Can’t believe Chris Daly used to be Steve Austin on the mic
Naturally, all eyes and ears are pretty much focused on the Wu-Tang’s latest opus, A Better Tomorrow, but if old head hip-hop truly is your bag, don’t let the latest single, “The People,” from De La Soul, rap’s true G.O.A.T band, pass you by. Based largely around tight horn and guitar samples, the Long Island trio pulls out all the stops with the inclusion of the legendary Chuck D. to give a hopeful, if somewhat resigned, view on the state of racial affairs in 2014.
While the track originally was slated to drop this past summer, it was shelved at the time due to the then on-going beef between the Public Enemy front man and Hot 97’s Peter Rosenberg (De La wisely decided to sit that one out). In light of the Ferguson decision, this song about, “our struggles and successes, our weaknesses and strengths… the experiences… and trials and tribulations we have faced as human beings, a race, and as individuals,” seems to have an extra gravitas to it. I’m not here to opine on that travesty, but if the recent It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back/Fear of a Black Planet reissues got your juices flowing, “The People” shows that the messages of the late 80s/early 90s are alive and as relevant now as they were then.This is not an “us vs. them” screed, but an honest look at what these elder statesmen see, finding equal blame internally and externally.
