De La Soul - Classic or Dud?

hip-hop people reviewing bionix all said
it sucked. indie rock type people reviewing
it said it was another classic from de
la soul. those are the only people who
reviewed it.

is STILL a really nice listen. if you take that song for face value away from the rest of the album, shows a real weird foreshadow of things Mo Wax/Beastie/Beck (mostly things I never cared too much for), but that weird international downtempo weird sample... it seemed to preface all that Cibo Matto/Stereolab/Stereototal (slow) modern rock-hop.

Not too big on De La Soul though; however, check this song out again if you haven't recently.

I played "Tryin'" before my brother's wedding a couple months ago, just to calm my nerves on a stressful day, and I damn near started to weep. The song is about being ready for the rest of your life, by guys obviously not ready for the rest of their lives.

All the records are great, but De La is greater than ever.

The Twin Cities hereby cast all their votes for "classic."

I'd swear there's a thread around here about mature hip-hop that I might have even started but I can't find it.

notions, soothed the mood

the first album kicks the 2nd's ass 8 ways to tuesday

"'De La Soul is Dead' is a better album than '3 Feet High...'" is the worst CHALLENGING OPINION in music criti

three feet high and rising was the first
hip-hop album i ever bought. buhloone
mind state was the second. it would be
cool to say bionix was the last one. but
it wasn't. it was good, though. the slick
rick one. 'held down.' 'bionix.' those
other ones.

hip-hop people reviewing bionix all said
it sucked. indie rock type people reviewing
it said it was another classic from de
la soul. those are the only people who
reviewed it.

-- DK, Thursday, August 22, 2002 3:46 PM (5 years ago) Bookmark Link

o.O

i had a thing for making paper since papier-mache

dude you were the one that told me 3 Ft High was dylan's first rap album

I heard De La Soul Is Dead in its entirety before I heard Three Feet High and Rising in its entirety, which is part of the reason why I hold this allegedly controversial CHALLENGING OPINION.

its totally not a challenging opinion wtf people - but buhloone mind state is better than both of them anyway

i say this as someone who has listed to those three albums more than anyone on this board im sure

production on Buhloone is less unique than on 1st 2. They're all great. 2nd>>>1st>>>3rd.

buhloone mind state remains my pick too

3>2>1

but theyre all great obv

1st > 3rd > 2nd

I heard De La Soul Is Dead in its entirety before I heard Three Feet High and Rising in its entirety, which is part of the reason why I hold this allegedly controversial CHALLENGING OPINION.

this is what I assume of anyone who holds same

lol no i had 3 feet around when it cam out it kinda marked my devolution from someone who just listened to the radio and had a few albums to a music obsessive. i remember seeing the video for me myself and i on bet at a friends house and being all wtf is this must have! then dead was the last tape i had before i got a cd player. i taped ringringring off the radio before the album came out and was all wtf at the new sound but it grew on me fast. then when buhloon came out it was just <3<3<3

3 feet is nice but they got sooo much better at everything

3 feet is nice but they got sooo much better at everything

I pretty much agree with this.

so do I. 1st and 2nd are both more "fun" (having guru guest on a track will do that, though har har). 3rd I guess a lil TOO good ie refined.

(tho i guess having biz guest cancels out guru)

omglol i am watching de la videos on youtube omg!

http://static1.videosift.com/thumbs/d/el/De_La_Soul_Me_Myself_And_I.jpg

this hair whaaaa!

2>4>1=3

For a long time I wrote off the AOI Bionix lps, but on repeat listen I think they are tight. I saw them perform at DEMF in 01 and they were great.

they got better at smooth jazz soul jams. but the 1st album is alive in a way those that follow are not and it's got the best wordplay by far. also, i like hippies and the color yellow.

Buhloone Mind State is better than the first two. It's like desert island material.

It's almost 1700 Canadian for the De La Soul Nike dunks on the secondary market right now.

The flow of Dave's verse on on HBMS' "The PJays" kills me every time.

I might be late to the party...saw this LP in the window of a record store last week and had to look it up:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRYrzcD5u0o

Brand new video for Oodles of O's

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQFRmDgBwcg

The group is inexplicably freaking out about Marcus Moore's new book, telling their fans not to buy it because it is unauthorized, as if unauthorized books are not a thing. Their social media posts imply they feel they are being stolen from or something. I was looking forward to getting it, not sure what the right answer is. If an act tells its fans not to buy something for a stupid or wrong reason, should you respect their wishes?

Had no idea that Pos and Mase want to block it. I already ordered it, along with new MF Doom comic book bio. Don’t let me find out they were at some Freak-Offs

As a music fan I respect artists' right to tell their own stories, but as a journalist... nah. You exist in the world, and you don't get to tell people they can't write about you. Moore is a really good writer and the book obviously comes from a place of deep fandom. The time to crank out a hack cash-grab bio was 35 years ago. Pos and Mase need to lighten up some.

