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Made up of Posdnuos, Dave and Maseo, De La Soul’s debut album, “3 Feet High and Rising,” released on March 3rd, 1989 became a critical smash hit in the hip-hop genre. They became prominent members of the Native Tongues Posse along with A Tribe Called Quest, Black Sheep, Queen Latifah the Jungle Brothers and more. It was also the single “Me Myself and I” that became a huge hit, further cementing the group’s popularity. Unfortunately, the sixties pop group, The Turtles, sued De La Soul for using a sample from their 1969 hit “You Shows Me” for the interlude track “Transmitting Live from Mars”, despite them not even writing the original song. All of this aside, the album made it to #24 in the Billboard Music Charts. It has been dubbed as “One of the greatest albums ever made” by the NME, “The Sgt. Pepper of hip-hop” by the Village Voice. It was also #5 on the top 100 albums of the century, according to Spex.
Their following album, “De La Soul Is Dead”, was released on May 13th 1991. It is highly regarded in the hip-hop community as a classic. The album’s title is in reaction to the group being labelled hippies following its debut release. The album cover, a broken pot of daisies, signals the end of the D.A.I.S.Y age. It has been labelled as edgier than it’s first release. Despite not selling as many units as the previous album, it quickly became a cult classic. The Source magazine listed the album as one of their top 100 hip hop albums of all time, stating that “its true genius is rarely understood”.
Throughout their career, they evolved and transcended, stylistically and musically. There were moments on the album, “Buhloone Mindstate” that proved that the band had matured. “I Be Blowin” was a departure as the track was an instrumental featuring saxophone playing by Maceo Parker. “Breakadawn” featured a sample of Michael Jackson’s “I Can’t Help It” and Smokey Robinson’s “Quiet Storm”. Each album that they released, would gain the kind of critical reputation that would solidify its place as one of the most “influential albums” or “best hip-hop album”.
After a few years out, they made a comeback with their album “Plug 1 & Plug 2 Present…First Serve.” It was in collaboration with French DJ duo Chokolate and Khalid, released on April 2nd 2012.
De La Soul seem to be in perpetual touring motion; whether it’s anniversary tours for their classic 3 Feet High and Rising LP, hip hop super tours like the Science of Speech festival of a few years back, or large-scale outdoor festivals, they seem to have a set to suit any surroundings. Most recently, an extensive European tour culminated in a hit-packed performance on the Pyramid stage at Glastonbury, with Maseo, Dave and Posdnuos backed by a an extensive live band, with plenty of percussion and a brass section - the latter, anybody would tell you, is essential to the De La sound. They also reminded the crowd just how deep their back catalogue runs; 3 Feet High classics like ‘Me Myself and I’, ‘Eye Know’ and ‘The Magic Number’ were of course present and correct, but a run through the Grammy-winning Gorillaz track ‘Feel Good Inc.’, on which they featured, was barely distinguishable from the original, proving that it was De La, rather than Damon Albarn, that were at the heart of that hit, with Maseo even reproducing his signature maniacal laugh on the track. The trio are back in the UK in August for a slew of club shows; currently in the live form of their lives, you’d be ill-advised to miss them.
Joeg_67
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