Wintertijd

Hipperdehop III

It is my sincere belief that nobody should be mentioning Hip-Hop of any kind without mentioning De La Soul. These people have made a number of albums that are underrated because they didn't do what the rest of the business was doing, but in the mean time they did introduce a whole new way of handling samples. And sampling they did. Not just the Usual Suspects like James Brown, the JB's, Funkadelic and Parliament either... Anyone from Luther Vandross to Hall & Oates to the illustrious Steely Dan ended up on the chopping block of Plug One, Two and Three.

The other thing that sets 'm apart from all the Public Enemy's and Ice-Teas of this world is the fact that they never went Gangsta on anyone's ass. There is no bustin' caps and running drugs on their albums, and they don't call any Birds Bitches or Hos either. They don't talk about Unclefuckers as a matter of course and they refrain from MurderDeathKill in their songs. This puts 'm in a corner with people like Tribe Called Quest, Q-Tip, Will Smith, Arrested Development and other acts that spread a more positive message. Still, don't call 'm Hippies, because that pisses 'm off.

Now most people my age have at least heard a De La Soul tune or two. Eye Know (featuring a sample from Steely D's "Peg"), Say No Go (featuring Hall & Oates' sample from their Say No Go) and Me Myself and I were all relatively large hits in the late eighties and early nineties. Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey) was also a big hit. However, the rest of their stuff has always eluded those that are not into Hip-Hop per se.

This is a shame, because De La Soul have always evolved their style from album to album. To be honest, I only bought a Best Of album, because I've never been into hip-hop enough to build a comprehensive collection. But the track I want to put on this compilation is almost more of an R&B track than a Hip-Hop track, and it's not from the ubiquitous "3 Feet High and Rising" or "De La Soul is dead" albums. It's a duet featuring Chaka Kahn laid over a very nice guitar and bass background. The whole thing is funky as hell, although it might not sound like what you might expect after hearing "Me, Myself and I" or "Ring Ring Ring".

So for something different from the Plugs, please enjoy their All Good from the 2000 album Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump. If you like what you hear, run out and buy a De La Soul collection or a couple of albums. They know their stuff.

Posted by Chris at September 24, 2007 09:40 PM