DE LA SOUL

Gorillaz Got De La Soul, Thundercat, And More Guests For Their Electric Coachella Performance

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Given their range of collaborations with artists, it was not surprise that Gorillaz had a lot of special guests for their Coachella set Friday. The band kicked things off by bringing out Thundercat, who played “Cracker Island,” the title track off their most recent album.

Shortly after, Damon Albarn brought out Peven Everett for “Strobelite” and Jamie Principle for “Hollywood.” After a brief interlude in which the band played “Andromeda,” Albarn brought out Bootie Brown to perform “New Gold.”

For one of Gorillaz’s best-known songs, “On Melancholy Hill,” Albarn dedicated it to his daughter, Missy.

Brown returned later in the show to play “Dirty Harry.” Next up was Slowthai, who dropped by to perform “Momentary Bliss,” one of Gorillaz’s songs from their record Song Machine.

The band closed out with some classics, with Del The Funky Homosapien playing “Rock The House” before returning for the closer, “Clint Eastwood.”

In between, De La Soul did “Feel Good Inc.,” giving the crowd a chance to hear all their favorite Gorillaz standards.

“Dave would’ve loved being out there,” one fan who uploaded the performance noted, referencing the late Trugoy.

Check out some clips from Gorillaz’s Coachella set above.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

De La Soul Joins Nas & Wu-Tang Clan For “N.Y. State Of Mind” Tour

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De La Soul Tour

Legendary rap group De La Soul is set to join rap legends Nas and Wu-Tang Clan for another leg of their N.Y. State Of Mind Tour. De La Soul will have two members touring due to the death of Trugoy the Dove. Rap legends Nas and Wu-Tang Clan have added iconic rap group De La […]

The post De La Soul Joins Nas & Wu-Tang Clan For “N.Y. State Of Mind” Tour appeared first on SOHH.com.

Pharrell’s Phriends For His 2023 Something In The Water Festival Have Been Revealed

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Something In The Water Festival, the Pharrell-led shindig returning to Virginia Beach on April 28, has revealed the “final” lineup of the Pharrell’s Phriends headlining set. This year, the multitalented, nigh-ageless producer will be joined on stage by a cadre of blog-era faves and Golden Era influences. ASAP Rocky and M.I.A. will represent the former, while Native Tongues mainstays Busta Rhymes and De La Soul make up the latter. Meanwhile, the updated flyer promises even more surprise guests that “we can’t announce” yet, so it seems fans will want to stick around to find out who else shows up.

In the past, Pharrell’s Phriends have included frequent collaborators like Clipse, Justin Timberlake, NORE, and Q-Tip, as well as SZA. This year’s additions include artists who share Pharrell’s adventurous, experimental approach to music, as well as the artists who inspired him as a young, aspiring rapper. Pharrell recently gave fans his advice on which of De La Soul’s recently re-released albums to stream and was once in a rap trio that was very De La Soul/A Tribe Called Quest-inspired with Timbaland and Magoo called Surrounded By Idiots. They recorded a demo that you can find on YouTube, but never released an album.

In addition to the Pharrell’s Phriends performers above, the festival also added Arcade Fire, Jonas Brothers, and Third Eye Blind to the lineup.

Something In The Water Festival is April 28-30 in Virginia Beach. You can find more info here.

Gorillaz’s Iconic ‘Feel Good Inc.’ Collaboration With De La Soul Was Originally Intended For Another Song

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Gorillaz’s 2005 album Demon Days is a classic. It’s full of highlights, including De La Soul’s collaboration on the track “Feel Good Inc.” But during an interview on the Kyle Meredith With… podcast, De La Soul co-founder Maseo divulged that Damon Albarn initially wanted De La Soul on “Kids With Guns” instead.

“When we went to do ‘Feel Good Inc.,’ the initial song was ‘Kids With Guns,’” Maseo said. “When we were having a conversation about ‘Kids With Guns,’ I honestly came out and said, ‘Hey man, I think we forcing it.’ […] I think we’re not really collaborating, we’re just featuring on the record. It’s like Gorillaz featuring De La. We really need to do like a collaboration, where we both artistically show our flavor.’”

“He’s truly out there for artistic value, and I got a lot of love for that,” he said about Albarn. “No idea is a bad idea until we try it — all egos are checked at the door. Everybody is doing their best to make a great song. He hears people on songs like instruments. Everybody’s vocal technically is an instrument, and that’s how he hears the track.”

