De La Soul

De La Soul

De La Soul is a Grammy-award winning hip hop group from Long Island, New York. They are best known for their eclectic sampling and quirky, surreal lyrics, and their contributions to the evolution of the jazz rap subgenre. The members are Kelvin Mercer (Posdnuos, Mercenary, Plug Wonder Why, Plug One), David Jude Jolicoeur (Trugoy the Dove, Dave, Plug Two) and Vincent Mason (P.A. Pasemaster Mase, Maseo, Plug Three). The three formed the group in high school and caught the attention of producer Paul Huston (Prince Paul) with a demo tape of the song "Plug Tunin'". Prince Paul was also sometimes referred to as Plug Four. They also have their own Nike SB Dunks Called the "De La Souls."

With its playful wordplay, innovative sampling, and witty skits, the band's debut album, 3 Feet High and Rising, was hailed as a hip hop masterpiece. It is also the band's biggest commercial success to date, with their subsequent albums selling progressively less, despite receiving praise from critics. A measure of 3 Feet High and Rising's cross-over appeal was the fact that it was voted Album of the Year by NME Magazine, a title better known for its taste in guitar-based music. De La Soul has influenced numerous other hip hop artists such as Camp Lo, Black Eyed Peas, and Digable Planets. They were also instrumental in the early stages of rapper/actor Mos Def's career, and are a core part of the Spitkicker collective. They are the longest standing Native Tongues Posse group, after the Jungle Brothers.

Biography

3 Feet High and Rising

De La Soul's debut album, 3 Feet High and Rising (1989, but available in August 1988 in Germany), was a critical smash hit in the hip hop genre. They quickly became prominent members of the Native Tongues Posse along with A Tribe Called Quest, Black Sheep, Queen Latifah, The Jungle Brothers and others.

The single "Me, Myself and I" became a huge hit, further cementing the group's popularity. However, rock group the Turtles sued the group for sampling "You Showed Me" without permission on De La Soul's "Transmitting Live from Mars". From that point on, sampling required permission from the sources before it was released.

Lyrically, much of 3 Feet High and Rising focused on striving for peace and harmony — a message that was slowly fading from the rap community in the late 1980s. 3 Feet High and Rising also introduced De La Soul's concept of the "D.A.I.S.Y. Age" (an acronym standing for "da inner sound, y'all"). As a result, audiences were quick to peg the members of De La Soul as hippies. This stereotype greatly agitated the group's members, as they always envisioned their career as a constantly changing style. This frustration would influence their next recording sessions.

De La Soul is Dead

De La Soul's second album, De La Soul Is Dead (1991) was a much more mature album. It featured a wealth of material that criticized the violent, careless direction that hip hop was heading in at the time, though it still managed to maintain a light, absurd sense of humor. The cover of the album features a broken daisy flower pot, symbolizing the death of the "D.A.I.S.Y. Age" and the imagery that went along with it. The album spawned several singles, including the dark "Millie Pulled a Pistol on Santa," a tale of a girl who could no longer take the domestic abuse her father was giving her, and lead single "Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)," a story about the people who used De La's recent fame to try and launch their own careers. De La collaborated with the Black Sheep on "Keepin' the Faith," Q-Tip from A Tribe Called Quest on "A Roller Skating Jam Named 'Saturdays'", and Prince Paul makes an appearance on the mic in "Pass the Peas" with a verse of his own. The album also more prominently featured Mase as a rapper, providing verses of his own on "Bitties in the BK Lounge," "Afro Connections at a Hi-5," and "Ring Ring Ring." Though it received mixed reviews and did not sell as well as 3 Feet High and Rising, it eventually became a cult classic and was recognized as being underrated. "Score" magazine listed the album as one of their top 10 Hip Hop albums of all time, stating that "true genius is rarely understood". There are several major differences between the CD version of this album and the other formats. Tracks "Johnny's Dead AKA Vincent Mason," "My Brother's a Basehead," "Kicked Out the House," and "Who Do U Worship?" are only available on the CD (apart from the limited edition double vinyl promotional copies of the album distributed to the media before the official release)

Buhloone Mindstate

1993's Buhloone Mindstate saw the group evolve a new sound and cemented their position as mainstays of the alternative hip hop movement. There were several moments on the album which proved the band had matured and moved away from the silliness of their previous works. "I Be Blowin'" was a departure as the track was an instrumental featuring saxophone playing by the legendary Maceo Parker. The introspective "I Am I Be" showed De La at their most mature to date with subject matter about Pos' daughter Ayana Monet as well as his grandmother. "Long Island Wildin'" was a collaboration with Japanese hip-hop trio Scha Dara Parr (SDP). First single "Breakadawn" used a sample of Michael Jackson's "I Can't Help It" throughout. De La Soul collaborated for the first time with Gang Starr's Guru on "Patti Dooke." Female MC Shortie No Mas, a cousin of Posdonus, was prominent on many tracks on the album, showcased particularly "In The Woods." The album ended with a fun old school Biz Markie collaboration called "Stone Age." Missing from vocal duties is Mase, whose voice can only be heard on "Area" in a break near the end of the track. Also rarely featured is his scratching which was heard often on previous albums, with only "In the Woods" showcasing his talent in that area. The album was a critical success, but it was the biggest commercial failure for the group at the time of its release. Many publications, such as Rolling Stone, have listed this album as one of the best hip-hop albums of all time.

