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Biography
Made up of Posdnuos, Dave and Maseo, De La Soul’s debut album, “3 Feet High and Rising,” released on March 3rd, 1989 became a critical smash hit in the hip-hop genre. They became prominent members of the Native Tongues Posse along with A Tribe Called Quest, Black Sheep, Queen Latifah the Jungle Brothers and more. It was also the single “Me Myself and I” that became a huge hit, further cementing the group’s popularity. Unfortunately, the sixties pop group, The Turtles, sued De La Soul for using a sample from their 1969 hit “You Shows Me” for the interlude track “Transmitting Live from Mars”, despite them not even writing the original song. All of this aside, the album made it to #24 in the Billboard Music Charts. It has been dubbed as “One of the greatest albums ever made” by the NME, “The Sgt. Pepper of hip-hop” by the Village Voice. It was also #5 on the top 100 albums of the century, according to Spex.
Their following album, “De La Soul Is Dead”, was released on May 13th 1991. It is highly regarded in the hip-hop community as a classic. The album’s title is in reaction to the group being labelled hippies following its debut release. The album cover, a broken pot of daisies, signals the end of the D.A.I.S.Y age. It has been labelled as edgier than it’s first release. Despite not selling as many units as the previous album, it quickly became a cult classic. The Source magazine listed the album as one of their top 100 hip hop albums of all time, stating that “its true genius is rarely understood”.
Throughout their career, they evolved and transcended, stylistically and musically. There were moments on the album, “Buhloone Mindstate” that proved that the band had matured. “I Be Blowin” was a departure as the track was an instrumental featuring saxophone playing by Maceo Parker. “Breakadawn” featured a sample of Michael Jackson’s “I Can’t Help It” and Smokey Robinson’s “Quiet Storm”. Each album that they released, would gain the kind of critical reputation that would solidify its place as one of the most “influential albums” or “best hip-hop album”.
After a few years out, they made a comeback with their album “Plug 1 & Plug 2 Present…First Serve.” It was in collaboration with French DJ duo Chokolate and Khalid, released on April 2nd 2012.
Live reviews
De La Soul seem to be in perpetual touring motion; whether it’s anniversary tours for their classic 3 Feet High and Rising LP, hip hop super tours like the Science of Speech festival of a few years back, or large-scale outdoor festivals, they seem to have a set to suit any surroundings. Most recently, an extensive European tour culminated in a hit-packed performance on the Pyramid stage at Glastonbury, with Maseo, Dave and Posdnuos backed by a an extensive live band, with plenty of percussion and a brass section - the latter, anybody would tell you, is essential to the De La sound. They also reminded the crowd just how deep their back catalogue runs; 3 Feet High classics like ‘Me Myself and I’, ‘Eye Know’ and ‘The Magic Number’ were of course present and correct, but a run through the Grammy-winning Gorillaz track ‘Feel Good Inc.’, on which they featured, was barely distinguishable from the original, proving that it was De La, rather than Damon Albarn, that were at the heart of that hit, with Maseo even reproducing his signature maniacal laugh on the track. The trio are back in the UK in August for a slew of club shows; currently in the live form of their lives, you’d be ill-advised to miss them.
Joeg_67
New York hip hop trio De La Soul are fast approaching their 30th anniversary. A pretty crazy fact when you consider they appear to have been a staple chart addition for the majority of the 90s and early 00s. Known for taking hip hop in creative directions, they quickly gained a reputation on the live circuit for having an interactive, engaging live show that used live instruments as opposed to relying heavily on synthetic beats.
This means that the whole experience appears more raw and was therefore easier to get impassioned about for both the performers and the crowd. This bridge between rock and hip hop worked well and meant that the three musicians onstage were able to demonstrate their freestyle abilities whilst their backing band kept the beat and the pace. The hits also evoke cheers from the large venue, tracks such as 'Buddy' are now seen as modern greats and are sang/rap backed in force which impresses the group greatly. With a new album planned, De La Soul are likely to have something huge in the works for the anniversary.
sean-ward
De La Soul is an American hip hop trio that have been gracing the music scene for almost thirty years now, an incredible feat for any musician but particularly impressive for rappers, whom tend to fade after they hit a certain age. De La Soul, however, have enjoyed great success in the 90s and early 00s and clearly still have a huge fan base to date. De La Soul put on an interactive and energetic show, their main aim to clearly entertain the whole audience to their best ability. And entertain they did. The trio sang and rapped classics from their much loved ‘3 Feet High’ album as well as a version of Gorillaz classic ‘Feel Good Inc’ which the trio featured on. The crowd loved the trio’s renditions of hits ‘Me Myself and I’, ‘Buddy’ and ‘The Magic Number’ which were also all highlights of the performance and which had the crowd dancing and cheering wildly. The trio would randomly break out into freestyle every now and again just to prove their talent, which was always met well by the crowd.
sabraziz
Awesome show from De La. They navigated the crowd through the classics while getting maximum crowd participation by playing them against each other.
The venue itself helped. An outdoor renovated bandstand in a Glasgow park, lucky that the rain held off but I doubt that would of made any difference to this crowd.
I've seen De la a few times over the last 25 years, this was easily the best form I've seen them in.
iain-short
Always pleased to see a show "à l'américaine".
Old classics _irony is that the MCs asked us if we want to hear them! Er that is why we came for...
The backing band was very good.
Cheerful audience for the Ocean Climax festival #2 in Bordeaux.
r.courb
The artists were great but the sound quality at Wembley was terrible. It wasn't possible to make out what the rappers were saying. The bass was too loud and muffled and it wasn't possible to hear the melodies.
The44thEarl
Mega! 28 years in the game and still rocking the mic and getting the crowd jumping .... Real Hip-Hop and a genuine honest joining of hearts and minds was in the building people
Mattygigs
