I’m a certified music junkie. I own hundreds of CD’s, mixtapes and cassettes. I lost count of my record collection years ago. I’ve been to many a live show and I’ve rocked for big crowds as a party DJ. Throughout the countless hours I’ve spent listening to music over the years, no group has had more of an influence on me than De La Soul. I can say with a straight face that their music has changed my life.
The more I’ve talked about De La Soul with people in the music scene, the more I’ve become aware of how many different lives they’ve touched. I decided one day that I wanted to write an article that captured the significance of their music. I asked my boy Sloppy White, a Chicago-based rare rap record aficionado, to share some of his thoughts on De La to help kick start some brainstorming. He finished his email to me by saying “To me, 3 Feet High and Rising epitomizes what a Hip-Hop album can be: funny, creative, funky, political, dirty and way out there. The only rules are the ones you put on yourself.” The last two lines of his email stuck with me. “When it came to following rules, De La Soul usually said “Fuck that.” They rarely went with the hottest gimmicks, guest MC’s and producers. They did what worked for them.”
De La stuck to their guns and did what they did best. Instead of following trends, they set them, or just ignored them completely. They made music from the soul. And they continued to challenge us as listeners as much as they challenged themselves as musicians.
Fortunately for fans like me, De La has not been resting on their past success. With the 20th anniversary of their debut album 3 Feet High and Rising approaching, there is talk of a tour where the group will perform the album from beginning to end. They are also working on a project with sneaker giant Nike and performing at this years Rock the Bells tour. Most recently, it was announced that the group has been selected to be one of this year’s VH1′s Hip-Honors recipients.
With so many projects on the horizon & well-deserved accolades on the way, TSS decided to take our readers on a musical trip down memory lane. Here is a look back at their first four albums through the eyes of those who were inspired by their work.
Jaycee, member of The Aphiliates, Ludacris’ Tour DJ, Mixtape DJ, on 3 Feet High and Rising:
The first time I heard De La Soul was back in ’88. I was listening to the radio and “Plug Tunin”’ came on. They were playing it on this mix show that used to come on every Friday night on V103 called “The Fresh Party.” I can’t even tell you how wack I thought that name was. (Laughs) This Spanish lady named Wanda Ramos was the host of the show. When I first heard “Plug Tunin”’ I thought it was dope but I didn’t know who it was.
At the time I had this friend named Boobie from my neighborhood who had turntables before I did. A lot of times I would practice at his house. He was a real spoiled kid. He was the youngest and his mom would literally give him anything he wanted. If he said he wanted a Technics 1200 turntable she would work extra hours so he could get one. I can’t even begin to tell you how spoiled this motherfucker was.
On the weekends we’d get on the bus and go all over the city copping records from different spots. We’d go to Lenox Square, Greenbriar and a bunch of other malls. We’d start early and try to hit as many malls as we could. We took the bus and we’d haul records around with us all day.
As upcoming DJ’s we had this thing with labels. If you saw an album released on a label with a track record of releasing dope shit, you’d pick up the record based on the other stuff the label has put out. We picked up doubles of “Plug Tunin” without listening to it because it said “Produced by Prince Paul” on the sticker and it was on Tommy Boy, which was home to Stetsasonic and Fresh Gordon. We brought it back to the crib and listened to it I was like, “Oh shit, that’s the record I heard on ‘The Fresh Party.’”
When the “Potholes In My Lawn” single came out, I thought the cover was kind of weird. It had a hot pink color and these three goofy looking dudes on it with flowers and African medallions and shit. There was no visual for “Plug Tunin,” so we didn’t know what these dudes looked like until we saw the cover for “Potholes.” I remember thinking, “They look kind of weird, but fuck it. I trust them because ‘Plug Tunin’ was dope.” Read the rest of this entry »
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