Posts Tagged ‘de la soul’

“3 Feet High and Rising” remade by United States of Audio

Friday, May 24th, 2013

usoa-de la-450

Best mix of 2013? Yes.

Following on from last year’s treatment of ‘Paul’s Boutique‘, United States of Audio does the same with De la Soul’s groundbreaking album 3 Feet High and Rising. It’s not just a mix, but more like an audio documentary about an album that is also about to celebrate it’s 25th anniversary. In his own words;

‘Several years in the making and including around 100 tracks, this is my personal tribute to De La Soul’s ’3 Feet High and Rising’. Using original sample sources, album tracks, interviews and rarities, ‘How High’s The Water Mama’ tells the story of one of hip hop’s most influential albums.

When De La Soul’s debut album dropped in 1989 I was ten years old. Yet, by some stroke of amazing good fortune a cassette copy of ’3 Feet High and Rising’ found its way into my hands thanks to my best mate’s older brother (though I’m pretty sure said brother had no idea of this fact!). The music was a revelation and had a significant influence in shaping my musical tastes – in fact I can’t think of any other album that has had such a profound effect on me as this one. Thus ’3 Feet High and Rising’ holds a special place in my musical affections. Now, some twenty-five years after its original release, it’s time to pay my respect to Pos, Dove, Mase, and Prince Paul…’

Go to the SoundCloud page for the full track list and to download, it’s mad long. Thanks to Kev and Megatrip for the link.

enjoy,
dirt_dog

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Spin Doctor vs. De La Soul – Brakes Is High

Friday, October 5th, 2012


Snagged this mix from the good blokes over at Dephect Clothing. In their own words:

A chronological blend of over 60 De La Soul classics and the original breaks used to create them from their first four albums; ’3 Feet High & Rising’, ‘De La Soul Is Dead’, ‘Buhloon Mindstate’ & ‘Stakes Is High’ & coming in at around 1 hour 45 mins this is a must for anyone with a love of Hip-Hop, Jazz, Soul & the art of sampling.

While this isn’t quite the monumental feat of sample source remixing that A Tribute to the Beastie Boys’ Paul’s Boutique was, it is a nice mix to enjoy over the weekend. Click here to download.

-Samuel Diamond

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Fela Kuti & De La Soul – Fela Soul

Sunday, September 18th, 2011

What do you get when you put together afrobeat legend Fela Kuti and rap pioneers De La Soul? You get Fela Soul; musical tapestry created by Gummy Soul artist Amerigo Gazaway. More than just a clever title, Fela Soul is an 8-track, 33 minute journey into the world of afrobeat rhythms, funky horn riffs, and classic hip-hop gems. Using dozens of hand-picked samples from the Nigerian instrumentalist and political figure Fela Kuti, and 8 carefully-chosen acapellas from the Native Tongue rap trio De La Soul, Amerigo seamlessly intertwines the two into something completely new and original.

Download the entire album for free, along with liner notes and album commentary below.

Props to GummySoul for this one.

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De La Soul Is Alive And Well

Monday, June 6th, 2011

At least here on TROY. A few recent posts from around the blogosphere have focused on De La Soul.

Claa7 of The Lost Tapes blog recently put together a compilation called Three The Soulful Way, which he describes as “a collection of no less than 20 songs from the period between 1989 and 1994, carefully sequenced and arranged for the perfect De La experience.” Sounds good to us. Click on the album cover to download, and be sure to leave some feedback for Claa7 back at his blog.

Over at Scratch Reaction, Roy Johnson recently uploaded a live performance from De La Soul’s first tour in 1989. “Here’s a soundboard from De La Soul’s “Three Feet High & Rising” tour,” he writes, indicating to the real fans that this recording does the group’s legendary live show justice. You can peep audio snippets, download the whole set, and leave Roy some feedback here.

How crazy is it that Three Feet High and Rising was released 20 years ago? Tell those darned kids to get off the potholes in your lawn already.

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De La Soul “Breakadawn”

Wednesday, March 9th, 2011

Stream: De La Soul “Breakadawn”

“Breakadawn” found its way to my ears by surprise in August of 1993. I had given up hope of hearing new music by either A Tribe Called Quest or De La Soul, whose most recent releases up to that point (Low End Theory and De La Soul Is Dead, respectively, both released in 1991) may as well have been one of my grandfather’s pre-stereo jazz albums. My adolescent attention span, admittedly warped by a partial obedience to local tastemaker friends and cousins who were obsessed with discovering that ol’ next shit, would not allow me to remain perfectly loyal to artists who dematerialized without so much as a farewell speech. De La Soul was always a hard sell anyway.