Gorillaz recently shared “Crocadillaz,” which features De La Soul, following the death of Trugoy The Dove (real name David Jolicoeur) in February.

Listen to the podcast episode here.

Gorillaz is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Nas, Mary J. Blige, More Announced For Blue Note Jazz Festival

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Nas, Mary J. Blige, and De La Soul have all been announced as performers at the Blue Note Jazz Festival. The bi-coastal festival announced the lineup by way of instagram. The hip-hop heavy hitters are just a few of the exciting performers that have been confirmed to perform. There will also be performances from Chance The Rapper, Cordae, and NxWorries (Anderson .Paak & Knxwledge). Additionally, Dave Chappelle will return to host. This announcement comes just three weeks after the festival announced its east coast lineup, which included artists like the iconic Grace Jones and Robert Glasper.

The Blue Note Jazz Festival is an annual music festival that takes place in both New York City and Napa. It features a wide range of jazz, soul, funk, and blues artists. The festival is named after the legendary New York jazz club, the Blue Note. The club has been a staple of the Greenwich Village music scene since 1981. Likewise, the festival has been become a staple of the jazz scene. The festival usually spans several weeks and showcases both established and up-and-coming artists. It often includes special collaborations and one-of-a-kind performances. The festival has become a must-see event for jazz lovers from all around the world and continues to be a vital platform for the evolution of jazz music.

Blue Note Celebrates Jazz and Hip Hop

The Blue Note Festival is no stranger to icons taking the stage. The 2022 festival featured performances from Rakim, Snoop Dogg, Chaka Khan, and George Clinton. “The intimate festival boasts a lineup of cultural icons, all in tune to celebrate the influence of jazz on hip-hop for the past 50 years,” the festival’s official Instagram wrote. Certainly, the festival has become the best place for music fans to appreciate legendary artists of both genres. As the festival itself says, it’s a “who’s who of music culture.”

The 2023 Blue Note Jazz Festival will take place in both New York City and Napa, California. The first round of performances will take place throughout June in New York at the titular club and other popular venues. Subsequently, the second lineup of performers will take the stage in Napa July 28, 29, and 30 at the Silverado Resort. Tickets can be purchased for the event this Friday on the festival’s official website. Will you be attending the Blue Note Jazz Festival? Additionally, who are you most excited to see take the stage? Sound off in the comments below!

Black Thought Filled In For Trugoy In De La Soul’s ‘Tonight Show’ Performance Of ‘Stakes Is High’

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De La Soul’s de facto “comeback” has been bittersweet; while the group’s groundbreaking catalog has finally come to streaming platforms, it only did so after one member of the trio, Trugoy The Dove, died at the age of just 54 years old.

However, the remaining members, Posdnous and Maseo, are trucking along as best they can. They stopped by The Tonight Show this week, where they took the stage with the band to perform one of their signature songs, “Stakes Is High,” with The Roots. Black Thought helped fill the void left by Dave’s passing, rapping his verses with perfect chemistry alongside Pos — an unsurprising development, considering the impact “Stakes Is High” has had on hip-hop. Who doesn’t know those iconic rhymes?

Ahead of the performance, house band leader Questlove gave De La some flowers, telling them how much they influenced The Roots. “For the first time, we just saw, like, ourselves,” he said. “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.”

Meanwhile, De La’s entree to the streaming world has been pretty successful; their game-changing debut, 3 Feet High And Rising, re-entered the Billboard 200 with a new peak of No. 15.

Watch De La Soul and The Roots perform the classic “Stakes Is High” above.

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.

DJ Drama Announces De La Soul “Gangsta Grillz” Mixtape

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DJ Drama is gearing up to drop off a Gangsta Grillz mixtape with De La Soul. The Drama recently sat down on Rap Radar where he divulged plans for the future of Gangsta Grillz. In the wake of De La Soul’s discography returning to DSPs, he said he discussed plans to create a tape with the group. Though no release date has been set, it appears that we have something to look forward to this.

DJ Drama announced the project as he explained his ability to connect with different generations flawlessly. He said he was “addicted to new shit” and being able to be ahead of the trends. As he explained his love for hip-hop, he slyly slipped in the news of the De La Soul project. “I was a teenager in the 90s, so that’s my era. I love that. That’s why I ride around to, listening to – De La Soul’s coming to streaming. I can’t be more excited,” he said. “And we got a Gangsta Grillz coming. Little sidebar.”

