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De La Soul |
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 Biography
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De la soul |
Unlike a lot of rappers whose hard edges reflect their pressure-cooker backgrounds, De La Soul arrived on the scene sounding like three guys who had so much leisure time that they'd gone goofy. With corny jokes and hip but low-keyed samples, the trio came on like the first rap hippies--or at least the most ostentatious purveyors of hip-hop for potheads. Hailing from the mean streets of Long Island, the De Las go under the assumed names of Posdnous, Trugoy, and Mase (right away the high-schooly, private-joke mood is established). Their first album, 3 Feet High And Rising ('89, Tommy Boy), was wholly original, inspired and self-indulgent, with a few glimpses of social commentary but mainly a keen sense of day-to-day post-adolescent life. Unfortunately it arrived at a time when rap was codifying its conventions and the gangsta posse was on its way to becoming the dominant stance. Not wanting to seem like pussies, their following three albums describe a descent into genre conformity. De La Soul Is Dead ('91, Tommy Boy) and Buhloone Mindstate ('93, Tommy Boy) find them hanging on to their natural oddness while loosening their grip on their over-arching basement tapes concept (i.e., turning pro). By Stakes Is High ('96, Tommy Boy) they sound almost generic and fairly inauthentic. But De La Soul is still a young aggregate, and since their move to the center has not helped their sales any, there is still a chance they may stop worrying about pleasing people and go their own De La way. |
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