Rating: NNNN
Perhaps shamed into action by the Rawkus label’s solid Soundbombing underground hiphop samplers, Tommy Boy has enlisted De La Soul to help compile their own best-of-the-next shit. After hearing the stunning beat innovation and freestyle finesse of Talib Kweli, the Jigmastas, Defari, Natural Elements, Deadly Snakes, Self Scientific, Strick & Royce the 5’9′, and the Bad Seed, the tracks by De La Soul and Maseo — likely thrown on as buying incentive — seem like a waste of space. If anyone at Tommy Boy had a clue, they’d stop dilly-dallying with mix discs and start releasing albums by these roughnecks on a weekly basis.