertime listening, and many of the songs suit everything from an idle moment relaxing in the sun to a quiet evening drafting content for an entertainment website. Songs such as “Memory of… (Us)” or the opening track “Genesis” create a nice chilled mood – whether that’s achieved with silky vocals or gorgeous strings – whilst the likes of “Pain” and “Trainwreck” have a more conventional hip-hop flavour with their rhymes and beats, but they still maintain a good vibe that’s easy to get behind.

…And The Anonymous Nobody – collaborations and variety

The collaborations found on “…And The Anonymous Nobody” also allow for a change of feel from the usual hip-hop template. The track “Lord Intended” features Justin Hawkins of The Darkness, and his vocal contributions are accompanied with interesting guitar noodlings. Similarly, a late track featuring Damon Albarn has lazy, dreamlike feel and the odd energetic twiddly guitar moment in the first half for good measure. Crucially, these deviations don’t feel out of place and the album doesn’t suffer or feel unfocused as a result. I imagine that many De La Soul fans will have appreciated a more “pure” hip-hop sound throughout, but that can still be found elsewhere on the album so I don’t think the variety is a bad thing.

…And The Anonymous Nobody – interludes

One other thing to note is that the large track list also features a few shorter pieces that feel more like interludes and last around 80 to 90 seconds, but thankfully there are enough longer tracks to avoid the risk of feeling like the album has been padded out. Besides, we can’t forget that albums such as “3 Feet High and Rising” and “De La Soul Is Dead” boasted over 20 tracks, and many of them had a similar brevity, so the inclusion of these interludes is hardly surprising.

…And The Anonymous Nobody – a crowdfunding success?

As I said, I’m not the biggest follower of De La Soul, and I’m probably not even the biggest fan of rap and hip-hop – my CD collection contains a lot more dance and electronica than anything else. However, even as a casual listener I can appreciate the quality of content in “…And The Anonymous Nobody”. Some people have voiced concern over the trio’s decision to go to Kickstarter for funding, but listening to the end result I feel like it has been a worthwhile experiment in crowdfunding. It will be interesting to see if De La Soul decide to try this approach to funding again in the future.