3 feet high and rising

De La Soul Marks 35th Anniversary of ‘3 Feet High and Rising’ with Digital Release Celebration

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De La Soul Marks 35th Anniversary of '3 Feet High and Rising' with Digital Release Celebration

De La Soul, the trailblazing hip-hop group renowned for their innovative sound and enduring influence, is set to commemorate the 35th anniversary of their groundbreaking album, 3 Feet High and Rising, with a digital release on March 1 across all major platforms.

The special release will feature the original tracks that captivated audiences three decades ago and a selection of bonus tracks, including the previously digitally unreleased “Freedom Of Speak (We Got Three Minutes).” Additionally, fan favorites such as “Jenifa Taught Me (12” Version)” and original demos from DJ Maseo’s basement will be included.

Recognized as one of the most influential albums of its time, 3 Feet High and Rising broke new ground with its inventive sampling, playful lyrics, and eclectic beats. Inducted into the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress, the album showcased De La Soul’s commitment to pushing boundaries in hip-hop and solidified their legacy as pioneers of the genre.

To celebrate the milestone, De La Soul will host a Talk Shop Live chat on Feb. 27 and hold an in-store signing at Rough Trade Records in New York City on March 3. Fans can also anticipate exclusive commemorative items from a new merch collaboration with Bravado.

The digital release and accompanying celebrations underscore De La Soul’s enduring impact on music culture and its ongoing commitment to artistic innovation.

The post De La Soul Marks 35th Anniversary of ‘3 Feet High and Rising’ with Digital Release Celebration first appeared on The Source.

The post De La Soul Marks 35th Anniversary of ‘3 Feet High and Rising’ with Digital Release Celebration appeared first on The Source.

Questlove Told De La Soul How They Changed His Life And Perception Of Hip-Hop Back In The Day On ‘Fallon’

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For years now, a critical component of hip-hop history has been missing from the streaming music landscape: De La Soul. Finally, though, the trio’s music hit Spotify, Apple Music, and the rest last month. Tragically, however, this all finally came together shortly after the death of member Trugoy The Dove. To celebrate their streaming debut, though, surviving members Posdnuos and Maseo visited The Tonight Show yesterday (March 16) to talk about it.

A couple minutes into the conversation, Jimmy Fallon spoke about how the trio’s debut album, 1989’s 3 Feet High And Rising, has changed the lives of so many music fans and asked Questlove to share how the album changed him. Quest explained, “For the first time, we just saw, like, ourselves. This is how the group bonded, Tariq [Black Thought] and I. We saw three friends just having fun with each other, practical jokes and all that stuff, and we had never seen that in hip-hop before.”

Elsewhere during the conversation, Fallon started by acknowledging Trugoy’s death and how hard the current De La Soul revival must be in light of that. Posdnuos noted that it’s been “bittersweet.”

Later in the episode, the pair teamed up with The Roots for a performance of “Stakes Is High.”

Watch the interview above and the performance below.

De La Soul Re-Release “Eye Know”

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The contentious battle surrounding De La Soul’s catalog became a public affair in recent years. The group, unfortunately, found themselves duking it out with Tommy Boy Records to have their projects released on DSPs. It came at the cost of signing what they described as an exploitative contract, leading to public outcry. 

Things are finally working out in favor of the trio. This week, they finally shared their 1989 single, “Eye Know” to streaming services, a month after “The Magic Number” became accessible on DSPs. The fan-favorite record served as a highlight of their iconic album, 3 Feet High And Rising. According to Genius, the song contains several notable samples including, Steely Dan’s “Peg,” The Mad Lads’ “Make This Young Lady Mine,”  Otis Redding’s “(Sittin’ On) the Dock of the Bay,” and  “Sing a Simple Song” by Sly & the Family Stone. Finally, fans can add “Eye Know” to their Spotify and Apple Music playlists for the first time ever.

