The Grind Date is the seventh album from hip-hop group De La Soul, released on October 5, 2004. The album was originally intended to be the final album of the Art Official Intelligence (AOI) trilogy, but as the album quickly changed focus, the group decided to put AOI III on hold and finish The Grind Date as its own work. The Grind Date is a notably brisker, and leaner work than the group's previous albums, and features a top of the line array of production talents including the late J Dilla (who was part of A Tribe Called Quest's production unit, The Ummah), Madlib ("Shopping Bags (She Got From You)"), and 9th Wonder ("Church"). Producer Supa Dave West, who handled the majority of the AOI albums, also contributes five tracks to the album. "Rock Co.Kane Flow" featuring MF DOOM, was produced by Jake One, and sees Posdnuos addressing some recent trends in Hip hop with the line "Unlike them, we craft gems / so systematically inclined to pen lines / without sayin a producer's name, all over the track". The well received collaboration also brought attention to the then-unknown Jake One. The album is light on guest appearances and features a total of four guest MCs, including Common. Unlike every De La Soul album before it, The Grind Date contains no skits at all, although a short musical interlude does precede the first song "The Future". The album's conceptual cover and sleeve booklet, based on a 2005 calendar, was designed by Morning Breath Inc. The Grind Date is the seventh album from hip-hop group De La Soul, released on October 5, 2004. The album was originally intended to be the final album of the Art Official Intelligence (AOI) trilogy, but as the album quickly changed focus, the group decided to put AOI III on hold and finish The Grind Date as its own work. The Grind Date is a notably brisker, and leaner work than the group's previous albums, and features a top of the line array of production talents including the late J Dilla (who was part of A Tribe Called Quest's production unit, The Ummah), Madlib ("Shopping Bags (She Got From You)"), and 9th Wonder ("Church"). Producer Supa Dave West, who handled the majority of the AOI albums, also contributes five tracks to the album. "Rock Co.Kane Flow" featuring MF DOOM, was produced by Jake One, and sees Posdnuos addressing some recent trends in Hip hop with the line "Unlike them, we craft gems / so systematically inclined to pen lines / without sayin a producer's name, all over the track". The well received collaboration also brought attention to the then-unknown Jake One. The album is light on guest appearances and features a total of four guest MCs, including Common. Unlike every De La Soul album before it, The Grind Date contains no skits at all, although a short musical interlude does precede the first song "The Future". The album's conceptual cover and sleeve booklet, based on a 2005 calendar, was designed by Morning Breath Inc. false 2025-11-07 21:33:17 2004 2004-10-04 2004-10-04 102 Hip Hop 112418 2118072 9957b02f-02f4-3e90-9c93-4be483734551 a8ebde98-7e91-46c7-992c-90039ba42017 07813cf3-f9bc-3ace-8f19-bf70027e990c /media/data/media5/Music/De La Soul/The Grind Date/folder.jpg De La Soul De La Soul feat. Flavor Flav De La Soul feat. MF DOOM De La Soul feat. Sean Paul De La Soul 1 1 03:49 1 1 03:50 1 2 03:16 1 2 03:16 1 3 04:05 1 3 04:05 1 4 03:57 1 4 03:57 1 5 03:22 1 5 03:22 1 6 05:33 1 6 05:32 1 7 04:36 1 7 04:37 1 8 03:44 1 8 03:44 1 9 03:51 1 9 03:51 1 10 05:01 1 10 05:01 1 11 04:34 1 11 04:34 1 12 03:05 1 12 03:05 1 13 03:41 De La Soul ( DAY lah SOHL) is an American hip hop group formed in 1988 in the village of Amityville on Long Island, New York. They are best known for their eclectic sampling, eccentric lyrics, and contributions to the evolution of the jazz rap and alternative hip hop subgenres. Kelvin "Posdnuos" Mercer, David "Trugoy the Dove" Jolicoeur, and Vincent "Maseo" Mason formed the group in high school and caught the attention of producer Prince Paul with a demo tape of the song "Plug Tunin'". With its playful wordplay, innovative sampling, and witty skits, the group's debut album, 3 Feet High and Rising (1989), has been called "a hip hop masterpiece". It remains their biggest commercial success, though subsequent albums have continued to receive acclaim. De La Soul is the second-longest-standing Native Tongues group, after the Jungle Brothers. In 2006, the group won a Grammy for their collaboration with Gorillaz on their single "Feel Good Inc." The group released a Kickstarter-funded album, And the Anonymous Nobody..., in 2016. The album features guest appearances from artists such as Damon Albarn, Little Dragon, David Byrne, 2 Chainz, and Snoop Dogg. Trugoy the Dove died in 2023. Sanctuary Urban