Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump

Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump
Studio album by
ReleasedAugust 8, 2000
GenreHip hop
Length66:46
LabelTommy Boy
Producer
De La Soul chronology
Stakes Is High
(1996)
Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump
(2000)
AOI: Bionix
(2001)
Singles from Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump
  1. "Oooh."
    Released: July 10, 2000
  2. "Thru Ya City"
    Released: 2000
  3. "All Good?"
    Released: August 23, 2000
Alternative covers
Japanese cover

Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump is the fifth studio album by American hip hop group De La Soul. It was released on August 8, 2000.

Overview

[edit]

The album was the first in a planned three-disc installment, which was originally intended to be a three-disc album. Among the guests on the album are, Redman, Tash and J-Ro of Tha Liks, Xzibit, Busta Rhymes, Mike D and Ad Rock of the Beastie Boys, Busy Bee, Freddie Foxxx and soul diva Chaka Khan.

Unlike their previous album, Stakes Is High, Mosaic Thump returned De La Soul to chart territory again thanks to the hit singles "Oooh." and "All Good?". The album was also nominated for a Grammy.

The Japanese version of the album featured album art by celebrity hip hop-inspired manga artist Santa Inoue.[1]

Critical reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic75/100[2]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Entertainment WeeklyB+[4]
Los Angeles Times[5]
Mojo[6]
NME7/10[7]
RapReviews9/10[8]
Rolling Stone[9]
Select[10]
USA Today[12]
The Village VoiceA−[11]

Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump generally received overall positive reviews from critics. James Poletti of Yahoo! Music gave the album an eight out of ten star review. "In keeping with the current vogue for hip hop albums with more guests than Letterman, over 50 per cent of this album features appearances from everyone from Redman to Chaka Khan", which he said may or may not have something to do with finding a unique voice in hip hop. "The really refreshing change with De La Soul is not simply their lack of bullshit but their proud rejection of hip-hop's nihilism."[13] Michael Goldberg of Neumu gave the album the same eight out of ten star review and simply said that the number of guest stars in the album, "keeps things lively". "The grooves are righteous and the vibe is right" Goldberg stated.[14]

Robert Christgau stated: "Once pranksters whose greatest pleasure was disrupting the groove they adored, they've evolved into hip-hop's purest musicians. Partly our ears have changed and partly theirs have, so that their brilliant hunches now sound like glowing accomplishments. As they leapfrog around from Busta to Beastie, from herky-jerk drum and bass to diva anthem, from playground old-school to love-men ballad, this holds steady as the Temptations album of dreams, with Smokey and Holland-Dozier-Holland playing king-of-the-mountain and James Jamerson and Benny Benjamin doing God's work below. The lyrics are intelligent of course, clever and moral and street-conscious and just gnomic enough, but their art is in their beats and flow and tunes too. Hip-hop as a great black music, as amenable as jazz itself to young turks turned old masters."[15]

Commercial performance

[edit]

In their home country of the United States, Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump debuted at number 9 on the Billboard 200, selling 81,000 copies in its first week.[16]

Track listing

[edit]
No.TitleProducer(s)Length
1."Spitkicker.com / Say R. (Intro)"De La Soul1:19
2."U Can Do (Life)"Supa Dave West4:23
3."My Writes" (featuring Tha Alkaholiks and Xzibit)Ad Lib, De La Soul5:29
4."Oooh." (featuring Redman)De La Soul, Prince Paul5:24
5."Thru Ya City" (featuring D.V. Alias Khrist)Jay Dee3:29
6."I.C. Y'All" (featuring Busta Rhymes)Rockwilder3:21
7."View"De La Soul4:18
8."Set The Mood" (featuring Indeed)Mr. Khaliyl4:23
9."All Good?" (featuring Chaka Khan)De La Soul4:59
10."Declaration"De La Soul2:56
11."Squat!" (featuring Mike D & Ad-Rock of the Beastie Boys)De La Soul4:14
12."Words From The Chief Rocker" (featuring Busy Bee Starski)De La Soul1:01
13."With Me"De La Soul4:50
14."Copa (Cabanga)"Supa Dave West4:06
15."Foolin'"De La Soul & Deaf 2 U Inc.4:22
16."The Art of Getting Jumped"De La Soul3:48
17."U Don't Wanna B.D.S." (featuring Freddie Foxxx)De La Soul4:13

Charts

[edit]
Weekly charts for Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump
Chart (2000) Peak
Position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[17] 32
European Albums (European Top 100 Albums)[18] 23
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[19] 25
French Albums (SNEP)[20] 26
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[21] 16
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[22] 25
UK Albums (OCC)[23] 22
US Billboard 200[24] 9
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[25] 3

Certifications

[edit]
Certifications for Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump
Region Certification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[26] Silver 60,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Inoue, Santa (2006). "De La Soul / Art Official Intelligence" (in Japanese). Tōkyō-to Shibuyaku Shibuya 1 Chōme 22 − 5: Santastic! Entertainment. Retrieved April 21, 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: location (link)[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ "Art Official Intelligence (Mosaic Thump) Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved June 13, 2012.
  3. ^ Bush, John. "De La Soul: Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump" at AllMusic. Retrieved September 1, 2011.
  4. ^ Weingarten, Marc (August 18, 2000). "Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump: De La Soul". Entertainment Weekly. No. #555–556. Archived from the original on 2012-10-17.
  5. ^ Baker, Soren (August 4, 2000). "In a Surprise, De La Soul Plays Things Straight Up". Los Angeles Times.
  6. ^ An earthy, beat-oriented album... It ain't '3 Feet High'--or even 'De La Soul Is Dead'-- but it ain't half bad. (Sep 2000, p.96)
  7. ^ Segal, Victoria (16 August 2000). "De La Soul - Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump". NME. Archived from the original on 16 August 2000. Retrieved 13 February 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  8. ^ S, Mr. (13 August 2000). "DE LA SOUL :: ART OFFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (MOSAIC THUMP)". RapReviews. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  9. ^ Sheffield, Rob (August 17, 2000). "De La Soul: Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump". Rolling Stone. No. 847. Archived from the original on 2007-11-17.
  10. ^ The immediate impression of 'Art Official Intelligence' is of one big party. [Sep 2000, p.104]
  11. ^ Christgau, Robert (August 2000). "Getting Them Straight". The Village Voice. p. 1.
  12. ^ Jones, Steve (August 8, 2000). "Rap: De La Soul, Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump". USA Today. Archived from the original on February 1, 2013.
  13. ^ Poletti, James (August 11, 2000). "De La Soul – 'Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump'". Yahoo! Music. Archived from the original on May 17, 2004.
  14. ^ Goldberg, Michael. "De La Soul: Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump". Neumu. Retrieved April 21, 2009.
  15. ^ Robert Christgau: CG: de la soul
  16. ^ "De La Soul's Crowd-Funded Album Debuts at No. 1 on Top Rap Albums Chart". Billboard. September 9, 2016. Retrieved September 26, 2016.
  17. ^ "Australiancharts.com – De La Soul – Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
  18. ^ "Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump" (PDF). Music & Media. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
  19. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – De La Soul – Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
  20. ^ "Lescharts.com – De La Soul – Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
  21. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – De La Soul – Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
  22. ^ "Swisscharts.com – De La Soul – Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
  23. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
  24. ^ "De La Soul Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
  25. ^ "De La Soul Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
  26. ^ "British album certifications – De La Soul – Art Official Intelligence - Mosaic Thump". British Phonographic Industry.
[edit]