And the Anonymous Nobody...

Last updated

And the Anonymous Nobody...
And The Anonymous Nobody album cover.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedAugust 26, 2016
Genre Hip hop
Length67:59
Label
Producer
De La Soul chronology
For Your Pain & Suffering (EP)
(2016)
And the Anonymous Nobody...
(2016)
Singles from and the Anonymous Nobody...
  1. "Trainwreck"
    Released: April 29, 2016
  2. "Pain"
    Released: June 1, 2016
  3. "Royalty Capes"
    Released: July 20, 2016
  4. "Drawn"
    Released: August 10, 2016
  5. "Greyhounds"
    Released: August 17, 2016

And the Anonymous Nobody... (stylized as and the Anonymous Nobody...) is the eighth and most recent full-length studio album by American hip hop group De La Soul, the group's first full-length album since The Grind Date and its last prior to group member Trugoy the Dove's death in 2023. [1] [2] It was released on August 26, 2016, on A.O.I. Records, executive produced by Jordan Katz. The group announced the track list on May 20, 2016. [3]

Contents

The album has guest features from 2 Chainz, Damon Albarn, David Byrne, Estelle, Little Dragon, Snoop Dogg, Jill Scott, Justin Hawkins, Pete Rock, and Roc Marciano. It received positive reviews by critics, and peaked at 12 on the Billboard 200. The album was nominated for Best Rap Album at the 2017 Grammy Awards.

Background

In early 2015, De La Soul created a Kickstarter in order to fund the album. In under ten hours, it surpassed the projected goal of $110,000. [4] Initially, the group announced that the album would be released on April 29, 2016. [5] Subsequently, releasing a new EP titled For Your Pain & Suffering on April 29, 2016, the group rescheduled the release of the album for August 26, 2016. [6] The first single, "Pain" (featuring Snoop Dogg), was released on June 1, 2016.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic 77/100 [7]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [8]
The A.V. Club A− [9]
Consequence of Sound B− [10]
Drowned in Sound 8/10 [11]
Exclaim! 8/10 [12]
musicOMH Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [13]
Pitchfork 6.4/10 [14]
Q Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [15]
Spin 8/10 [16]
XXL Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [17]

At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 77, based on 28 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". [7] Writing for Exclaim! , Kyle Mullin gave the album a rave review, calling it "one of the most thrilling, wide-ranging rap releases of the year." [12]

Commercial performance

In the United States, And the Anonymous Nobody... debuted at number 12 on the Billboard 200, with 23,000 album-equivalent units, marking the fifth highest debut of the week. [18] It was the seventh best-selling album of the week, selling 21,000 copies in its first week. [19] And the Anonymous Nobody... was the first De La Soul album to debut at number one on the Billboard Top Rap Albums. [20] [21] The album was also streamed 2 million times in the first week. [18] It was nominated at the 59th Grammy Awards for Best Rap Album.

Track listing

And the Anonymous Nobody... track listing
No.TitleProducer(s)Length
1."Genesis" (featuring Jill Scott)The Anonymous Nobodies1:36
2."Royalty Capes"
3:46
3."Pain" (featuring Snoop Dogg)
4:39
4."Property of Spitkicker.com" (featuring Roc Marciano)
  • Plug Too
  • The Anonymous Nobodies [a]
5:32
5."Memory of… (Us)" (featuring Estelle and Pete Rock)
4:55
6."CBGB's"
  • Plug Too
  • Ethan Phillips [a]
1:20
7."Lord Intended" (featuring Justin Hawkins)
  • The Anonymous Nobodies
  • Joshua Matthew Lopez [a]
7:16
8."Snoopies" (by De La Soul and David Byrne)
4:15
9."Greyhounds" (featuring Usher)
  • Phillips
  • The Anonymous Nobodies [a]
  • Chegwidden [a]
5:26
10."Sexy Bitch"Plug Won1:31
11."Trainwreck"
  • West
  • The Anonymous Nobodies [a]
3:17
12."Drawn" (featuring Little Dragon)
5:33
13."Whoodeeni" (featuring 2 Chainz)Plug Too4:31
14."Nosed Up"West3:57
15."You Go Dave (A Goldblatt Presentation)" (featuring David Goldblatt)
  • Chegwidden
  • Phillips
  • The Anonymous Nobodies [a]
1:20
16."Here in After" (featuring Damon Albarn)
  • The Anonymous Nobodies
  • Rastegar [a]
  • Lopez [a]
  • Chegwidden [a]
5:41
17."Exodus"The Anonymous Nobodies3:24
Total length:67:59
Notes

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2016)Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA) [22] 25
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [23] 34
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [24] 14
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) [25] 31
Canadian Albums (Billboard) [26] 51
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [27] 19
French Albums (SNEP) [28] 53
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [29] 22
Irish Albums (IRMA) [30] 34
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [31] 31
Scottish Albums (OCC) [32] 14
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [33] 12
UK Albums (OCC) [34] 16
UK Official Vinyl Albums (OCC) [35] 1
UK R&B Albums (OCC) [36] 2
US Billboard 200 [37] 12
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard) [38] 3
US Vinyl Albums (Billboard) [39] 1

Year-end charts

Chart (2016)Peak
position
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard) [40] 66

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