3rd March - De La Soul's 3 Feet High and Rising

Artist – Album: De La Soul – 3 Feet High and Rising

Released:  3^rd March 1989

Sounds Like: Da Inner Sound Y’all

R&B albums are like buses. You wait around for one for 60 days and then 2 come along at once. Well, not quite at once, but within the space of 2 days at least... Anyway, on to the review.

How many feathers are on a Purdue chicken? How many fibres are intertwined on a shredded wheat biscuit? What does 'Touche et Lele Pu' mean? How many times did the Batmobile catch a flat?

You might not find the answer to these questions on 3 Feet High and Rising, but you will find one of the most original and playful albums ever recorded. Set to a loose game show theme, the album is of a collection of the trio’s everyday musings set to a wonderful assortment of samples, lifted from every genre single under the sun. The best known tunes ‘The Magic Number’, ‘Eye Know’ and the funky party anthem ‘Me, Myself and I’ still stand amongst the greatest in hip hop, and helped promote the group’s Daisy Age movement – a flower power-type ideology that marked a long overdue alternative to the usual guns and girls bravado from hip hop’s other meathead artists. ‘Ghetto Thang’ details the problems in urban areas and the ignorance of those who can actually do anything about it; ‘Eye Know’ is a wonderfully realistic take on true love; ‘Tread Water’ tells how the group maintain their positive attitude to life on the advice of various small animals; ‘A Little Bit of Soap’ is about B.O.

The album is pervaded throughout by Trugoy, Posdnous and Mase’s great sense of humour and diverse musical knowledge. It’s fun. It’s quirky. It’s delacratic.

Albumaday... rating:   10/10

1.       Intro – 1:41

2.       The Magic Number – 3:14

3.       Change in Speak – 2:33

4.       Cool Breeze on the Rocks – 0:46

5.       Can U Keep a Secret – 1:38

6.       Jenifa Taught Me (Derwin’s Revenge) – 3:25

7.       Ghetto Thang – 3:35

8.       Transmitting Live from Mars – 1:06

9.       Eye Know – 4:06

10.   Take It Off – 1:53

11.   A Little Bit of Soap – 0:47

12.   Tread Water – 3:54

13.   Potholes in My Lawn – 4:14

14.   Say No Go – 4:20

15.   Do as De La Does – 1:58

16.   Plug Tunin’ (Last Chance to Comprehend) – 4:13

17.   De La Orgee – 1:11

18.   Buddy (feat. Jungle Brothers and Q-Tip) – 4:56

19.   Description – 1:24

20.   Me Myself and I – 3:41

21.   This is a Recording 4 Living in a Fulltime Era (L.I.F.E) – 3:16

22.   I Can Do Anything (Delacratic) – 0:40

23.   D.A.I.S.Y Age – 3:58

24.   Plug Tunin’ (original 12” version) – 3:41

Listen to ‘Eye Know’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Me5uEsbX9eU

Also released on the 3^rd March:

1972: Stevie Wonder – Music of My Mind

Also released on the 3^rd March:

1997: Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds – The Boatman’s Call

Also released on the 3^rd March:

2007: Arcade Fire – Neon Bible