De La Soul has been on my mind lately. They were a refreshing entry into the rap scene, adding some silliness and psychedelia to a sound dominated, at the time, by bragging. De La Soul switched the rules around and broke rap open with others such as the Jungle Brothers, Tribe Called Quest , Shortie, Monie Love and others.
Suddenly there was room for some smarter poetry. Jungle Brothers gave us songs about eating well and respecting women, for example. Tribe lost their wallet in El Segundo. De la Soul rapped about potholes in their lawn, and daisies.
De La Soul, being pioneers with their extremely popular 3 Feet High and Rising debut, were swept up in concerns about sampling and rights, and their later albums commented on the situation (“De La Soul Is Dead”). They faded and somewhat disappeared after their excellent DJ Prince Paul split, but recently they’ve been making moves to come back, giving away all their old music for free, and releasing a new, free mixtape for fans. (It’s on their web site).
Here they are on July 16, 2010 at Jazzfest Montreux. It’s a bit unusual for a few reasons. One is that rap concerts can be terrible, and this isn’t. Another is that they work with a live band for a portion of the show, which adds a new twist to old classics, and a RunDMC cover.
There is some minor swearing here, so don’t watch it if that sort of thing bothers you. Otherwise, raise your hands… let’s go to Switzerland.
