Liberated from long-time record label Tommy Boy, De La Soul completed their original 15-year run of studio albums with 2004’s The Grind Date, an album where the legacy act tells the raw realities of a never-ending hustle. “I got verb skills, babies and bills,” Posdnous raps on an album about label gripes, “white-collar dreams” and basically treating rap like a job. (As Trugoy the Dove says, “I’m coal-mining these mics to keep that gold nugget.”) And, for the first time, they opened a majority of an album to outside producers, enlisting J Dilla, Madlib, 9th Wonder and Jake One, whose unlikely decelerating beat on “Rock Co.Kane Flow” is the album’s highlight. A 20th anniversary reissue released in 2025 (yes, that’s 21 years, but De La Soul have never had an easy time getting their music out when they preferred) restores a skit and a handful of extra tracks and instrumental versions.
Tracklisting
| Position | Title |
|---|---|
| A1 | The Future |
| A2 | Verbal Clap |
| A3 | Much More |
| A4 | Shopping Bags (She Got From You) |
| A5 | The Grind Date |
| B1 | Church |
| B2 | It’s Like That |
| B3 | He Comes |
| B4 | Days Of Our Lives |
| C1 | Come On Down |
| C2 | No |
| C3 | Rock Co.Kane Flow |
| C4 | Shoomp |
| D1 | The Grind Date (Instrumental) |
| D2 | Verbal Clap (Instrumental) |
| D3 | Shopping Bags (Instrumental) |
| D4 | Days of our Loves (Instrumental) |
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Release Images
Release Information
| Key | Value |
|---|---|
| Format | 2× Vinyl (Silver, Yellow, Blue Splatter ) LP, Album, Limited Edition, Reissue |
| Label | BMG |
| Catalog Number | BMGCAT414DLPX |
| Notes | ℗ & © 2020 Daisy Age, Inc./ Sanctuary Records Group Ltd. Samples used from : A1 “A Brighter Tomorrow” by The Jackson 5 A2 “Catherine Of Aragon” by Rick Wakeman & “Long Red” by Mountain A3 “Love Ballad” by LTD + uses replayed elements of “Strawberry Letter 23” by Shuggie Ottis B5 “Nous Sommes Du Soleil” by YES B6 “Reality” by Pleasure C8 “Here Comes The Sun” by Eugene (Records) C9 “My Life” by The Ohio Players D11 contains elements of “Never Can Say Goodbye” by The Jackson 5 D12 “Deliverance” by Space Mixed by Gimel “Young Guru” Keaton for Loreal Inc. |
| Discogs URL | De La Soul - The Grind Date (20th Anniversary Edition) |