On April 6th, Dres of Black Sheep will return with a new album entitled From The Black Pool Of Genius, his first new LP since 2006. He set things off late last year with an appetizing EP release, From The Black Pool Of Genius: The Prelude, which dropped in December.

The full-length, however, will include Dres collaborating with some larger, legendary figures in hip-hop, tapping longtime friend and producer Showbiz, as well as the Beatnuts, AZ, Jean Grae, and Rhymefest. And in a surprise move, the album will include a bonus track reuniting Native Tounge members Q-Tip of A Tribe Called Quest, Dave of De La Soul, and Mike G of the Jungle Brothers. Also helping out with production will be new producers Paten Locke, Tough Junkie, and BeanOne.

“I once heard a poet say that ‘hip hop backward is ‘pih poh (people)’- the way I see it, many artists are a lot more hip-hop than they ever realized.” As for the album title, Dres explains that, “Black Pool doesn’t refer to black people. It refers to the color black’s unique ability to absorb light. This deep, vast pool of soul, of artistic insight; although it’s not always understood, the light it reflects back to the ‘pih-poh’ is necessary.”

Leading up to the album will be a series of “Hot Tracks Of The Week” from Dres, featuring the Black Sheep frontman rhyming over hot beats. The first is below.

Dres The Black Sheep “I Wanna Rock” (MP3)