Hip-hop’s finest De La Soul recently sat down with Ambrosia For Heads to discuss their forthcoming album and the Anonymous Nobody. The album includes Usher, Pete Rock, Estelle, Snoop Dogg, Roc Marciano, 2 Chainz, Little Dragon, and more. After crushing their Kickstarter campaign, which resulted in over $110k, the group hosted an intimate evening with their fans as a “Thank You” event. At this gathering, the group performed songs off the new album (which is their first album to be released in 11 years) and without surprise, received great reactions.
When asked about the meaning behind the title, and the Anonymous Nobody, Dave Jolicoeur, aka Trugoy the Dove, responded, “I thought it was a nice set of words; that’s how it really started. I basically used the name when I do donations and stuff, anonymously. So I brought it up to the guys and it kinda made sense with what we were doing. You know, you’ve got a group of people who come together, selfless, who just say ‘I wanna get down with this project,’ and stood up for something that’s cool. I don’t think people do that too much anymore. For me, personally, I think the anonymous nobody is the person who doesn’t need to say ‘I was part of it, I’m this person. I’m an every day person who just wants to contribute.’” Makes sense, especially given the stellar lineup of artists that contribute to the album.
According to Posdnuos, the artists contributed what they felt they could contribute best. He explains, “I mean, I think that process is what we would normally do, on any album. Whatever music we’re working on, one of us will say to the others, ‘You know, this sounds like it could have this person or that person on it.’ So it really came about that way, even with these artists. One track that we had, Dave was like ‘yo, I hear 2 Chainz doing the chorus, like I can hear it.’ So we reached out, and he was like ‘I don’t wanna do the chorus, I wanna rhyme,’ so that’s how that happened. So that aspect is really the same as it always was. I would say, if anything, creatively we didn’t want to do the normal thing like, ‘Hey, let’s get Common, Q-Tip.’ We want to challenge ourselves creatively and find a marriage between us and somebody you wouldn’t expect.”
According to the three legends, we have a lot to look forward to. Masseo explains, “I think the fans can always look forward to the consistency of quality music that comes from De La Soul. I think that will always be something between us and them that’ll be a mutual understanding.” Dave adds, “We know a lot of people won’t get it. But then again, I think for those people that stepped forward and supported this record…I think they’re really going to enjoy it.”
What’s not to get? De La Soul has been passing along the good vibes since 1987, and we can’t wait to hear what they sound like in 2015.
[H/T Ambrosia For Heads]