Track Listing

1. Intro
2. Magic Number
3. Change in Speak
4. Cool Breeze on the Rocks
5. Can U Keep a Secret?
6. Jenifa Taught Me (Derwin's Revenge)
7. Ghetto Thang
8. Transmitting Live from Mars
9. Eye Know
10. Take It Off
11. Little Bit of Soap
12. Tread Water
13. Potholes in My Lawn
14. Say No Go
15. Do as De La Does
16. Plug Tunin' [Last Chance to Comprehend]
17. De la Orgee
18. Buddy - De La Soul, Jungle Brothers, Q-Tip
19. Description
20. Me, Myself and I
21. This Is a Recording 4 Living in a Fulltime Era (L.I.F.E.)
22. I Can Do Anything (Delacratic)
23. D.A.I.S.Y. Age
24. Plug Tunin' [Original 12" Version]

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5983 in Music
• Brand: Wea International
• Published on: 2003
• Released on: 2001-10-23
• Number of discs: 2
• Formats: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
• Dimensions: .24 pounds

Album Description
Import edition of the alternative rapper's seminal and groundbreaking 1989 debut. Currently available domestically on cassette only! Standard jewel case.

Amazon.com essential recording
De La's debut represented a new path for hip-hop, a reaction to conventions that had turned into clichés. It was friendly and playful enough to cross over to a pop audience (thanks to Prince Paul's production, which found the funk hiding inside Steely Dan and "Schoolhouse Rock"), but complicated and tough enough to be hugely influential in the hip-hop world. Cryptic but ecstatic, and sometimes sexy (especially the ingenious double-entendre "Buddy"), Trugoy and Posdnuos's lyrics invented a "new style of speak," dense with self-invented slang and metaphors. The hits, including "Say No Go" and "Me Myself And I," are delightful, but the little sketches and sound-experiments between them make the whole disc flow effortlessly. --Douglas Wolk

Customer Reviews

A breath of fresh air
This is one of the few albums (especially rap ones) that I haven't heard a bad thing about - ever. Now that I've finally got it, I can see why.

Simply put, De La Soul are gods. Everything on this album comes together in a way which few other albums have (not even the later De La albums). It's very interesting to listen to this in 2001 and think that this is what hip-hop could/should have become if not for the "gangstas" of the world.

On all the tracks, it's easy to see that the three members are rapping out of love for the style and don't really care what anyone thinks. There are the names (Posdnous and Trugoy for example), which have to be spelled backwards to begin to understand the jokes; the game show (on which no one can answer the questions); the strange interludes (check out "Can You Keep A Secret"); and the bizarre rapping throughout.

The opening cut "The Magic Number" is pure joy. From the opening verse, it's obvious that these guys must be slightly out of their minds - this is proven throughout the album. Crazy rhymes, silly samples and an attitude of pure fun abound. There's even the infamous "Transmitting Live From Mars" which became the major evidence in one of the early anti-sampling cases. If that isn't enough, listen to "Plug Tunin'" - the intro will get into your mind even if you don't want it to.

Then of course comes the biggest hit from this album - "Me Myself and I". I defy anyone to listen to this track without breaking out laughing at some point - De La Soul are unable to take anything seriously.

On top of it all, there's the DAISY (Da Inna Sound Y'all) motif and appearances by the Jungle Brothers and a very young Q-Tip, all of whom were involved in the Native Tongues movement of the early 90s. What to give the hip-hop fan with everything? This album would have to be a good start (unless the fan already has it).

In short - an album which cannot seriously be missing from a respectable hip-hop collection. I've used it to convince rap haters and gangstas that there is something better - and this is certainly better.

A breath of fresh air well worth taking.

This Is Exactly Why I Hate New Hip Hop
Ah yes. New York, 1989. Beastie Boys, De La Soul, Tribe Called Quest, Run-DMC. This was possibly the best time for hip-hop music ever. The music had a vibe like no other, as well as keeping its roots and adding more funk than any other style. Great times, good music. Fast forward ten years or so. Rappers like Eminem, Dr. Dre, and Juvenille have young audiences screaming their names on MTV every day. Millions of their records are sold. The music has lost its edge, the funk and soul are gone, and instead, childish little songs and backbeats appear frequently. Hip hop has deteriorated and is now mainsteream. Sad, isn't it? De La Soul represent everything that was good about hip hop. Keeping African rythmns, adding the funk of Parliament, and rapping in a style that was (and is) easy to get into. This was their breakthrough album. There is not a bad song on this record, and I can easily get into it whenever I want to. This record makes me wonder why people even like new hip hop. This is smarter and funnier than anything Juvenille could ever come up with. I think my favorite tracks on 3 Feet High And Rising are Change in Speak, The Magic Number, and A Little Bit Of Soap. Quite possibly the greatest hip hop album ever made.

Scandalous Deletion
I am always amazed at some of the classic CDs that get deleted domestically. De La Soul's "Three Feet High and Rising" is one of the best hip-hop albums of all time. I know the band goes to great lengths sometimes to distance themselves from this disc, but more than a decade since its release, the trippy, daisy-age concept of this effort is now almost back in vogue. Regardless, it has always stood the test of time for me. The gameshow concept and the jokes sometimes get a little dated, though they will always retain their cleverness, but the grooves and the samples are intelligently constructed and first rate. "The Magic Number," "Eye Know," "Potholes," "Me Myself and I" (which introduced as many people to P. Funk in its own way as Snoop-Dog did) and "Daisy Age" are seminal cuts. Bring this beat back to the States!