AOI: Bionix

AOI: Bionix
Studio album by De La Soul
Released December 4, 2001
Recorded 2000-2001
Genre Hip hop
Length 55:15
Label Tommy Boy/Warner Bros. Records
01362
Producer De La Soul, Supa Dave West, Kev Brown, Megahertz, J Dilla, Deaf 2 U Inc.,
De La Soul chronology

Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump
(2000)		 AOI: Bionix
(2001)		 Live at Tramps, NYC, 1996
(2004)
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic (77/100) [1]
Review scores
Source Rating
About.com [2]
Allmusic [3]
Entertainment Weekly B+ [4]
HipHopDX.com [5]
Robert Christgau A [6]
Rolling Stone [7]
USA Today [8]
Vibe [9]

AOI: Bionix is De La Soul's sixth full-length album, released in 2001. The album was the second in a planned three-disc installment, which was originally intended to be a three-disc album.

Overview

The first single, "Baby Phat" featuring Yummy Bingham and Devin the Dude, was an ode to larger sized women. Elsewhere, "Held Down", featuring Cee-Lo, found Posdnuos in an introspective mood as he mused on fatherhood, religion, and fame. Slick Rick also made an appearance on "What We Do (For Love)"; a humorous song about puberty and sexual discovery. Plans were made to release the Kev Brown-produced "Special" (featuring Yummy Bingham) as the second single, however Tommy Boy soon folded as a label, cutting short any further promotion of Bionix. Like many Hip-Hop albums, there is an official instrumental version of the album available on vinyl, with artwork.

Interludes

The album featured skits with a character by the name of Reverend Do Good, which worked as social commentary as well as the intros and outros of the songs. The final Reverend Do Good skit acts as one final advertisement for Ghost Weed as heard on De La Soul's previous album, Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump. A mischievous teenager takes a hit of the substance, then morphs into Slum Village frontman J Dilla, who provides the intro and outro to the marijuana-themed song "Peer Pressure" (which he also produced).

Track listing

  1. "Intro" – 0:29
  2. "Bionix" – 2:43
    • Produced by Supa Dave West
    • Contains sample of "Guiding Star" performed by Tavares
  3. "Baby Phat" – 3:50
  4. "Simply" – 4:05
  5. "Simply Havin'" – 0:48
  6. "Held Down" – 4:54
  7. "Reverend Do Good #1" – 1:05
  8. "Watch Out" – 3:37
  9. "Special" – 3:36
    • Featuring Yummy Bingham
    • Produced by Kev Brown
  10. "Reverend Do Good #2" – 1:14
  11. "The Sauce" – 2:25
    • Featuring Philly Black
    • Produced by Supa Dave West
  12. "Am I Worth You?" – 4:01
    • Featuring Glenn Lewis
    • Produced by Supa Dave West
    • Contains sample of "Sun Shower" performed by Jimmy Smith and Wes Montgomery
  13. "Pawn Star" – 4:06
    • Featuring Shell Council
    • Produced by De La Soul
  14. "What We Do (For Love)" – 5:04
  15. "Reverend Do Good #3" – 2:20
  16. "Peer Pressure" – 5:09
  17. "It's American" – 1:09
  18. "Trying People" – 4:31
    • Produced by Def 2 U
    • Contains sample of "Black Patch" performed by 5th Dimension

Album singles

Single information
"Baby Phat"
  • Released: 2001
  • B-side: "Watch Out"

References

  1. ↑ "AOI: Bionix Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved 13 June 2012.
  2. ↑ Oshun, Ifè. "AOI: Bionix". About.com. Archived from the original on 16 April 2003.
  3. ↑ Bush, John. De La Soul: AOI: Bionix > Review at AllMusic. Retrieved 25 August 2011.
  4. ↑ Serpick, Evan (7 December 2001). "AOI: Bionix (2001)". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 21 April 2009.
  5. ↑ "De La Soul: AOI: Bionix". hiphopdx.com. 7 December 2001.
  6. ↑ Christgau, Robert. "De La Soul: AOI: Bionix". robertchristgau.com. Retrieved 25 August 2011.
  7. ↑ Ex, Kris (17 January 2002). "De La Soul: AOI: Bionix". RS 887. Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 17 November 2007.
  8. ↑ Jones, Steve (4 December 2001). "Rap:". 'Ali' soundtrack joins other album champs. USA Today.
  9. ↑ Chang, Jeff (January 2002). De La Soul, AOI: Bionix. Vibe.

External links