Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Hip Hop Remembrances: De La Soul's "3 Feet High and Rising"

When I heard the opening chords of De La Soul's "Me Myself and I" back in '89, I knew I was going to like the group. When I saw the video, I was sold. De La Soul reminded me of how I might have looked, if I'd been less preppy and more hip hop (though I did sport an Africa medallion with my prep threads). And their emergence during the rise of gangsta rap, of which I was not a fan, was like a cool autumnal breeze in the midst of a miserable summer. I played "3 Feet High and Rising" like it was going out of style, and "Me Myself and I" became my personal theme song.



And there are just so many other great tunes on this CD, and the samples are all over the musical map. Just take a listen and enjoy. And I dare you not to do the Running Man when "Say No Go" is playing, or the Kid-N-Play when listening to "This a Recording 4 Living in a Full Time Era."







1 comment:

Barima said...

Fine choice

Oddly, I've never found 'Say No Go' to be much of a Running Man-inducing song. Perhaps that's only me

Despite the highs of this album, particularly 'Eye Know' and 'Me, Myself and I,' I have always been more fully drawn to its cynical adult-successor, De La Soul is Dead, which has always appealed to the funky schadenfreude fan in me. And I prefer its selections of samples

All best,

B