De La Soul

De La Soul, Long Island, New York, hip-hop band.

Formed in 1987 while still at school, the trio—Posdnuos (Kelvin Mercer), Trugoy the Dove (David Jolicoeur), and Pasemaster Mase (Vincent Mason)—released their debut, 3 Feet High and Rising, in 1989. The highly acclaimed album was produced by Prince Paul of the rap group Stetsasonic, and it featured the smash hit, 'Me Myself and I', as well as offbeat tracks like 'Plug Tunin'' and 'Buddy'. De La Soul sampled from a diverse group of sources including the US children's series Schoolhouse Rock, a French language instruction manual, and the rock group The Turtles. The unauthorized use of this last sample resulted in a lawsuit with broader implications: it marked the end of the era of unrestricted sampling that had accompanied the rise of rap.

The success of 3 Feet High and Rising made De La Soul the best-known representative of the Native Tongues posse—a hip-hop clique that included the Jungle Brothers, Monie Love, A Tribe Called Quest, Queen Latifah, and Black Sheep. The Native Tongues sound was eclectic, but it was generally characterized by intelligent and idiosyncratic lyrics and laid-back beats.

De La Soul never quite capitalized on their sudden fame. While their debut had celebrated the D.A.I.S.Y. Age (often explained as Da Inner Sound, Y'all), De La Soul Is Dead (1991) was a playful and ambitious record that never quite found its audience. Its cover art—a wilted daisy—was intended to be symbolic of the band's artistic independence, but instead it came to represent their diminishing marketability. Nevertheless, the band continued to find critical acclaim in the face of industry indifference. Their third album, Buhloone Mindstate (1993), was by turns gritty, funky, and sublime; it opened with the trio chanting, 'It might blow up but it won't go pop'.

Three years later De La Soul released Stakes is High (1996), which displayed a mature lyrical dexterity and an impressive array of subtle beats. Art Official Intelligence (Mosaic Thump), the first in a planned trilogy, was released in 2000, and included guest artists Chaka Khan, the Beastie Boys, Redman, and Xzibit. The second in the series AOI: Bionix came out at the end of 2001.

Although their recent career has been something of a commercial disappointment, De La Soul did nevertheless establish themselves as one of the most original and important hip-hop groups of the 1990s.