And the Anonymous Nobody...
And the Anonymous Nobody... (stylized as and the Anonymous Nobody...) is the ninth full-length studio album by American hip hop group De La Soul, their first full-length album since "The Grind Date". 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. 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. Initially, the group announced that the album would be released on April 29, 2016. 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. The first single, "Pain" (featuring Snoop Dogg), was released on June 1, 2016. Critical reception. 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". 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." 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. It was the seventh best-selling album of the week, selling 21,000 copies  in its first week. "And the Anonymous Nobody..." was the first De La Soul album to debut at number one on the "Billboard" Top Rap Albums. The album was also streamed 2 million times in the first week. It was nominated at the 59th Grammy Awards for Best Rap Album.