De La Soul - 3 Feet High & Rising

Decade - 1980's


De La Soul - 3 Feet High & Rising (1989)


De La Soul are quirky hip-hop group from New York and this was their critically acclaimed and commercially successful debut.

My THIRD hip-hop album, believe it or not. This was worlds apart from NWA's gangsta rap, and in a good way (unlike Jungle Brothers). It's pretty hard not to like it, it's fully of off beat lyrics, quirky samples, jokes and pretty catchy hooks. The interludes are pretty good, and the whole album just kind of resonates with this happy happy joy joy feeling.

It has a few problems - it's still too long despite the number of short songs. I listened three times and every single time my mind drifted off 2/3rds in. It doesn't help that the best songs are mostly at the beginning (though a few goodies further down).

While I prefer this album to NWA's, and appreciated the fact that De La Soul could tackle the same ghetto issues without sounding like insanely sexist, violent thugs, NWA were still more compelling rappers. A trade off I guess.


Score - 7.5/10

Genre - Hip-Hop

Best Tracks - The Magic Number, Me, Myself and I

Recommended - Yes