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: #2236 in Music
• Released on: 2003-06-02
• Number of discs: 2
• Formats: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
• Dimensions: .24 pounds

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

CD 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.

Customer Reviews

3 is the magic number
De La Soul's albums have always changed the sound of rap biz and 3 feet high and rising is no acception. The trio from Long Island New York are def on this stunning debut using samples, quality comedy skits and clever rhymes to create a laid back groove which delivers strong messages on "say no go" and "ghetto thang".Even though this album was released 13 years ago the tracks are still as fresh and funky as the day the album was released.
The stand out cuts on this Lp are "Buddy","eye know","Potholes in my lawn" and "Plug Tunin" but two of my personal favourites are "Me Myself and i" and "The Magic Number.
The Bottom line is this is a fresh, funky and farout album a must for old skool rap fans and rap fans alike.

Even now, mind blowing
This is one of those records that quite literally wrote rules. It's built around a concept that repeats through the album yet applies to none of it - a feature which has become common place in hip-hop - but that's a mere scratching of the surface. When it arrived it sounded like a spaced out gentler vision of a genre about to surrender to the harsh sounds of gangsta. In a parallel universe the people who took the De La Soul line probably reign and the gangsta groove is thought of pretty much the way the Native Tongues movement is - as an interesting side street in the world of hip-hop.

Musically this is a woozy brilliant commercial sounding masterpiece. It is the kind of rap record that people who don't really like rap can listen to. It's as crammed full of samples as "Paul's Boutique" and does pack quite a punch on the likes of "Daisy Age" and "Ghetto Thang". Oh, and it contains hits too which means it was never terribly undergrond - which isn't always such a bad thing either.

I purchased this shortly after it's release and still (after buying more music than I want to think about) return to this even now. A record thoroughly deserving it's status as a classic.

Thank you for the Daisy Age!
Aah De La Soul, you've just gotta love these guys. This was their debut album, and at the time the level of Rap and Hip Hop was pretty much like it is now...full of macho male bravado.
These performers were full of Hip hop culture, but wanted FUN. There is an infectious quality to these tunes which forces you to smile. They lauded the coming of The Daisy Age, short lived but enjoyable paving the way for Arrested Development etc. but nobody topped this joint.
Producing a few golden moments: Eye Know (with Steely Dan sample and Dock of The Bay whistle), The Magic Number (Three!), Me Myself and I, Jenifa Taught Me (Jenifa, oh Jenny). Tunes that you carry round all day in your head. Wonderful, lovable, irrepressible music.