#103 De La Soul, 'Three Feet High And Rising' (1989)

Previously #346

Massive jump for this one and after all these years, still a pain to listen to. Not due to its content, the album is amazing and I love it; due to the fact that De La Soul is not available on streaming. I had to listen to illegal rips on YouTube which interrupted the flow of the album with adverts. And flow is important to fully enjoy this record. De La Soul’s debut record takes its name from the Johnny Cash song of the same name (which is one of the many samples on this record). While Gangsta Rap was making its rise in the bourgeoning Hip Hop scene, De La Soul emerged with a record of upbeat positivity in stark contrast to contemporaries such as Public Enemy.

The absolute highlight on this record is fourth single, ‘Me Myself and I,’ but other favourites include ‘Potholes In My Lawn,’ ‘Eye Know,’ which samples Steely Dan’s ‘Peg’ and ‘Say No Go,’ which heavily sampled Hall & Oates’s ‘I Can’t Go For That (No Go).’ They were often referred to as The Beatles of Hip Hop with this record being compared to ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.’ This album was the one that introduced the skit/comedic sketch into Hip Hop with interludes throughout the album. It was selected by the Library of Congress as a 2010 addition to the National Recording Registry, as being a recording that is culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant. The album truly is a brilliant piece of work and I hope sometime soon to be able to enjoy it easily and properly. Since the last countdown I’ve been checking once a month to see if this is on Spotify yet. I’ll keep checking.

#rs500albums