Over thirty-five years after redefining what rap albums could sound like, feel like, and talk about, De La Soul return with Cabin in the Sky, a record shaped by grief, gratitude, and the stubborn creative spark that carried them from Long Island basements to global influence. It is their tenth studio album, their first since 2016’s And the Anonymous Nobody…, and the first made in the absence of David “Trugoy the Dove” Jolicoeur, who passed in 2023. That absence is the album’s weight and its pulse. Posdnuos and Maseo approach the material with a kind of reverence, but also with the humor, looseness, and adventurous spirit that defined the group in their earliest era. This is not a memorial cast in stone—it is a living record, full of movement, reflection, and the joy of creation.
Released through Mass Appeal as part of the Legend Has It series, the album’s title nods to the 1943 Black musical film and signals a record concerned with the afterlife, transitions, and the space between earthly ties and spiritual release. Giancarlo Esposito’s narration heightens the sense of entering another realm—an imaginative cabin where time folds and guests appear as if called into a gathering that spans decades. The roll call includes Nas, Q-Tip, Slick Rick, Common, Killer Mike, Black Thought, Yukimi Nagano, Bilal, and others who clearly understood that this project carries a unique emotional gravity. When Esposito reaches Dave’s name and allows silence to fill the space, the album’s entire intention clarifies: this is a De La Soul album made with Dave, even if he is not here to witness its completion.
What makes Cabin in the Sky so moving is the way it folds every era of De La Soul into one experience without leaning on nostalgia. The spirit of 3 Feet High and Rising hovers in the playfulness and surprise; the introspection of De La Soul Is Dead appears in the writing and the musicality of Buhloone Mindstate in the execution; the lyrical sharpness of Stakes Is High forms the backbone while the Hip Hop core of The Grind Date is felt; and the eclecticism and And the Anonymous Nobody… color the edges. But the album does not behave like a retrospective. It behaves like the next chapter of a group that never stopped evolving, only paused to mourn.
The production lineup mirrors this continuity. DJ Premier, Pete Rock, Supa Dave West, Nottz, Jake One, Just Wazzx3, and Trugoy himself shape a sound that is warm, soulful, sometimes dusty, and always attentive to detail. Beats move with a relaxed confidence, leaving space for reflection while maintaining the group’s trademark bounce. The textures are layered but not cluttered. Every track sounds like it was built with care, as though the producers understood they were adding pieces to a legacy already heavy with meaning.
“Cabin Talk,” the album’s opening vignette, frames the entire record as a gathering where the past and present share the same air. From there, the album shifts into “YUHDONTSTOP,” a song anchored by a loop Trugoy created. Pos delivers one of his most open-hearted verses, acknowledging age, loss, and responsibility with a steady voice. It sets the tone: the album moves forward without ignoring the absence that shadows it.
Trugoy’s first full appearance arrives on “Good Health,” where his delivery carries the warmth and sly charisma that always distinguished his verses. The placement feels intentional, giving the listener the comfort of hearing his voice early and without distortion. When Pos joins him, the chemistry re-emerges instantly, reminding you why their interplay shaped so much of alternative hip-hop’s evolution.
Pete Rock’s “The Package” offers another moment where Pos and Dave move in parallel—one alive, one gone, both vivid. The track is lush and grounded, built on a classic Soul Brother palette that never distracts from the emotional core. The contrast between their tones is especially striking: Dave relaxed and playful, Pos measured and contemplative. DJ Premier’s “Sunny Storms” brings out the stoic clarity that Pos has refined over decades. His writing is sharp without being cold, personal without leaning into sentimentality. He raps like someone who has learned to live with contradictions and has accepted that adulthood forces you to carry pieces of your past you cannot fully set down.
Across the record, the guests act less like features and more like friends showing up to support a family in the thick of a transition. Nas delivers one of his strongest appearances in recent memory on “Run It Back!!,” sounding energized and conversational. Q-Tip brings warmth and ease, invoking the longtime bond between Native Tongues members. Slick Rick and Common provide thoughtful, skillful contributions on “Yours,” each tapping into the grown-man sensibilities that fit the album’s tone. Black Thought rips through a dope DJ Premier instrumental on “EN EFF” with the effortless command he’s known for, while Killer Mike approaches “A Quick 16 for Mama” with genuine tenderness. Yukimi Nagano’s lilting contributions on “Cruel Summers Bring FIRE LIFE!!” bring brightness without thinning the emotional layer beneath it. Bilal’s appearance on “Palm of His Hands” is one of the album’s most affecting moments, his voice wavering in a way that mirrors the themes of fragility and release.
Through all these voices, the album maintains a consistent emotional undercurrent shaped by Pos and Maseo. Posdnuos, in particular, delivers some of the most grounded and vulnerable work of his career. Without drama or spectacle, he speaks on grief, responsibility, memory, and aging with a clarity that hits harder than any heavy-handed tribute ever could. He is processing in real time, but with the sense of craft that defines a veteran writer.
The title track draws these ideas together in a way that feels quietly devastating. Pos approaches the topic of mortality head-on, questioning what it means for someone to ascend, how legacy functions, and what remains when the physical presence is gone. The writing is direct, not ornamental, which makes the emotional weight even stronger.
Then, in one of the most fitting choices in De La Soul’s catalog, the album closes with Dave’s “Don’t Push Me.” His voice is calm, humorous, fully alive, and entirely himself. Ending the album with his presence is not a dramatic gesture—it is an act of grounding. It positions Dave not as an absence, but as part of the living fabric of the group, the final note in a record guided by his memory.
Cabin in the Sky does not behave like a farewell. It behaves like a continuation—an album where loss does not erase vitality, where evolution does not erase history, and where two surviving members carry the third with affection and purpose. It is patient, warm, layered, and full of craft. It rewards full attention, not background listening. And above all, it reinforces the idea that De La Soul’s creativity never depended on novelty; it depended on the bond between three artists who built something larger than themselves and learned how to keep it alive, even when life rearranged the pieces.
9/10
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