On their notorious second album, De La Soul went to great lengths to debunk the daisy-age hippie image they'd been pigeonholed with, titling the record De La Soul Is Dead and putting a picture of wilting daisies in a broken flowerpot on the cover. Critics and fans alike were puzzled as to why the group was seemingly rejecting what had been hailed as the future of hip-hop, and neither the reviews nor the charts were kind to the album. It isn't that De La try to remake their sound here -- Dead keeps the skit-heavy structure of the debut, and the surreal tone and inventive sampling techniques are still very much in evidence. But, despite a few lighthearted moments ("Bitties in the BK Lounge," the disco-flavored "A Roller Skating Jam Named 'Saturdays'"), a distinct note of bitterness has crept into De La's once-sunny outlook. On the one hand, they're willing to take on more serious subject matter; two of the album's most powerful moments are the unsettling incest tale "Millie Pulled a Pistol on Santa" and Posdnuos' drug-addiction chronicle "My Brother's a Basehead," both true-life occurrences. Yet other tracks betray a brittle, insular state of mind; one running skit features a group of street thugs who ultimately throw the album in the trash for not having enough pimps, guns, or curse words. There are vicious parodies of hip-house and hardcore rap, and the single "Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)" complains about being harassed into listening to lousy demo tapes. Plus, the negativity of the bizarre, half-sung "Johnny's Dead" and the hostile narrator on "Who Do U Worship?" seemingly comes out of nowhere. Dead is clearly the product of a group staggering under the weight of expectations, yet even if it's less cohesive and engaging, it's still often fascinating in spite of its flaws.
I have concluded I am one of the last known members of this earth who does not have a cell phone. Had one once, but got rid of it rather quickly because when I am not at home I don’t want to be talking on the phone. My friends have them, and all have these "quirky" little cell phone rings that play their favorite music. I always laugh because when their phone's ring, its like a mad dash to get .
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After my last post about concerts, it got me reminiscing a bit. In my college years, I used to go to a lot of shows. Most of them with fellow mogger chulsmith. He would continue to be my "concert date" until he decided to move to France, Comment se fait-il qu'on n'en ait jamais entendu parler? It was somewhat of a routine, meet at the apartment, go to said show. Arrive early to check out what ...
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Today was a good day by all accounts. Summer school was a breeze, even though trying to teach with the temperatures hovering around 90 seemed impossible at times. Afterwards I headed to Target to pick up a few things, and amazed myself when I went to purchase the new Offspring cd. I have the moggers here to blame for that, I have seen their new video a few times and was hoping that the new albu...
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I have to admit, I am one of those people who hates cell phones. I am not sure what it is, but I see them and I begin to get upset while thinking, do you really need to be on that thing at all hours of the day. It begins in the morning as I am driving into work at 7am. At that time I don't want to be bothered, and yet almost every car I pass I see people on their phones talking away while drivi...
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Today had a lunch date with my parents as well as my grandmother from Chicago. Have not seen her in a while, and it was great to see her interact with my son. She is the only grandparent I ever knew, the rest passed away before I was even born. As we were sitting outside my mom turned to me and said, "Kevin, I can't wait to get the new Iphone". She said it with a look in her eye that was simila...
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I have concluded I am one of the last known members of this earth who does not have a cell phone. Had one once, but got rid of it rather quickly because when I am not at home I don’t want to be talking on the phone. My friends have them, and all have these "quirky" little cell phone rings that play their favorite music. I always laugh because when their phone's ring, its like a mad dash to get .
More >
After my last post about concerts, it got me reminiscing a bit. In my college years, I used to go to a lot of shows. Most of them with fellow mogger chulsmith. He would continue to be my "concert date" until he decided to move to France, Comment se fait-il qu'on n'en ait jamais entendu parler? It was somewhat of a routine, meet at the apartment, go to said show. Arrive early to check out what ...
More >
I checked to see how many songs I have that reference Saturday because it's such an awesome day. That made me wonder about the other days.Monday 15 songsTuesday 7 songsWednesday 0 songs (no love there)Thursday 2 songsFriday 6 songsSaturday 22 songsSunday 24 songs.Poor Wednesday. Nobody cares to write songs for thee. Most of my Monday songs are about how it sucks. Tuesday is just gone with t...
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Thanks to "UffinGreg for reminding me of a great Prince Paul track.":http://mog.com/UffinGreg/blog_post/147089 I have one to add just for the pure silliness of it. I can never decide if this track is actually a skit or a song, but it says a lot about Paul and his boys De La, who merged fun and creativity in a way that has rarely been matched. Commentary on Burger King... HHT to the rescue.
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Finally I found the original mix! This is one of my favorite videos evah:
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...means another day to work for me. At least I had Friday off and I have tomorrow (Mothers Day) off. Plus, I get off today before the sun sets. Here's a great track for everyone who doesn't have to work today.
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We enjoyed providing you with lumpy mounds of moist, crescenfresh content last year; a random smattering of which can be found below for your perusal. Be sure to sign up for quasi-regular email/Greader updates so you don't miss anything new (special shot out to the sharebro community), and thanks for reading.Investigatory Journalism/ConspiraciesLife Before Interstella 5555?Count Duckula/Danger ...
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 "De La Soul Is Dead")
