De La Soul Is Dead

De La Soul

Tommy Boy Records, 1991

http://www.wearedelasoul.com

REVIEW BY: Sean McCarthy

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 09/25/2006

A ton of artists have used albums to tear down peoples’ perceptions. In Utero was Nirvana’s partial response to the huge breakthrough of Nevermind. Faith No More’s Angel Dust was partly a response to all those listeners who thought “Epic” was the extent of their range. Lou Reed’s Metal Machine Music was a response to…whatever. But De La Soul took this type of deconstruction to its limit, musically, with De La Soul Is Dead. The entire album focuses on the dismantling of the peace-loving, hippie image that defined the hip-hop pioneers with 3 Feet High And Rising.

One can’t blame the band for feeling the pressure to harden their image. In 1991, in the era of N.W.A. and Ice-T, being hip-hop and associated with daisies and peace signs was about as appealing as being outed as a hardcore Republican or gay, or worse: a log-cabin Republican. What’s worse, De La Soul’s album 3 Feet High And Rising, easily one of the best hip-hop albums ever, resulted in the band being sued by The Turtles, who De La Soul sampled without permission. As a result, the era of free-sampling quickly shored up. Music purists may rejoice, but the result would make it nearly impossible for albums such as the Beastie Boys’ my_heart_sings_the_harmony_web_ad_alt_250 Paul’s Boutique or 3 Feet High and Rising to have ever existed in today’s climate.

Anyway, De La Soul went for broke, artistically, with De La Soul Is Dead.  What other band would make a quasi-concept album about a group of punks who steal the new De La Soul album and proceed to trash the album throughout some of the skits? The album isn’t nearly as instantly appealing as 3 Feet High And Rising, but the risks the album takes make it an essential purchase. Few rap albums are able to pull off a Tom Waits sample in the first song without it sounding pretentious.

De La Soul definitely had an ax to grind and spent a good amount of time on De La Soul is Dead whacking away at their critics. Arsenio Hall gets dissed a few times for calling them “the hippies of hip-hop” during a televised performance. In “Afro Connections at Hi-5,” Posdnuos sneers sarcastically “This is dedicated to all those hardcore acts.” And in “Pease Porridge,” Pasemaster Mase acknowledges “Yeah … my tolerance level has now peaked / and now it’s time for some heads to get flown.” A Tribe Called Quest spent some time on Midnight Marauders doing a similar thing (proving that, yes, they can kick your ass) and each instance of this slightly petty ranting mars what was otherwise a near-flawless album.

Not to say that De La Soul Is Dead is devoid of humor and playfulness. “Talkin’ Bout Hey Love” uses a doo-wop backdrop to examine the dynamics of male-female relationships. “Bitties in the BK Lounge” is a funny, five-minute mash-up of styles and “My Brother’s a Basehead” has to be one of the poppiest songs written about drug addiction.

Some parts of the album careen off into weirdness, namely “Who Do U Worship?” and “Not Over Till The Fat Lady Plays The Demo,” two songs that approach Zappa levels of obscureness. But the parts of the album that threaten to derail De La Soul Is Dead only enhance the strengths of the accessible songs, like “Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)” and “My Brother’s a Basehead.” Think of De La Soul Is Dead as the funhouse mirror to 3 Feet High And Rising. It’s a perfect companion piece to follow up a landmark.

Rating: A-

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© 2006 Sean McCarthy and The Daily Vault. All rights reserved. Review or any portion may not be reproduced without written permission. Cover art is the intellectual property of Tommy Boy Records, and is used for informational purposes only.