De La Soul - Classic or Dud?

hip-hop people reviewing bionix all said
it sucked. indie rock type people reviewing
it said it was another classic from de
la soul. those are the only people who
reviewed it.

is STILL a really nice listen. if you take that song for face value away from the rest of the album, shows a real weird foreshadow of things Mo Wax/Beastie/Beck (mostly things I never cared too much for), but that weird international downtempo weird sample... it seemed to preface all that Cibo Matto/Stereolab/Stereototal (slow) modern rock-hop.

Not too big on De La Soul though; however, check this song out again if you haven't recently.

I played "Tryin'" before my brother's wedding a couple months ago, just to calm my nerves on a stressful day, and I damn near started to weep. The song is about being ready for the rest of your life, by guys obviously not ready for the rest of their lives.

All the records are great, but De La is greater than ever.

The Twin Cities hereby cast all their votes for "classic."

I'd swear there's a thread around here about mature hip-hop that I might have even started but I can't find it.

notions, soothed the mood

the first album kicks the 2nd's ass 8 ways to tuesday

"'De La Soul is Dead' is a better album than '3 Feet High...'" is the worst CHALLENGING OPINION in music criti

three feet high and rising was the first
hip-hop album i ever bought. buhloone
mind state was the second. it would be
cool to say bionix was the last one. but
it wasn't. it was good, though. the slick
rick one. 'held down.' 'bionix.' those
other ones.

hip-hop people reviewing bionix all said
it sucked. indie rock type people reviewing
it said it was another classic from de
la soul. those are the only people who
reviewed it.

-- DK, Thursday, August 22, 2002 3:46 PM (5 years ago) Bookmark Link

o.O

i had a thing for making paper since papier-mache

dude you were the one that told me 3 Ft High was dylan's first rap album

I heard De La Soul Is Dead in its entirety before I heard Three Feet High and Rising in its entirety, which is part of the reason why I hold this allegedly controversial CHALLENGING OPINION.

its totally not a challenging opinion wtf people - but buhloone mind state is better than both of them anyway

i say this as someone who has listed to those three albums more than anyone on this board im sure

production on Buhloone is less unique than on 1st 2. They're all great. 2nd>>>1st>>>3rd.

buhloone mind state remains my pick too

3>2>1

but theyre all great obv

1st > 3rd > 2nd

I heard De La Soul Is Dead in its entirety before I heard Three Feet High and Rising in its entirety, which is part of the reason why I hold this allegedly controversial CHALLENGING OPINION.

this is what I assume of anyone who holds same

lol no i had 3 feet around when it cam out it kinda marked my devolution from someone who just listened to the radio and had a few albums to a music obsessive. i remember seeing the video for me myself and i on bet at a friends house and being all wtf is this must have! then dead was the last tape i had before i got a cd player. i taped ringringring off the radio before the album came out and was all wtf at the new sound but it grew on me fast. then when buhloon came out it was just <3<3<3

3 feet is nice but they got sooo much better at everything

3 feet is nice but they got sooo much better at everything

I pretty much agree with this.

so do I. 1st and 2nd are both more "fun" (having guru guest on a track will do that, though har har). 3rd I guess a lil TOO good ie refined.

(tho i guess having biz guest cancels out guru)

omglol i am watching de la videos on youtube omg!

http://static1.videosift.com/thumbs/d/el/De_La_Soul_Me_Myself_And_I.jpg

this hair whaaaa!

2>4>1=3

For a long time I wrote off the AOI Bionix lps, but on repeat listen I think they are tight. I saw them perform at DEMF in 01 and they were great.

they got better at smooth jazz soul jams. but the 1st album is alive in a way those that follow are not and it's got the best wordplay by far. also, i like hippies and the color yellow.

Buhloone Mind State is better than the first two. It's like desert island material.

Yeah! It was a big deal at the time, iirc. Just every several second/minutes there would be a big, loud donkey bray.

https://ew.com/article/1993/09/10/latest-war-bootlegging/

Music critics who received advance copies of De La Soul’s latest, Buhloone Mind State (Sept. 21 release), were treated to 13 new songs whose principal accompanist was a braying donkey. Another one of the hip-hoppers’ musical innovations? Nope, just the latest weapon in the war against bootlegging and the bigger problem of review tapes leaking out. ”With these noises, someone would be deterred from leaking it to radio stations, or actually enjoying it,” says De La Soul front man Posdnuos. ”This way, if you have one of these tapes, you would still have to go out and buy the CD when it came out in the stores. And if I hear bootleg copies on the street, I can tell where it came from.” It remains to be seen how successful a deterrent the donkey sound will be; some reviewers have told Posdnuos that the intermittent, high-pitched braying kind of grows on you.

Watching old MTV Raps episodes on Paramount Plus, De La is on playing Super Nintendo and talking to Fab 5, anyway he asked them their biggest influences and they all said Ultramagnetic MCs.

The tracklist from that promo LP version of the second album is a lot clearer and a more lucid statement. Since their songs are already built upon digression, adding more digressions in-between the songs is overkill, especially once you've read the comic strip in the liner notes and understand the general attitude behind the album.

ahh it was buhloone not dead that had the animal noises on it. one of those things i had only ever heard about, not actually heard.

also i think it's important to remember the format and media of the time: no internet, 900 numbers, jerky boys hadn't even come around yet, and most people didn't even have cable at that point. even with music there was an expectation of one-liners, "outrageous" and "wacky" situations... cheap entertainment basically! my point in bringing this up is: in 1991 it was still very much acceptable to thematically create an album the same way you would a movie. they certainly weren't the first music act to do it, but there is a sense of sarcasm and embellishment (especially on the second album) that is 100% theirs. it's one of the reasons i revere that album so much: it's like hiphop vaudeville.

