De La Soul member Posdnuos detailed the making of their song and official music video for their 1989 single “Me, Myself and I” off their debut 3 Feet And Rising in the new Vevo Footnotes episode. Thirty-four years ago, on March 3, 1989, the iconic Hip-hop trio, De La Soul, released 3 Feet And Rising […]
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It’s been no secret that De La Soul fans have not had access to the iconic rap group’s records in years. Now, De La Soul’s six iconic albums finally arrived on streaming services. The Thorough Brothers From The East De La Soul’s Posdnuos and Maseo with Dave Chapelle counted down to midnight to debut their […]
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De La Soul just released their entire catalog on all streaming platforms and digital retailers, so their legendary work is now available for so many more people. Moreover, it’s been a long time coming, as the group fought hard to put their music into the digital world on their terms. Now, listeners can easily bump classics like 3 Feet High and Rising, Buhloone Mindstate, and De La Soul Is Dead. Furthermore, their incredibly creative sampling, indelibly influential lyricism, and game-changing artistry is sure to captivate even the youngest of hip-hop fans.
However, this news comes during a tough time for the group. Trugoy The Dove, who formed the trio alongside Posdnuos and Maseo, tragically passed away this year. Even with that cloud looming over their legacy, this is something that Pos believes will keep his memory alive. “We are excited to finally have our full back catalog available on all streaming platforms,” he stated. “At the same time, we are deeply saddened by the loss of our brother, Dave. His unique voice and talent will be missed, but his spirit will always live on through our music.”
Meanwhile, there were no shortage of tributes to Plug Two following the news of his loss. Whether from the old guard or new, hip-hop took a moment to recognize how important him and De La as a whole are to so many souls. With their music now bolstered by increased accessibility, their legacy is likely to only grow in profile and respect. After all, they redefined conventions in the genre as early as their formation in 1987. What’s more is that, in a time during which rap still built its blueprint, De La inspired millions to be creative and to trust themselves.
It’s that same sense of individualism and thinking outside the box that defined their career, not just their art. As Plugs One and Three fondly remembered Trugoy, they also acknowledged how he wanted the group to maintain its integrity. All in all, they ask that you listen to their music to honor The Dove and celebrate their legacy. Check out their debut album on Spotify above and come back to HNHH for the latest on De La Soul.
Long Live Trugoy The Dove.
De La Soul, a legendary hip-hop group, today announced that their complete back catalog is now, for the first time, accessible on all major streaming services and digital shops. The group’s classic albums, including 3 Feet High and Rising, De La Soul Is Dead, and Buhloone Mindstate, are now readily available to listeners.
Also, the band’s website, wearedelasoul.com, offers exclusive apparel, vinyl, CDs, and cassettes that are provided by their record company, AOI, and are distributed by Chrysalis Records.
The news comes as the group is grieving the untimely loss of co-founding member Dave “Trugoy the Dove” Jolicoeur, who passed away on Feb. 12. He left a lasting impression on the music and heritage of De La Soul, and his other co-founders Kelvin “Posdnuos” Mercer and Vincent Lamont “Maseo” Mason Jr. are appreciative of their more than 35 years of friendship.
“We are excited to finally have our full back catalog available on all streaming platforms,” said Posdnuos. “At the same time, we are deeply saddened by the loss of our brother, Dave. His unique voice and talent will be missed, but his spirit will always live on through our music.”
This is a big day for hip-hop enthusiasts of all generations to rediscover De La Soul’s historically significant and musically outstanding discography. One of the most influential and cutting-edge groups in hip-hop history is the trio. Since their formation in 1987, they have put out many critically regarded albums. They have received appreciation for their music’s inventive sampling, upbeat lyrics, and varied sound. De La Soul continues to rejoice over their accomplishments today.
The hit song “The Magic Number” from their album And the Anonymous Nobody…, which also features David Byrne, Damon Albarn, Usher, and Little Dragon, was played during the closing credits of the popular Marvel movie Spiderman: No Way Home in 2021. The album was also nominated for a Grammy in 2017 for Best Rap Album. De La Soul still performs to sold-out crowds across the world.
De La Soul’s fans, who have been impatiently awaiting the option to stream their music for decades, have been waiting with bated breath for the release of their entire repertoire on streaming services. With this information, De La Soul’s music may now be enjoyed by fans in the most convenient manner while also being easily accessed by new audiences.
