February 11, 2002
BIONIX
By DARRYL STERDAN
AOI: BIONIX
De La Soul
(Tommy Boy/BMG)

One thing we'll say about De La Soul; they still know how to keep you off-balance.

After the daisy-petal positivity and sampledelic whimsy of their early albums, the veteran trio returned last year with Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump, a perplexingly serious, hard-hitting slab of streetcorner politics and anger. Now, on Bionix -- the second instalment of the AOI trilogy -- the trio of Maseo, Posdnous and Dave change it up again.

Returning from the dark side, the trio toy with playful melodies, bouncier beats and sillier samples (like the snippet of Paul McCartney's Wonderful Christmas Time that anchors Simply) that balance their lyrics -- sincere, soulful sermons and social commentary on body image (Baby Phat), religion (Rev. Do Good), drugs (Peer Pressure) and pornography (Pawn Star).

It doesn't match the playful perfection of 3 Feet High and Rising, but it does whet our appetite for AOI Part 3. (More on De La Soul)

Track Listing

  • 1. Intro
  • 2. Bionix
  • 3. Baby Phat
  • 4. Simply
  • 5. Simply Havin
  • 6. Held Down
  • 7. Rev. Do Good #1
  • 8. Watch Out
  • 9. Special
  • 10. Rev. Do Good #2
  • 11. The Sauce
  • 12. Am I Worth You?
  • 13. Pawn Star
  • 14. What We Do (For Love)
  • 15. Rev. Do Good #3
  • 16. Peer Pressure
  • 17. It's American
  • 18. Trying People