I revere it, don't always wanna hear it

That's it! Thanks Josh, I was wondering why I couldn't find anything on that, but I was searching for the wrong album.

Haven't heard it myself either.

I wonder if Greg Kott didn’t get it:

‘While renouncing the conventional topics of hard-core hip-hop (guns, ho's, inner-city pathology masquerading as manhood), it flirts with cultural and musical criticism on such cuts as "Ego Trippin' (Part Two)" and "I Am I Be." The braying of a donkey and the mantra "It might blow up but it won't go pop" also provide an oblique, running commentary on the hip-hop nation.’

Looks like he got one.

this is a cool find - Shortie No Mass from Buhloone Mindstate finally released her first solo album in 2021, it's a nice old school NT vibe, love that this isn't much different than a debut album from her would have been in 1993

https://shortienomass.bandcamp.com/album/here-goes-nothing

she also put up a single from those days, produced by rockwilder and da beatminerz, i think this was all that ever came out then

article:
https://daily.bandcamp.com/features/shortie-no-mass-here-goes-nothing-interview

thanks!

here's the old single: https://vindig.bandcamp.com/album/like-this-u-like-my-style

yeah i posted on random old rap about shortie's album some time ago — it's really good and the first voice you hear is phife!

Yo and we won't stop rocking til we retire
But since the economy is such in them dire straits
That isn't an option

The big rediscovery for me from all of this has been Buhloone Mindstate, which I liked at the time but it was never a big part of my listening the way the first two were — they were very much a college band for me, the first two albums came out while I was in school, so by the time of the third one I was off listening to a bunch of other stuff, De La Soul weren't "the future" anymore. BUT. Wow that's a great album. Maybe their best! I was surprised by how much of it I remembered even knowing that I'd never listened to it much. So anyway, I know I'm 30 years late on that, but it has been a real pleasure to dig back into.

It's the best kind of "mature" record - full of complexity and emotional depth, while the shift from dayglo sampledelia to more muted jazz shades (not to mention Maceo Parker's interludes) complements the shift in text. Complicated, not hard.

The best kind of mature album in that it also revels in play.

Yes, definitely.

Anyway... Vibe. Vibration.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZ6JXCaOttw

god what a great performance. wouldn't be surprised if pos and ma$e go on tour with a ringer (like, say, the mighty mos def)

Yaasin would be great, just make sure he has his passport

Just relistening to Is Dead this afternoon, loving the line of "curiosity killed the cat" in My Brother Is A Basehead, given Ring Ring Ring is based around a hook from a Curiosity Killed The Cat track.

OMG. That Fallon clip!

lovely verse about Dave by Pos on the new Statik Selectah album

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZdG1BhF6Mg

love this :(

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwLr-8YWhMs

Ha, sorry. Meant to post:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8mfaAodcXU

On tour opening for Nas/Wu, with Kweli on second mic. Listened to one set on youtube and iirc they did three De La songs, two Kweli, the Pos verse of Rock.Co.Kane twice, and then Pharoahe Monch came out and did Simon Says, fin.

Who is the "we" - is Mase involved? It was just Pos (plus Dres, Yaasin Bey and Prince Paul) when they played London in spring.

Sorry, I mean who is the "they"?

Mase, Pos and Kweli.

30th anniversary edition of buhloone has hit spotify. it's added some bonus tracks from the clear lake audiotorium ep and the infamous "can't beat my mindstate" outtake.

phife, dave, and biz trading verses on "sh.fe.mcs" ———————————— the biggest sigh. never ending respect.

always loved this song it's mentioned once in this thread

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKQmZBB-Sns

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJrUceBbVxY

That is awesome!

Wait this is SO good. God i love this album so much. Drove 3 hours to see them in 1996. Was so worth it.

Got a bit choked when Pos did the Plug Two verse

Yes :(

Glad Paul is with them. He was great at the Royal Albert Hall show last year. They should tour with Q-Tip as some DAISY Age survivors posse. That would be AWESOME.

Got a bit choked when Pos did the Plug Two verse

― Is he an evil man who makes chocolate or is the chocolate itself evil? (stevie), Friday, March 8, 2024 4:35 AM (three hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

yea wasn't expecting it but that got me too

Impressed by the generous Donald Fagen shoutout after Steely Dan sued them into oblivion

just confirms what i always suspected about De La Soul: they are very nice dudes

absolutely

Steely Dan did not sue De La Soul

That was the Turtles.

can anyone think of any tunes similar to "Eye Know"? its got such an amazing vibe to it

steely dan sued lord tariq and peter gunz

Mad Lads - "Make This Young Lady Mine"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irbUNcNRl5I

this is legitimately one of the best late night performances i've ever seen!

can anyone think of any tunes similar to "Eye Know"? its got such an amazing vibe to it

All of their vinyl records are on sale at TTL:
https://www.turntablelab.com/search?sort=price-descending&q=de%20la%20soul&_=pf&pf_v_artist_manufacturer=De%20La%20Soul&pf_st_stock_status=true&goal=0_8b218d7604-91d5b9e00f-31345977&mc_cid=91d5b9e00f&mc_eid=365684acc9