Product Description

They were like a breath of fresh air when they showed up onthe scene in 1989, bringing a new vision to the young genrestill known as rap. With one album De La Soul helped usher in the New School that dominated hip hop before the rise of Gangsta. Sure, some of 3 FEET HIGH AND RISING may already sound dated, like some strange relic from an imaginary 1989 summer of love, but it's still packed with the energy and humor that made it so irresistible in the first place. Posdnuos,Trugoy and Mase rapped in a lazily melodic code you could spend hours trying to decipher, but once you accepted the "Change In Speak", it was easier to just lay back and let the diverse samples move your butt.
The hits still sound fresh--pop chestnuts like "Eye Know" and "Buddy" (featuring the first appearance of A Tribe Called Quest), as well as self-descriptive songs like "The Magic Number". And although the game show theme that binds together the loose frame of the record is a bit silly, it must be remembered that it created the current craze of interludes and asides found on today's rap albums (from Wu Tang Clan to Too Short).
3 FEET HIGH...is the epitome of Afro-centric peace-oriented rap; yet De La Soul moved on very quickly from this manifestation of the style, although they've yet to lose their ingenuity or intelligence. A visit to the D.A.I.S.Y. Age can do you no harm--it might even keep you sane in these days of guns and gangs.

Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Intro
2. Magic number
3. Change in speak
4. Cool breeze on the rocks
5. Can U keep a secret
6. Jenifa (taught me)
7. Ghetto thang
8. Transmitting live from Mars
9. Eye know
10. Take it off
11. Little bit of soap
12. Tread water
13. Potholes in my lawn
14. Say no go
15. Do as De La does
16. Plug tunin' (Last chance to comprehend)
17. De La orgee
18. Buddy
19. Description
20. Me myself and I
21. This is a recording 4 living in a fulltime era (LIFE)
22. I can do anything (Delacratic)
23. DAISY age
24. Plug tunin' (are you ready for this version)

Disc 2:

1. Freedom of speak (We got three more minutes)
2. Dtrickly Dan Stukie
3. Jenifa (taught me) (12" vocal version)
4. Skip to my loop (12" version)
5. Potholes in my lawn (12" version)
6. Me myself and I (oblapos mode 12" version)
7. Ain't hip to be labelled a hippie (12" version)
8. What's more
9. Brainwashed follower (12" version)
10. Say no go (new keys vocal 12" version)
11. Double Huey (skit)
12. Mack daddy on the left
13. Ghetto thang (Ghetto ximer)
14. Eye know (know it all mix)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1476 in Music
• Released on: 2003-06-02
• Number of discs: 2

From Amazon.com
De La's debut represented a new path for hip-hop, a reaction to conventions that had turned into clichés. It was friendly and playful enough to cross over to a pop audience (thanks to Prince Paul's production, which found the funk hiding inside Steely Dan and "Schoolhouse Rock"), but complicated and tough enough to be hugely influential in the hip-hop world. Cryptic but ecstatic, and sometimes sexy (especially the ingenious double-entendre "Buddy"), Trugoy and Posdnuos's lyrics invented a "new style of speak," dense with self-invented slang and metaphors. The hits, including "Say No Go" and "Me Myself And I," are delightful, but the little sketches and sound-experiments between them make the whole disc flow effortlessly. --Douglas Wolk

Customer Reviews

Memorable & fun...
Don't get me wrong-I'm predominantly New Wave/Indie but I remember De La Soul for making infectious,catchy tunes and there are many on this album.Whenever I need a lift I play this-it is quite simply impossible not to enjoy.I'm listening now after a couple (or so!) beers and I'm grinning from ear to ear.
Fantastic.Buy It.

Still stands out like a big redwood!
This album will always live in the memory because of how original it was and still is.

Yes this has something to do with the very unoriginal hip hop nowadays but it's still a must own album, they will never top this.

Rap at Its Best
Says it all - never to be taken too seriously but never too lightly, De La Soul's greatest album to date - the extended version is worth it for the completist in anyone - and for the bonus disc alone.