The most inventive, assured, and playful debut in hip-hop history, 3 Feet High and Rising not only proved that rappers didn't have to talk about the streets to succeed, but also expanded the palette of sampling material with a kaleidoscope of sounds and references culled from pop, soul, disco, and even country music. Weaving clever wordplay and deft rhymes across two dozen tracks loosely organized around a game-show theme, De La Soul broke down boundaries all over the LP, moving easily from the groovy my-philosophy intro "The Magic Number" to an intelligent, caring inner-city vignette named "Ghetto Thang" to the freewheeling end-of-innocence tale "Jenifa Taught Me (Derwin's Revenge)." Rappers Posdnuos and Trugoy the Dove talked about anything they wanted (up to and including body odor), playing fast and loose on the mic like Biz Markie. Thinly disguised under a layer of humor, their lyrical themes ranged from true love ("Eye Know") to the destructive power of drugs ("Say No Go") to Daisy Age philosophy ("Tread Water") to sex ("Buddy"). Prince Paul (from Stetsasonic) and DJ Pasemaster Mase led the way on the production end, with dozens of samples from all sorts of left-field artists -- including Johnny Cash, the Mad Lads, Steely Dan, Public Enemy, Hall & Oates, and the Turtles. The pair didn't just use those samples as hooks or drumbreaks -- like most hip-hop producers had in the past -- but as split-second fills and in-jokes that made some tracks sound more like DJ records. Even "Potholes on My Lawn," which samples a mouth harp and yodeling (for the chorus, no less), became a big R&B hit. If it was easy to believe the revolution was here from listening to the rapping and production on Public Enemy's It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, with De La Soul the Daisy Age seemed to promise a new era of positivity in hip-hop.
Tune into De La Soul on Sirius/XM’s Subsoniq Radio today!The Legendary De La Soul swings through to the home of progressive hip-hop, Subsoniq Radio, to celebrate the twenty year anniversary of their ground breaking album “3 Feet High And Rising”! Hear them speak on their influences coming up, the science behind their classic skits, their [...]
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Anyone who has ever been camping has probably come across Dr. Bronner's soap. It is a seemingly innocuous, all purpose, bio degradable soap that can double as a toothpaste and a 1000 other uses. When you pick up the bottle, your eyes are filled with an impossible number of rords, fit onto every inch of the label. More words than should be allowed by law or any rules of design. Those words c...
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Let’s go vintage for a bit. URB just put up this electronic press kit for De La’s seminal album. I enjoy things like these, because it allows those who weren’t around to witness it personally when it dropped over a decade-plus ago a glimpse into what it was like.
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Anyone who has ever been camping has probably come across Dr. Bronner's soap. It is a seemingly innocuous, all purpose, bio degradable soap that can double as a toothpaste and a 1000 other uses. When you pick up the bottle, your eyes are filled with an impossible number of rords, fit onto every inch of the label. More words than should be allowed by law or any rules of design. Those words c...
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Isn't this "Hip-Hop Thursday"? We all know De La Soul, so that's that. This is a great extended version of an already great song.
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An absolute classic from a brilliant debut... De La Soul's "3 Feet High and Rising" album was much-needed oxygen in a stuffy musical world... I'll also post the genesis of the song for all you fellow Saturday morning cartoon freaks...
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Good news, everyone! I seem to have suddenly come into some money! Unfortunately, I can't say how, or where my wedding ring is...But seriously, folks, I just "received" the entire De La Soul collection, and I couldn't be a happier white fella. Three Feet High and Risin', y'all.
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Tune into De La Soul on Sirius/XM’s Subsoniq Radio today!The Legendary De La Soul swings through to the home of progressive hip-hop, Subsoniq Radio, to celebrate the twenty year anniversary of their ground breaking album “3 Feet High And Rising”! Hear them speak on their influences coming up, the science behind their classic skits, their [...]
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I usually do not like to post albums on Digger Union, but I thought I would make an exception with this great De La Soul album right here. This is the “deluxe edition” of their classic album 3 Feet High and Rising which contains an extra disc of b-side music. Enjoy this great De La [...]
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It took a while (I think like 12 hours in all total, over several days/weeks) but my music is finally completely indexed. Maybe I'm bragging, I'm not sure. I just have some sort of pride about it.
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 "3 Feet High and Rising")
