A Short History of De La Soul

A new sub-genre developed at the end of the 1980s. It came to be called 'The Daisy Age' and it ushered rap into a new decade. The new movement gave more weight to crews at the expense of tribes. At dance gatherings flowers were distributed and the raps and rhymes were colorless and eco-friendly in their tone and content. The prevailing vibe were very definitely positivity. The term Daisy Age came from 'DA Inner Sound Ya'll', which was shortened to Daisy. Other Daisy Age rappers included A Tribe Called Quest, Prince Paul and The Jungle Brothers. However at the very center of the movement were De La Soul. They were a rap collective and were formed to undermine, and provide an alternative to, the growing power and popularity of gangster rap, including the likes of NWA who sold their wares on the back of black nihilism and urban dread and decline, which the Daisy Agers saw as all things negative. Ice Cube and Dr Dre, both NWA members, were focused on telling it like it is via reportage. However tracks like 'F*ck Tha Police' were not as dispassionate and objective as some were claiming.

De La Soul's first album release was their masterpiece. It was called '3 Feet High And Rising' and it was a concept album. The theme was based around the idea of a television game show and included strange musical interludes. The concept was in sound more than the lyrics. There are some mad montages of sampled material which reference Otis Reading, Willie Nelson, the Turtles, Steely Dan and Hall and Oates. They all make a brief and looped appearance.

The track 'Tread Water' is concerned with ecological pollution from the perspective of a fish, a squirrel and a number of other small creatures. There is a good deal of humor on 'Ghetto Thang', which is about contemporary neighborhood life. Though it also includes so anti gangster rap rhymes like 'Negative's the attitude that runs the show when the stage is the G-H-E-T-T-O'. Opposite to gangster rap artists, De La Soul were not reporting on the unrest itself, but the causes of social unrest.

The main rappers in the trio are Podnouos (Sound Op spelt backwards) and Trugoy (Yogurt spelt backwards?), while DJ duties are taken up by Mase. A lot of credit must be awarded to Prince Paul though who produced the band's stuff. He was mainly responsible for the arrangements and mixes of the songs. De La Soul signed their first record deal with Tommy Boy Records straight after they left school. They have recorded a number of albums since the era-defining '3 Feet High And Rising', though none have lived up to their debut's class, energy and verve. The follow up album was called 'De La Soul Is Dead' and seemed to be concerned with the hippy tag that the band had acquired after the success of '3 Feet High And Rising'. It sounds like an attempt to distance themselves from the very idea of The Daisy Age.

Later albums have had a more conscious rap message. A message which is set in a more traditional urban hip-hop aesthetic. The tracks are a little darker, a little harder and lack the irony and humor of their debut album. The band's most commercially focused album to date is 'Art Official Intelligence Volume 2: Bionix', which veers towards mainstream hip-hop. The lyrics still contain their trademark positivity but, alas, unfortunately there are no new stories about cute fluffy squirrels.