Clear Lake Audiotorium

In 1994, 500 copies of a promotional EP called Clear Lake Audiotorium were released on clear vinyl and CD. The 6 track EP contained edited versions of tracks off of Buhloone Mindstate but also featured the tracks "Sh.Fe.MC's" (Shocking Female MC's) which was a collaboration with A Tribe Called Quest, and "Stix & Stonz" which featured old-school hip hop artists Grandmaster Caz, Tito of Fearless Four, Whipper Whip, LA Sunshine and Superstar. The EP was widely bootlegged afterwards.

Stakes Is High

1996's Stakes Is High was the first album not produced by Prince Paul, with overall production credits given solely to the trio, and again, was met with mixed results and poor sales. The title track and first single, produced by Jay Dee, was not a hit, but second single Itsoweezee (HOT), with only Dove on vocals, did fare better due to its creative music video. The album spawned a third single 4 More featuring Zhane which failed to chart. The album did provide a launching pad for future star rapper and actor Mos Def, who appeared on the track "Big Brother Beat." The album also featured collaborations with Common (Sense), Truth Enola, and the Jazzyfatnastees.

Art Official Intelligence

Four years later, De La Soul announced that they would release a triple album series entitled "Art Official Intelligence" (or AOI). All three albums were intended to be released within a year, beginning with the release of Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump. This was followed by AOI: Bionix in late 2001. After this, however, the public saw no release of the third and final album in the AOI series. For the next two years, the only De La Soul releases were singles or remix compilations. Jolicœur (Dave) stated in an interview that it usually takes about four years for the group to record an album, promote it with advertisements, touring and so on. The group was having trouble finishing the last AOI installment for many reasons, one of which being an ongoing struggle with Tommy Boy Records, who had been releasing their albums ever since their debut.

The Grind Date

In 2004, De La Soul ended up releasing a new full album: The Grind Date on Sanctuary Records. Although it was not the new AOI album their fans had been anticipating, it was released to some critical acclaim and was well received by most fans. The album features guests MF Doom, Ghostface Killah and Flava Flav, with production from Jake One, Madlib and more. The first single Shopping Bags (She Got From You) did not fare very well and set the tone for disappointing commercial acceptance.

In 2005, they were featured on the Gorillaz single, "Feel Good Inc" and on the LA Symphony single "Universal". "Feel Good Inc" also won a Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Collaboration. Also in 2005, Posdonus collaborated with the Portuguese rapper Boss AC on a track called "Yo (Não Brinques Com Esta Merda)" (Don't play with this shit). In 2006, they released a mixtape entitled The Impossible: Mission TV Series - Pt. 1, on their AOI Records label.

Selected discography

Main article: De La Soul discography

• 3 Feet High and Rising (1989)
• De La Soul is Dead (1991)
• Buhloone Mindstate (1993)
• Stakes Is High (1996)
• Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump (2000)
• AOI: Bionix (2001)
• The Grind Date (2004)

Trivia

• In 1993, De La Soul performed together with Teenage Fanclub for the soundtrack of Judgment Night, on a track called "Fallin'".

• In 2002, De La Soul was briefly featured in the video game PaRappa the Rapper 2 with the song "Say "I Gotta Believe!"" (with Double).

• In 1993, the song "Oodles of O's" was used as the song for Mike Carroll's part in Goldfish, the first video from the Girl Skateboard Company.

• In 2003, the song "Oodles of O's" was featured on the soundtrack for Tony Hawk Pro Skater 4.

• Also in 2003, De La Soul and Yummy performed "Much More" on an episode of Chappelle's Show.

• "Me Myself And I" was featured in two video games in 2006, NBA Street V3[1] and NCAA Football 06.

• De La Soul were nominated for 5 Grammys with Gorillaz for their collaboration on the song "Feel Good Inc.".

• Cartoonist Aaron McGruder (creator of The Boondocks) is particularly fond of De La Soul and has paid homage to them many times within his comics and his books.

• In 2006, De La Soul collaborated with the athletic sneaker giant, Nike, to produce two versions of the Nike Dunk under their skateboarding division, Nike SB. The sneakers were an instant hit, and sold out at most retail stores that carried them.

• Fresh Jeff (a.k.a. Philly Blackout) featured in the "Buddy" video and in "The Sauce", is the cousin of Dave. As a matter of fact, Dave has multiple family members collaborating on an album rumored for release in the first quarter of 2008. The artist include Lyes No Direction, Philly Blackout, D-Money (a.k.a. Nou Money), Depth and Dolla Billz.

See also

• Native Tongues Posse
• List of number-one dance hits (United States)
• List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart
• Rock the Bells IV

External links

• VH-1 bio
• De La Soul MySpace
• De La Soul at The Dwarf
• De La Soul discography at Discogs