I'm guessing they've got a group memoir in the works and are worried this will undercut that. But that's not how publishing works.

The SH Fernando Jr MF DOOM bio is fantastic, a wonderful read.

Kinda comical considering, you know, their use of sampling

I mean they also got absolutely shafted financially for sampling, so

This whole thing makes me so sad.

I still don't understand what their problem is.

Copyright question: can their image, or their (small t) trademark designs, be used on the cover if they did not give permission? If I write a book about, say, Madonna, do I have to get Madonna's permission to put her face on the cover, or is that just an agreement I would make with the photographer/copyright owner?

Answer: it's actually the rare legal exception where someone *can* use a subject's photo without their permission:

http://www.rightsofwriters.com/2015/12/can-i-use-photograph-of-scarlett.html

The only way it makes sense to me is by remembering De La's justifiable paranoia after years of biz perfidy.

I don't blame them at all for being sensitive about things after everything they've been through, the battle to get their music back and years of having potential streaming/download (as minimal as they may have proven to be) dollars withheld, but this seems a weird hill to die on.

I'm guessing they've got a group memoir in the works and are worried this will undercut that.

That's the vibe I got from their statement. I actually wasn't aware this was coming out and thought at first they were referring to some half ass hack job, but... that's not Moore. It is indeed disappointing all around.

De La have only one recourse left to them...write an unauthorized biography of Flo and Eddie.

would read

all the de la fans coming to MM's defense in the comments is heartwarming

OK, so Dart Adams has been tearing into the book on Bluesky. I don't think those posts will embed here, so I'll just collate them below.

I still haven’t gotten through this De La Soul book…

Mind you, it’s THIN and I read fast. I’ve fact checked massive manuscripts in less time it’s taken for me to finish this book. It suffers a lot from the author being in elementary school & junior high during De La Soul’s first few albums IMHO.

Folks act like Gangsta Rap emerged outta nowhere…

BRUH.

Schoolly D, Just-Ice, Ice T, Toddy Tee, Mixmaster Spade, Compton Posse, N.W.A, Eazy-E, Geto Boys, Kool G Rap & DJ Polo, etc. all existed by 1989. This was ALSO the era where conscious & Afrocentric Rap was still dominant & thriving, mind you

Reading the phrase “International Hip Hop wasn’t a thing yet” in September 1993…

At a time there were already multiple international Rap compilations, MC Solaar, Microphone Pager, London Posse, IAM, Zimbabwe Legit, Prophets Of The City, Bootfunk, Lucien, etc. were all being imported stateside? FAM.

Another failure of the De La Soul book is the fact the author says Nas’ “It Was Written” received backlash & pushback from fans for not being like “Illmatic” but misses it was also for not being as good as “Reasonable Doubt” which dropped the previous week or “Stakes Is High” which dropped THAT DAY!

This book is so frustrating. I start & stop like I’m trying to drive a stick shift. It’s the author’s version of screaming at the screen every time they can no longer suspend belief during a movie.

Why would the protagonist make that choice? This dialogue doesn’t make any sense. There’s a plot hole

I’ve seen minimal if any references or mention of Ultramagnetic MC’s, Divine Styler, Dream Warriors, P.M. Dawn, etc. in a damb book about DE LA SOUL which is wild…

The usage of the term “cocksnot” was attributed to De La Soul as opposed to Mista Lawnge of Black Sheep which halted me again reading.

Wondering why reviews of De La Soul albums made in The Source, Rap Pages, Stress, Ego Trip, On The Go, 4080, Vibe, CMJ, Village Voice and Hip Hop Connection weren’t centered over the mainstream publications mentioned? Who the fuck even read those or thought they held any kind of weight or authority?

But wait, there's more!

Also… De La Soul didn’t totally disappear between albums like the book alludes to. They were mentoring other acts like Truth Enola, Kovas, D.V. Alias Khrist & Diverse via Maseo’s Bear Mountain Entertainment. Dave & Pos worked with artists on Tommy Boy’s Black Label between 1999 and 2000 as well

This book glossing over “Mosaic Thump” and flying through “Bionix” is pissing me the fuck off…

How do you write about the themes of “De La Soul Is Dead” without spending ANY time discussing “Who Do U Worship?”, “Afro Connections”, “Shwingalokate” or “Fanatic Of The B Word”? I’m fed the fuck up, B.

I've read the book, and enjoyed it, but it definitely is stronger on how 3 feet high and rising and the idea of De La Soul influenced his life, more than on the group's career in total (he seems to dislike a good 50-75% of their music), or the context of what was going on in hip-hop around them

I'd read a book on the recording of Buhloone Mindstate tbh

Sounds like the Moore book is something to skip, but also maybe makes the group's complaints all the sillier, unless their biggest issue is how the book is being promoted as some sort of definitive bio, which the art design admittedly kind of does.