Anytime I tried to play De La Soul Is Dead around my friends they would instantly transform into a less violent version of the naysaying hooligans depicted in the album’s skits.  I held my ground, gaining support from the girls once “Rollersating Jam” came on, but inevitably my tape would be tossed aside in favor of Onyx. Although De La Soul Is Dead saw the group don hoodies, adopt more conventional haircuts, and rap a little bit more aggressively over slightly harder beats, they were still viewed by many as eccentric bohemians. By  mid-1993 this was a problem, because the only Native Tongue-related joint out was Beatnuts “Reign of The Tec” and if a song didn’t have a shouted chorus and a video featuring burning trashcans, it didn’t connect with mixed company. (more…)

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Shortie No Mass – “Like This” 12 Inch VLS

Wednesday, February 16th, 2011

Those of you still nod your head to De La Soul’s third–and I would say best–album from time to time will also recall hearing, for the first time, the infectious presence of a female guest, who lent her smooth, uniquely cool voice to several songs and even rapped a verse on “In the Woods.” For me, Shortie No Mass’ charismatic charm and feminine appeal on Buhloone Mindstate are as memorable as any guests De La Soul has ever employed, and help make it one of their finest albums. Why she hasn’t appeared on more of their albums is a mystery to me.

The Philadelphia-raised femcee and cousin of Posdnuos never did release a full-length LP herself, nor, to my knowledge, has she joined De La Soul on wax since Buhloone, but she did embark on a solo career for a brief period of time in the mid-nineties, recording the 12 inch single  “Like This” b/w “U Like My Style” in 1995. (more…)

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3 Steps From Nowhere

Wednesday, February 9th, 2011

I’ll start this off with a little known and under-appreciated group called 3 Steps From Nowhere. 3SFN is comprised of Lazy, Black Crow, and Rimshot.

They dropped their debut and only album, 30 Below Funk, in 1995 and then seemingly fell off the planet. The album includes guest spots from Trugoy, among others.

The sound is typical of an early/mid ’90s album. Jazzy, smooth, includes dope but predictable choruses, and is not so much lyric heavy. The value in this album really lies in the production and the vibe. Just some cool shit you can nod your head to and chill to. The production is handled in-house, by 3SFN members Lazy and Rimshot.

They released a single, Pass It On, which had it’s own video. One of the better cuts off the album and still gets rotation from me to this day.


3 Steps From Nowhere – 30 Below Funk

To conclude, this album doesn’t get enough exposure. And while not some musical godship, it’s definitely worth the download. If you enjoy groups like Trends of Culture, Ill Biskits, or Kirk, then you will undoubtedly have this in your deck for weeks! –KITFUNK

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Trugoy The Dove – Roadrunner

Tuesday, January 11th, 2011

Well, first of all thanks to Roy Johnson for discovering this track.

Second, in case you missed it in Roy’s De La Soul Is Dead Ear Rarities post from our Native Tongue Month, here it is now.

Track came out of Stretch & Bobbito rarities tape. We don’t know exact story behind this, but since Trugoy is credited with writing the lyrics to the song, we can safely assume he recorded this as a reference vocal track for Chi-Ali.

Enjoy!

–>Download Trugoy The Dove – Roadrunner<–

–Markshot

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The TROY Blog Presents 100 Greatest Native Tongues Songs – MP3s

Tuesday, December 21st, 2010

You wanted it, now you’re getting it! We’ve been bombarded with this request since the list dropped so without further ado here are the mp3s (+ bonuses) for you all. Remember the to best way to stay tuned into all our updates is by subscribing to our feed, which you can do by clicking here. When the links go down, you better be ready and there is no better place than T.R.O.Y.’s Skypager. The Re-Up gang is back and we’ll be sending out Skypager messages with fresh links and exclusive tracks that only Skypager members will have access to.

Click to read The TROY Blog Presents 100 Greatest Native Tongues Songs @Complex.com

The zip files are below (2 files), all mp3s are not tagged; however you get 105 total. Make sure you check out Complex for the entire list and spread the word.

Greatest Native Tongues Songs (Part 1)
Greatest Native Tongues Songs (Part 2)

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The TROY Blog Presents 100 Greatest Native Tongues Songs (Complex.com)

Wednesday, December 15th, 2010

Click to read The TROY Blog Presents 100 Greatest Native Tongues Songs @Complex.com

…beyond their flamboyant presentation and bohemian sensibility, the Native Tongues were about constructing haunting, beautiful songs out of the fuzzy, bassy, scratchy, nearly forgotten remnants of virtually every black American musical tradition that ever seduced mainstream audiences. With a focus on the core members, we got the good folks from The T.R.O.Y. Blog to figure out The 100 Greatest Native Tongues Songs…

We put together this mammoth list to give new jacks a guide to the Native Tongues discography and old fans an excuse to listen to these gems again with older, wiser ears. These are songs by Jungle Brothers, De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, Black Sheep, Queen Latifah, Monie Love, Chi-Ali, and others; can you really go wrong? March on over to Complex.com and get down with our virtual, interactive (streaming audio for every entry!) tour of one of our favorite portions of hip hop history. Hint for the impatient know-it-alls: if you hover the cursor over the menu linking to every entry, you’ll be able to see the songs in advance; we’re sure as shit not listing them all here. Enjoy!

Oh and if you found our site via Complex.com, welcome! Make yourself comfortable, take a look around, subscribe if you like what you see. We post reviews, articles, compilations, mixes, downloads, etc. everyday; we have quality content available for nearly every style of rap and taste that exists, from every era.

Special thanks to Dan, vaporized, 8ks, Espirando, pauserecordplay, and aleph for assisting us with the audio.  — Thun & Philaflava

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