UNSPECIFIED – circa 1970 Photo of DE LA SOUL (Photo by Des Willie/Redferns)

De La Soul’s entire catalog will make its way to streaming services later this year. The trio’s releases between 1989 and 2001 have been absent from DSPs but after Reservoir obtained the rights to Tommy Boy, each project will finally hit streamers. Expect to see 3 Feet High and Rising, De La Soul Is Dead, Buhloone Mindstate, Stakes Is High, Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump, and AOI: Bionix wherever you stream music on March 3rd. “It’s been 20 plus years overdue, but finally, we are here,” Maseo said in a statement.

The group hasn’t necessarily been active in recent years. They released their last studio album, Anonymous Nobody… in 2016, marking their first project in 12 years. Prior to that, they dropped The Grind Date in 2004. It’s unclear if they have any intention to release new music in the near future, though Pharrell recently expressed interest in collaborating. Hopefully, that’s something we see sometime this year.

Check out “Eye Know” below and sound off in the comments with your thoughts on De La Soul’s albums coming to streaming services.

Quotable Lyrics
Life will begin at the cut of a rim
Take it as filled to the rim as in brim
Squeeze your stoop like Betty Boop
We’ll make Campbell’s Alphabet Soup
And spell Plug One’s within

De La Soul’s Surprise ‘Spider-Man’ Hit ‘The Magic Number’ Is Officially Available To Stream

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When audiences sat through Marvel’s 2022 hit Spider-Man: No Way Home, Gen Xers, millennials, and zoomers alike were thrilled to hear De La Soul’s 3 Feet High And Rising song “The Magic Number” during the film’s closing credits. However, they were equally disappointed once they checked Spotify (or Apple Music or Tidal, depending on their individual preference) only to learn that De La’s catalog remained woefully out of circulation on DSPs (or Digital Streaming Platforms). This was, of course, due to a protracted legal battle with their former label, Tommy Boy Records, as well as the dozens — possibly hundreds — of potentially uncleared samples throughout their first six albums.

This year, though, those fans got the best news: De La Soul has not only retained their publishing for those albums, but they also sorted their sample issues, announcing that the catalog would be available for streaming this March. And today, fans got the first fruits of those efforts, fittingly, with the debut of “The Magic Number,” the group’s surprise 30-year-old hit, on DSPs. We embedded the YouTube up top, but you can check it out on the streamer of your choice.

Meanwhile, the rest of the catalog comes to streaming on 3/3/23, giving fans the chance to follow Pharrell’s advice about which two albums are must-listens (I argue that they all are).

De La Soul’s Catalog To Finally Hit Streaming Services This Year

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De La Soul’s iconic catalog of music, including their legendary 1989 album 3 Feet High and Rising, will finally be available on streaming sites later this year. The plans have been in the works since Reservoir Media purchased the group’s master recordings in 2021.

“We can’t believe this day is finally here,” the band said in a statement, “and we are excited to be able to share our music with fans, old and new”.

Kelvin Mercer, David Jude Jolicoeur, Vincent Mason, De La Soul, Paradiso, Amsterdam, Holland, 04/04/1989. (Photo by Gie Knaeps/Getty Images)

De La Soul’s Posdnuos explained the hold up during an interview with BBC in 2016.

“Our contracts on those early albums said specifically ‘vinyl and cassette,’” he said. “The wording wasn’t vague enough to lend itself to [new] music technology.”

He continued: “So once the whole age of digital music came into play, new deals needed to be cut for those entire albums.”

All-in-all, Posdnuos says that Warner Bros. “just don’t want to deal with it.”

“They’re like, ‘Is it worth it?’ They’ve got to go through almost every song with a fine comb to make sure this sample or that sample was cleared. It’s been a very lengthy, draining process.”

The group released 3 Feet High and Rising back in March 1989. The album features many of De La Soul’s biggest songs including “Me Myself and I”, “The Magic Number”, “Buddy”, and “Eye Know.” It’s frequently cited as one of the best rap albums of all time. In 2010, the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry deemed it “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”

As for when specifically De La Soul’s music will be available, the group announced on social media that March 3, 2023 is the date. Check out their announcement below on Twitter.

[Via]