This song is one of the best songs of all time. It showcases each talent of Coltrane's band perfectly, and this can never be duplicated or covered correctly. The feel is amazing in this piece, although it's 14 minutes long you never want it to end because it feels so...almost refreshing and beautiful. The solos by the pianist and Coltrane are incredible, as is Elvin Jones's drumming, with even the subtleties and gracenotes counting toward the music perfectly and having a feel for the music that nobody else has matched. The best part about Coltrane's players was that they thought toward the music, it's all about making the song as a whole better, not the drum licks or seperate solos. Therefore, the music seems to be one beautiful blend of sounds and although the instrumentals were technically tight and complicated, musically it was.....there aren't words to describe it. This is just a masterpiece.

De La are the most consistent hip hop group of all time, don't even try to argue with that, starting with an undeniable DA.I.S.Y. age classic, 3 Feet High and Rising. Too positive for some, but it was their only album to get any mainstream acceptance when it hit stores back in 1989. It had De La defining jams like "Magic Number" and "Me, Myself, and I", love songs like "Eye Know", sex songs like "Jenifa Taught Me" and "Buddy", and a ghetto story in "Ghetto Thang". Not to mention it was one of the best and most creatively produced albums of all time, with Prince Paul on the boards, sampling everything from conventional golden age soul and funk samples to country and kids music, which was unheard of. They got darker with their second release De La Soul is Dead..., considered classic as well by many, followed by the fun and positive yet not as playful as 3 Feet High and Rising, Buhloone Mind State, one of my personal favorite albums of all time. They had former JBs members guest starring for just a plain dope hip hop album. Stakes is high is their "save hip hop" album, and it was yet another masterpiece. They were hungry for the flesh of gimmicks as seen on "Stakes is High" the song, where they address how fucking fed up they are with all the bullshit polluting hip hop. 3 years later they came with Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump in 1999, one I haven't heard, but I hear is very good. Art Official Intelligence: Bionix was 2 years later and they came very strong once again. The latter two albums weren't masterpieces like the previous four, but they sure could hold a candle up to just about any other hip hop album which came out at the time. But then folks went to sleep, and never woke up for the masterpiece of The Grind Date, one of De La's best albums and by far the best of 2004. It had everything that hip hop was missing, and would make a fan with a "hip hop is dead" mentality tear after hearing the opener "The Future". Are De La the future? They define longevity in hip hop, making 15 years of amazing music. They are arguably the best rhymers of all time, never sticking to the ABAB or AABB rhyme scheme, [u]NEVER[/u], they change up their flows and never sound off, their verses are smooth like butter over beats by Prince Paul in the early days and lately Pasemaster Mase's suprising talent and some shit with superproducer Madlib. The big thing about De La Soul is that they ain't a part of "the hip hop game". That meaning they strive to make great music in hip hop form, not just "dat shit dat make da streets go crazy" or "the shit for the underground heads who are too intelligent for the crappy mainstream." They're complex and arguably the most clever MCs of all time, with lines that you get after thinking about for a while, but not annoyingly complex like Aesop Rock for example. Complex rhymes, clever minds, tons of personality, tons of innovation, tons of creativity, influencing many musicians, spitting always the truth, being themselves, flowing like butter, having dope beats and instrumentation, having dope guest stars, knowing how to make timeless music--that is De La Soul.

How can this be De La's most slept on album? It's one of my favorite albums of all time, everything is top notch. The production is sick, sometimes heavily layered ("I Am I Be"), sometimes very simple (just guitar and drums on "Eye Patch"), and throughout you have guests to play real instruments, including Pee Wee Ellis, Fred Wesley and Maceo Parker from The JBs (James Brown, not the Native Tongue related Jungle Brothers) and it makes a few incredible tracks in Maceo's solo feature "I Be Blowin'", the jazzy "I Am I Be", and one of the best tracks I've ever heard musically in hip hop, "Patti Dooke", with amazing flute playing and soloing, funky horns and sax from Maceo, Fred, and Pee Wee, a guest spot from Guru of Gang Starr on the chorus, and complex lyrics that flow perfectly over the music.

Pos and Dove flow like butter, the words sound easy flowing, but are some of the most complex in hip hop history. At the same time, they still have their meaning, they're not annoyingly complex (Aesop Rock for example), and they don't even sound like they're forcing it or trying really hard to be as complex as possible. It just....flows over the beat, so kick back, listen to the grooves, nod your head, jump around, whatever, because as complex and lyrical as this album is, it's De La's most fun and danceable. The drums are crisp, not too heavy for this kind of record, but they aren't held back too much (think Things Fall Apart from The Roots) so they lock in perfectly with the grooves. They cover everything from shout outs to their home area codes and neighbor areas ("Area"), get autobiographical ("I Am I Be"), talk about sex ("In the Woods"), and even though it's hard to figure out these tracks and what they're saying, you still get the feel and vibes through the grooves and through their lyrics, whether you understand them or not. It's fun to think and decipher the lyrics; you "get" different lines every listen, and when you figure them out, they're damn clever. And how could you go wrong with an album that ends with a collaboration with Biz Markie? Other guests are, as mentioned before, the horns from The JBs and Guru of Gang Starr, plus Monie Love and Black Sheep.

Go buy this album. It's still De La's most slept on. Wake the fuck up.

I don't usually like to pick a certain favorite album or artist, because that makes it harder to change your opinion if something else comes along, but my god, this is one of the best albums of all time in music. It ain't political, street, gritty, emotion, complex, etc., it's just a positive, fun album with The Roots at their best musically. To match the impeccable grooves, you have ill flows from malik b and black thought which aren't subject matter heavy at all, but should they be? They fit PERFECTLY. All in all, it isn't what a lot of great hip hop albums are lyrically, but it grooves better than any other hip hop album and is great lyrically in that the flows seemlessly weave through the grooves provided by the moving basslines of Hub, ?uestlove's technically simple but musically amazing, funky and jazzy grooves, jazzy and soulful sax and horns, and Scott Storch's white boy soulful jazz on the keys. No one stands out too much, no one holds anything back, no filler, no ?uestionable lines from malik, thought, or even ?uestlove who gets on the mic on You Ain't Fly, positive lyrics and subject matter (most of the lyrics are about how dope they are on the mic, how good the band is, music, love, sound checks, how good the band is live, relaxing on a lazy afternoon, and......b!tches who really ain't that fly and ain't worth it), and everything just goes together perfectly and to beat the horse I just killed, GROOVES. Hate if you want, but it is one of the best albums of all time and the best I've heard. It's genre bending, probably why it doesn't get recognized as one of the best albums in hip hop or soul of all time.

P.S.: I know you gotta eat I hate to use this term, but Scott Storch, you're one talented cat that SOLD THE F*CK OUT!!!!!!

RJD2 is probably the best producer of today. He's great solo and in collaborations. Even if Acey didn't kill the whole album of magnificent city, RJD2 did. Damn, with him producing, you can't even skip his interludes like "a sunday mystery." What sets him apart is his drum selection to me. He uses different drums just about every song and the beats are almost never the basic, overused bass drum 1 and 3 and snare on 1 and 2. No matter the MC, whatever song he produces will be at least half good because it seems like he can't produce a bad track. Hopefully more MCs will find him.