Yeah I don't think they've even read the book. Their issues seem to either be with the title/branding/cover making the book look 'official', or with the existence of anything about them that they're not making money from. In some of their social replies to people they've said 'we don't care what's in the book'

their response to this makes them look like fucking turds, sorry. 'exploring legal options' give me a fucking break

I thumbed through the book earlier today: a memoir more than criticism.

How dare he listen to their records and have them inform his life.

I forgot I requested the book from the library, so picked it up today and was a little surprised that it is less than 200 pages long *with the epilogue.* #thiscouldhavebeenanemail

Would be hilarious if the epilogue was like 190 pages too.

It cracks me up how, for so many people, a book about a subject has to be THE BOOK. Like there can’t be multiple books, with different elements and intensities.

xpost Maybe if David Foster Wallace wrote it.

It's definitely been an interesting time to have just written a book about De La Soul myself, it's been mostly flying under the radar through all this.

this one?

https://www.jcardpress.com/shop/p/de-la-soul

Yep, that's right

Marcus J. Moore responds to backlash from De La Soul over book

meanwhile clear lake audiotorium preorders have sold out and the ep is seeing an official all-platform reissue in march.

idk how to feel about any of it.

They need to write their own book for sure.

I sent in a question for their recent Q and A in The Guardian;

Hi, The second album De La Soul Is Dead was one of my favourites, it had a ‘storybook’ inside the album enabling you to read along with some characters who appeared on five skits harshly criticising the record. One character ultimately throws the tape in the garbage while another who says he actually likes some of the record is heard getting punched. Back then the skits and storybook seemed wilfully combative to some people who had bought the record, especially in light of the previous album’s ‘gameshow’ spoken word segments. It was certainly a unique way of staring down any potential critics and jaded fans. What do you make of the storybook and those skits 30 years on?

And this was their answer

Posdnuos: We had no problem poking fun at ourselves. We thought we were doing great things, but we had no problem with saying, like: “OK, the kid didn’t like it, he threw it in the garbage.”
Maseo: On the second album, we learned the importance of controlling the narrative. I learned early on that a hit record can hurt your entire body of work if you let the industry control your narrative.

That's cool you sent in that question. I definitely used that exact Maseo quote in the book I wrote about De La. That idea of controlling the narrative seems key to understanding that album and a lot of other aspects of their career overall.

I’m about 70 pages into High and Rising and Moore does not process their music the same way I do

Every time he says something about the contrast between 3 Feet High and Rising and De La Soul Is Dead, my first reaction is “Why are you so wrong” followed by a self-check because we do not have the same context for them and there are probably more people out there aligned with his takes than mine. Like I might be the only person out there who heard 3 Feet when it came out and thought “eh this is veering towards corny” and went “FINALLY A MASTERPIECE” when Dead came out; that’s not the mainstream view as I understand it.

And it’s especially funny because the stylistic daylight between those two albums is much, much smaller than it seemed at the time

Just got back from the Lincoln Center show. Last year I saw two shows where they figured very prominently in both: the Roots, Jungle Brothers and Digable Planets show in Central Park where the JB's covered "Buddy" and later Common and Pete Rock's show at Webster Hall where Pos made a surprise appearance, capping his songs with "Me, Myself & I." Turns out, tonight's show was kind of like a mix of both.

Prince Paul was the opening DJ and he was great, actually my first time seeing him with De La Soul. Highlight was putting Prince & The Revolution's vocals from "1999" on top of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit."

When Pos and Maseo began their show, it looked like Pos would handle all the verses, and I was a little concerned because he actually sounded a little hoarse, as if he was recovering from a cold. Luckily, not only did his voice seem to improve, there were quite a few guests: Jungle Brothers came in, then Talib Kweli came in and stayed on for the rest of the show, and later Pete Rock came in and joined in on a few numbers, and Prince Paul even came back for a brief bit.

Lots of fun. Towards the end, some moving tributes to Dave (who was already being acknowledged throughout the show) and Maseo closed out the evening by telling everyone it's still difficult for them to do these shows as it feels like being an amputee, so he was very appreciative of the audience.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8YtHknhP7Q

Heard "Me, Myself & I" in a Target ad. I wonder if it was the original, rerecording, who got paid, etc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zylN5pdtY-8

new De La Soul record on Nov 21 and new video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9N994FmnxU

the album is v strong

oooh I dig the single, hoping this is good

Everyone listen to the new one! It’s dope!

didn't even know this was coming out today but I happen to be wearing my De La soul is dead tshirt