De La Soul have revealed the title of their new album — and it commemorates their fallen member, Trugoy The Dove.
Posdnuos and Maseo appeared at a New York Comic Con panel on Friday (October 10) alongside Nas, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, DJ Premier and Slick Rick to promote Mass Appeal and Marvel’s new Legend Has It comic book collaboration.
While discussing the group’s upcoming ninth LP, which is due out in November via Mass Appeal Records, Pos reflected on Trugoy’s 2023 passing and how it impacted the recording process.
“When we lost him … I came and got [Maseo] out of the hole. We were all broken, but I kinda took on that role in Beat Street where I was like, ‘Yo, man, we gotta treat Dave like Ramon — we gotta keep him alive, we gotta celebrate him,’” he said.
“Of course, we have songs with Dave on it but — yo, for me, and I’m sure there are people here who are spiritual and understand what I’m saying, it feels like, ‘Dave’s here for me. He’s here.’ There are times where I’m writing rhymes and I’m getting goosebumps ’cause I feel like Dave would be saying, ‘Yo, that’s dope!’”
Posdnuos then revealed that De La’s forthcoming album is titled Cabin in the Sky, a nod to the 1943 all-Black musical film starring Ethel Waters, Eddie “Rochester” Anderson, Lena Horne, Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington.
“We’re working and working [on the album], and I come across this movie. And I’m like, ‘Yo, this title is crazy!’ Cabin in the Sky. Immediately, I felt Dave,” he shared.
Cabin in the Sky will serve as De La Soul’s first album in almost a decade following 2016’s And the Anonymous Nobody…, which earned a Best Rap Album nomination at the 2017 Grammys.
The project will also extend Mass Appeal’s Legend Has It…, a year-long series of releases from some of New York hip-hop’s most iconic names, helmed by Nas.
Slick Rick‘s comeback album Victory kicked things off in June before Raekwon (The Emperor’s New Clothes), Ghostface Killah (Supreme Clientele 2) and Mobb Deep (Infinite) also added to their respective legacies with well-received records.
Also on the horizon are Big L‘s posthumous LP Harlem’s Finest: Return of the King (out October 31) and Nas and DJ Premier’s long-awaited joint album, which is set to arrive sometime in December (and the title of which has yet to be announced).