To honor Dave “Trugoy the Dove” and to recognize the band’s enduring legacy, De La Soul urges everyone to listen to their music.
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Today (March 3) is a big day for hip-hop: De La Soul’s beloved catalog is finally available on streaming services. Right now is of course a bittersweet time for the group, though, because in the midst of this, De La Soul and the hip-hop community at large are still reeling over the recent death of group member Trugoy. Well, last night, the surviving De La Soul members hosted a tribute concert to commemorate their big streaming moment, and naturally, there was some emotion at play.
Towards the end of the evening, Maseo addressed the crowd to speak about his journey. He got emotional talking about Trugoy, saying, “I usually have a lot of words to say, but I’m at a loss for words, y’all. My emotions are very displaced. My man is gone. But I appreciate all of y’all for all these years of supporting us.”
At the end of his speech, he was fighting back tears as he again thanked De La Soul fans for their support.
De La Soul’s Maseo got emotional speaking about Trugoy The Dove
@DeLaSoulsDugout https://t.co/52WCdDsvQr pic.twitter.com/U9xAecnYzE
— HipHopDX (@HipHopDX) March 3, 2023
powerful words from Maseo at the end of the De La Soul Daisy Experience at Webster Hall, bless these guys forever, RIP Dave
— recede
BLOOM OUT NOW!
(@rec3de) March 3, 2023
In a lengthy post shared after Trugoy’s death, Maseo wrote in part, “Dave – thank you so much for being in my life. Although you and I would argue like hell, we would both admit when we were wrong and totally come full circle and say, ‘I Love You.’”
De La Soul is one of the most important groups in the foundation of hip-hop. Not only do they represent the power of a rap group but they also represent the power of lyricism. They were known for rapping over a plethora of unique samples. Most recently, the group has been in the news for both unfortunate and fortunate reasons. The unfortunate reason is one of their members, Trugoy The Dove, recently passed away at the age of 54. The fortunate reason is their first six albums will be available for streaming on March 3rd, 2023. This will be the 34th anniversary of their debut album, 3 Feet High and Rising. Ahead of this historic day, we wanted to celebrate the biggest songs that have been able to make it to streaming up to this point.
Note: At the time of this writing, these are the songs with the highest streaming numbers. The songs are likely to change once their discography is added.
This first entry is the most recent so naturally it has the lowest amount of streams out of this group. That is in no way a reflection of the quality of the song. Released in 2022, this one is a collaboration between Posdnuos and jazz trumpeter and pianist Ibrahim Maalouf. The track comes from Maalouf’s album which also features other notable artists.The first minute or so of the track is drumless as and we hear Pos flow over Maalouf’s trumpet and piano. Once the drums come in the song picks up and a children’s sounding choir assists with the song’s hook. Pos’ flow on the second verse features some flow switches and Maalouf’s trumpet takes a backseat of sorts. On this one we get three verses and each one is more motivational than the last as we get advice for getting through life.
The samples in this song are all iconic and instantly recognizable for many. They all come together to create a pleasant atmosphere for the two MCs to rhyme over. Their smooth yet upbeat bouncy flows pair well with the melodies. This song is also iconic because of its music video and how it showcases the epitome of the image De La Soul had at the time. The brightly colored backgrounds and flower graphics lined up really well with the positive image they were presenting. The wholesomeness of the song itself added to this as it is a love song. Trugoy and Pos share their intentions for their lover and it may seem they are after the same woman. Referring to themselves as “Plug One” and “Plug Two”, they explain why they are better than other men the woman has met.
This is a track most people today are probably familiar with. It’s one of the biggest singles De La Soul ever had and this is due to a few reasons. One of course, is the sample of “Three is a Magic Number” from the series Schoolhouse Rock. Many of their listeners grew up watching this show and have a nostalgic connection to the original song. Fast forward to 2022 and Marvel fans heard it during the end credits of Spider-Man; No Way Home. Since there were three Spider-Men in that movie and there are three members of De La Soul, it just worked out perfectly. The joy of the song could now be shared with new generations and form a connection for the older one and the current one.