DJ Drama & De La Soul “Gangsta Grillz” Project

As DJ Drama mentioned, De La Soul’s discography finally came to streaming service after battling with Tommy Boy Records. De La Soul and their former label reached an agreement that allowed their discography to hit streaming platforms. 3 Feet High and Rising, De La Soul Is Dead, Buhloone Mindstate, Stakes Is High, Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump, and Bionix finally appeared on streaming services at the top of the month.

Unfortunately, it seems like DJ Drama filmed his interview with Rap Radar earlier this year, prior to the tragic announcement of Trugoy The Dave’s death. Trugoy battled congestive heart failure over the past few years, which he discussed on De La Soul’s “Royaly Capes” in 2016. A week after De La Soul graced the Grammys stage (sans Dave), his rep announced that he passed away. However, there’s yet to be an official cause of death released publicly. Though it’s unclear how this will affect the Gangsta Grillz mixtape, we can only hope that DJ Drama and De La Soul pay tribute to him in some form on the project.

Redman Pays Homage To De La Soul

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Redman has paid homage to De La Soul. The rapper gave the group their flowers during their recent “D.A.I.S.Y. Experience” event in New York. The event celebrated Del La Soul’s music arriving on streaming services. It was attended by many names in hip-hop, such as Queen Latifah, Common, and Busta Rhymes. Consisting of tributes about the group’s cultural impact, the event also celebrated the life of Trugoy The Dove, who passed away in February.

Paying his respects to the group, Redman said: “Ay Redman in the building, shout out to De La Soul, shout out to my brother Dave Trugoy we gonna miss you my brother rest in power.” He continued: “Now if you never been to a De La Soul show you done missed out. Now there’s one part of the show that they know I love it’s the song that they did with MF Doom ‘Rock Co.Kaine Flow,’ and when they do that set I lose my fucking mind. Because Dave he be like, ‘one more time put your motherfuckin’ hands up!’ and they just freeze.”

Redman’s Tribute To De La Soul

Trugoy The Dove, also known as Dave, passed away at the age of 54 on February 12th, earlier this year. Although no cause of death was given, Dave had been having some health issues. He also revealed that he had been diagnosed with congestive heart failure a few years prior to his death. Speaking on the De La Soul Instagram account, the group’s Posdnuos wrote: “We would like to say thank you Dave for being a big brother. Thank you for being a friend, and for the wise words placed in your verses.” He added: “Thank you for the music you produced that is loved by so many and for never wanting to compromise the quality of our brand.”

Posdnuos and Maseo both also paid their respects to their late group member at the “D.A.I.S.Y. Experience” event. Maseo said: “I usually have a lot of words to say, but I’m at a loss for words, yo. My emotions are very displaced. My man is gone, but I appreciate all of y’all all these years for support.”

[Via]

Damon Albarn Complimented Trugoy’s ‘Generosity’ And ‘Future-Thinking Ideas’ In A Touching Tribute

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It’s ironic; as a member of De La Soul, the late Trugoy the Dove helped pioneer hip-hop’s so-called “Daisy Age,” but it’s only after he passed that he’s receiving his flowers. The latest tribute to Dave Jolicoeur comes from frequent collaborator Damon Albarn, who praised the rapper’s generosity in an audio clip shared by Dave’s bandmate Posdnous.

“I just want to talk about Dave’s generosity, I think,” Albarn says in the clip. “[He was] very generous with his spirit and he had some amazing future-taking ideas that he was able to articulate with the rest of De La Soul. In a way, they changed the paradigm so I just wanna say I miss you and love you.”

Albarn was one of De La’s greatest advocates during the time their music was not available to stream, tapping them to feature on multiple projects with his virtual band, Gorillaz, starting with “Feel Good Inc.” from 2005’s Demon Days. Most recently, they appeared on the deluxe version of Cracker Island on the song “Crocadillaz,” which was released shortly after Dave’s passing.

The group’s music is finally on streaming now, though, and after a tribute concert in their hometown to celebrate in which Plug Three, Maseo, got emotional talking about Dave’s impact, fans can also honor the pioneering rapper by running up the numbers on Stakes Is High.