Hip hop classicists De La Soul return with an album that is both a memorial and celebration of lives lost and a genre still thriving on Cabin In The Sky.
Release date: November 21, 2025 | Mass Appeal | Facebook | Instagram | Website
The final quarter of 2025 has brought witness to two interesting events in the world of hip hop. The first is that there are no hip hop songs in Billboard’s Top 40 for the first time in 35 years. The second is a broader conversation about something called ‘rap fatigue’, that proponents argue is more than just being burnt out on the music, something that happens when you overconsume anything, but that the messages of wealth and womanizing and gangster shit that have populated mainstream rap for the last 35 years are starting to sound stale. While Clipse and Larry June may be wealthy enough to think owning an Audi is beneath them, most of us (at least in the United States) are hoping that our vehicles that cost a fraction of what an Audi costs don’t shit out this winter, because who can afford the repairs?
From that perspective, I get it. Mainstream audiences already have to deal with exorbitant concert ticket prices, vinyl that demands $50 for new releases, let alone the deluxe editions that will come out nine months after you bought the original, and 60% of the country is living paycheck to paycheck as inflation tightens its grip from every angle. Sorry, Tyler, most of us don’t care about your Ferrari. It is even more interesting that this is the landscape and narrative when 2024 saw a historic rap beef that ended with the side of authenticity in rap as the victor, taking down the long run of commercial sounding, ghostwritten raps that were leading the charts. This is a prime time for a renaissance, a rebuilding of quality rap and hip hop music, but those of us who listen to rap outside of the radio and clubs know that chart positions aren’t usually representative of the best hip hop out there and any complaints of rap fatigue are from those who aren’t really listening.
Nas, perhaps recognizing the importance of authenticity’s victory or perhaps by virtue of good timing, lead his Mass Appeal Records label in an incredible year for old school hip hop fans, dropping albums from Slick Rick, Ghostface Killah, and Raekwon, as well as posthumous albums from Big L and Mobb Deep. Each of these albums have been given praise and detraction, but the penultimate release from the Legend Has It series seems the most immune to criticism, and like the group that made it, proudly stands out of step with the negative associations of hip hop, the worship of wealth and opulence, and even the trappings of a modern hip hop sound while ultimately being an album about death. The trio of De La Soul, who back in 1989 spent their own time in the Billboard Hot 100, has been brought down to a duo since the untimely passing of Trugoy The Dove, AKA Dave, in 2023, whose presence and voice are felt and heard throughout Cabin In The Sky.
While it would be easy to let this cast dark shadow and tone onto the album, Maseo and Posdnuos instead treat life and death as celebrations. Cabin In The Sky, thematically, a conference on ‘life and the thereafter‘ hosted by Giancarlo Esposito, whose voice opens the album as he takes roll call for the stunning list of hip hop greats on this album, including Black Thought, Nas, Common, Pete Rock, Killer Mike, DJ Premiere, Q-Tip, and many more. Upon first listen, blind to who was going to be on the album, the effect was elation, to imagine so many incredible artists in the same room. The final roll call for Dave takes a somber turn that slowly turns into the first song, “YUHDONTSTOP”, one of like, half a dozen “Sure Shot” references I have heard this year, but also including the essential line, ‘Cindy said if y’all stop, then Dave stops, and that wouldn’t be the sure shot,’ giving reverence to De La Soul‘s continuation without one of the three. The final moments of the track secure this with Posdnuos saying, ‘Remember when its Pos and Maseo you see/the magic will always be three,’ even dropping a quote from Dave, ‘often the real, true soldiers don’t get that shine that they should, but tell yourself, ‘I’m staying true to myself,’ and keep feeling the energy and the vibe, so you keep giving off the right vibrations‘. Oftentimes I have reservations about posthumous releases, as fragments of recordings and the potential for vultures picking the remaining bones of legacy present conflicting emotions, but the ways Dave‘s voice are used on Cabin In The Sky feel as authentic and organic as any previous De La Soul release.
The songs themselves aren’t so morose as to focus on death and the hereafter exclusively. “Good Health” and the high-energy “Run It Back!” focus on maintaining integrity and authenticity in hip hop, while tracks like “A Quick 16 For Mama” and “Just How It Is (Sometimes)” pay homage to moms and scorned women, respectively. Tracks like these, paired with De La Soul‘s indominable spirit of goodwill and sense of fun make Cabin In The Sky an absolute ray of sunshine in a world of increasingly gray hip hop. So many albums these days feel angry or melancholy in nature, so hearing the ’90s Native Tongues kind of sound is a breath of fresh air. The Pos and Dave produced “Cruel Summers Bring FIRE LIFE!!” features Yakumi over a new jack swing beat that flips into a slower, more trippy ending that merges into the breezy “Day In The Sun (Gettin’ Wit U)” which features vocals from Yummy Bingham and a guest verse from Q-Tip, locking further into the vibes pioneered by De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest. Beats produced by De La themselves, as well as Pete Rock, DJ Premier, Jake One, and Supa Dave West, among others maintain the good vibes and feature some fun and recognizable samples. “Run It Back!” flips The Police‘s “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic” , for example, and it works incredibly well, especially when paired with my favorite Nas verse of the year.
Though Cabin In The Sky may be something of a memorial for Dave, it feels more like a celebration of life, not only for Dave, but for hip hop, letting the surviving old guards cook up an album that feels immediately classic, touching, fun, thoughtful, and with enough guest verses and producers and singers to faithfully recreate the feeling of a party. Not only does it feel great to hear De La Soul on record once more, but it feels like a plea for hip hop’s future from its very history, to remember that for all of the truths of life the genre can represent, intelligent bars that celebrate as much as caution are essential. Cabin In The Sky is truly one of the best hip hop albums of the year, and if any young artists catch wind of its greatness, it may be just the inspiration needed to reclaim rap from an industry bent on repetition and consistently platforming the very kinds of songs leaving people unimpressed. This is at least one of the cures for rap fatigue, a testament to the resilience of a powerfully creative and ferociously smart community. May the legacy of De La Soul live long.