Potatohead People are a Canadian producer duo consisting of Nick Wisdom and AstroLogical. Producers are just as important as the rappers themselves especially in this day and time. On this track, Potatohead People give Pos a landscape of jazzy and electronic noises to flow over. Trugoy is absent from this one but Pos holds it down and represents the trio well. Pos’s rapping does not distract listeners from the production nor the reverse. They come together and enhance each other. Kapok provides some sung vocals for the hook that Pos has an equal contribution to. This is one of the most recent songs from De La Soul and fits in very well with their expansive discography. This track came out in 2020 and sounds modern while still keeping the spirit of traditional hip-hop alive.
De La Soul and Wu-Tang Clan are both giants in terms of 90s hip-hop representation, However, if you have heard a song from either group, you know how different they are. There is nothing wrong with this as it only makes this collaboration all the more important. Ghostface Killah hails from Wu-Tang clan and represented them well on this track. In fact, his bridge declares that this collaboration was inevitable because they’ve both been killing the game for so long. His verse is full of internal rhyme schemes and other word gymnastics. Posdnuos and Trugoy hold it down with solid verses too and the song’s sample serves as a brief but soulful hook between verses.
Teenage Fanclub is a Scottish alternative rock band. While there are multiple aspects of the golden age of hip-hop people often cite, one sticks undoubtedly: unexpected collaborations. These found hip-hop acts joining forces with someone from a completely different genre. The reasoning behind it ranges from wanting to experiment or sometimes for the sake of charity. In this case, the reason was the former. The song comes from the soundtrack for the 1993 movie Judgment Night whose tracklist consists of rock and metal bands collaborating with rappers. Trugoy and Posdnuos rap over a guitar and drums that are a little different from the breaks they are used to and the two of them still slow their flows down a little here. They certainly had fun with it as the last minute or so is just them laughing and goofing off in the booth.
This song is quite a big deal for two main reasons. The intro has a brief spoken contribution from DJ Premier. The song itself was produced by J Dilla. Both of these people are the epitome of the era De La Soul hails from. The song is an example of them coming together to showcase their roots in traditional hip-hop. The overall tone of the song lines up with this as it has a very triumphant atmosphere – a golden age atmosphere. Featured artist Yummy Bigham is on hook duty here and reinforces the vocal sample J Dilla used. Trugoy and Pos both assert their dominance over other rappers with Trugoy focusing on his mental ability and outlook being superior. Posdnuos closes his verse with some creative imagery about his skill on a mic which is a testament to their era of “rocking the mic”
The feature on this song is a testament to the power of generations working together. Little Dragon is a band from this generation and their listeners may be unfamiliar with an older group like De La Soul – and vice versa. Still, this song shows that these separate audiences can come together simply for the sake of enjoying good music. The gentle piano and Little Dragon’s lead singer Yukimi Nagano’s vocals are what is heard for most of the song. Other instruments drop in and out giving the song a unique feeling. The collaboration comes to the forefront in the song’s bridge where Nagano sings and Posdnuos raps a brief repeated two line piece followed by a verse. This verse offers a bit of vulnerable transparency that fits in well with the atmosphere of the song.
This is a more recent track (2016) from their discography and has been on streaming since it was released. It was a single for their 9th album And The Anonymous Nobody…This one is in the chilled out jazzy lane the trio often finds themselves in. The song’s hook is sung by Lola Troy and has an upbeat motivational feeling to it. Both verses from Posdnuos and Trugoy capitalize on this theme through positive and uplifting verses. Posdnuos chooses to focus on universally uplifting content while Trugoy mentions some of the struggles of everyday life and being able to overcome them. Snoop Dogg’s feature has the same feeling to it as he uses word gymnastics to reflect his confidence and his relaxed flow fits the song excellently.
RIP MF DOOM. This song has a semi eerie tone to it due to the vocal sample loop. These background vocals sit between a simple piano melody that fits the eerie atmosphere. Production on this one comes from Jake One, a name many are very familiar with. MF DOOM’s feature includes two verses from him, one after Posdnuos’ first verse and one before his second verse. In a unique delivery decision, he speeds up his flow to match the drums at the conclusion of the verse. This switch up adds to the intrigue of the song and showcases his skill in syllable usage. The song has no hook and the verses come in one after another in a cypher-esque way. The effective simplicity of the production capitalizes on this feeling.
Is De La Soul one of your favorite golden age hip-hop groups? Are you excited to see their discography coming to streaming services? Let us know in the comments below.
