3 Feet High of Soul

Hip-Hop is funny, funny because you either love it or hate it. Funny because there are so many different kinds of Hip-Hop too. I mean there is gangster, west coast, east coast, Texas underground, and so many others, and the stuff I listen to conscious Hip-Hop. That is what some kid told me when I worked in Hartford for a short while. He heard my iPod thumping to some De La Soul. I was playing some because I have not played it in a while. I told him also that I listen to all types of music and he told me back that white people say that all the time. I felt embarrassed.

He looked at my iPod and started scrolling through what I had. Most of the music he never heard of. Then he started laughing and smiling. I looked at him and asked what was up. He said to me the black people music I have is black people music his parents would listen to. He gave me "props" though. He was impressed I had Funkadelic, Parliament, Al Green, Otis Redding, Earth, Wind and Fire, Curtis Mayfield, Jackson 5, Kool and the Gang, and countless other "old school" music.

He told me that white people don't say they like certain kind of music, because they might be teased. I told him that I thought that. He said that most white people are afraid to tell black people that races should be equal. I was confused. I told him that I though this was the time that we should be equal. He also mentioned that some blacks and some whites still feel that we are not equal and that is a problem. He went back to my iPod and scanned through it. When we went back to work he came up to me and told me that he wanted me to give him some De La Soul.

Now let me turn back the clock when 3 Feet High and Rising came out. It was 1989 and I had no idea about this album at all. It was not till my senior year of high school before I heard this classic. When I picked it up I thought this was some kind of joke. I had it on tape and record. The tape was given to me by a friend who said I should listen to this, because some of the samples are cool. I listened to it. I also remember that one of the song's was a minor hit.

I again shelved it and put it back in my collection. Then the summer I went back to school I bought the CD. Why?? I don't know. I finally had a stereo that could play stuff better then I ever had. I never played the record because of value. I brought it to school one day and just put it on. I realized how fun this album was. It was a pleasure to listen to. It was not filled with what some hip-hop albums have. It was very free flowing. It's influence is huge. I sat and listened to it with the Rap/Hip-Hop director at the station. He told me that like new Rap albums its clean and the samples are fresh were never used like that before. When you hear some old R&B or Soul on a new Hip-Hop album it's De La Soul influence.

If you want to start adding Hip-Hop to your collection then this is the classic of all classics. I strongly suggest you round out your musical tastes with this album. It might take a while to catch on. Another reason to listen to this is just remember how an album could be fun. Not many albums can say they are fun to listen to, but this is one of them.

The most inventive, assured, and playful debut in hip-hop history, 3 Feet High and Rising not only proved that rappers didn't have to talk about the streets to succeed, but also expanded the palette of sampling material with a kaleidoscope of sounds and references culled from pop, soul, disco, and even country music. De La Soul broke down boundaries all over the LP, moving easily from the groovy my-philosophy intro "The Magic Number" to an intelligent, caring inner-city vignette named "Ghetto Thang" to the freewheeling end-of-innocence tale "Jenifa Taught Me (Derwin's Revenge)."(AM)