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 Lives (Instrumental) |
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Release Images
Release Information
| Key | Value |
|---|---|
| Format | 2× Vinyl (Silver with Blue and Yellow Splatter, 20th Anniversary Edition) LP, Album, Limited Edition, Reissue |
| Label | BMG |
| Catalog Number | BMGCAT414DLP |
| Notes | Hype stickers on shrink-wrap: “Featuring “The Grind Date”, “Shopping Bags” and “It’s Like That” Guest Appearances By Ghostface, MF Doom, Carl Thomas and Common” “Limited Edition 20th Anniversary Splatter Vinyl” Title on spine: De la Soul // The Grind Date 2LP Issued in wide pocket cover with “Parental Advisory” printed on the cover. Records are in picture sleeves with opening on right. Track A1, A2, A4 to C1, and C3 mixed for Loreal Inc. at Baseline Studios, NYC. Carl Thomas appears courtesy of Bad Boy Records. Ghostface appears courtesy of Def Jam / Starks Enterprises. Flava Flav appears courtesy of Xecutiv Music Group. Butta Verses appears courtesy of Bear Mountain Entertainment. MF Doom appears courtesy of Metal Face Records. Tracks A1 to C4: ℗ & © 2004 Daisy Age Inc./Sanctuary Records Group Ltd., a BMG Company. Tracks D1 to D4: ℗ & © 2020 Daisy Age Inc./Sanctuary Records Group Ltd., a BMG Company. Runouts are stamped. |
| Discogs URL | De La Soul - The Grind Date |