De La Soul - Mixtape (feat. Q-Tip, Mos Def, Redman, Busta Rhymes, J Dilla, The Jungle Brothers...)

1. De La Soul (feat Redman & Busta Rhymes) - Oooh (Select Mix Remix) 0:00
2. De La Soul - Ring Ring Ring (Party Line Mix) 4:45
3. De La Soul - Stakes Is High (feat. Mos Def) (J Dilla Remix) 8:51
4. De La Soul, Q-Tip & The Jungle Brothers - Buddy (12" Remix) 13:37
5. De La Soul - Me Myself and I (Remix) 19:55
6. De La Soul - Fallin' (Remix) 23:26
7. De La Soul - Freedom of Speak 25:35
8. De La Soul - A Roller Skating Jam Named Saturdays (Select Mix Remix) 28:33
9. De La Soul - Whats More 33:34
10. De la Soul - Breakadawn 35:37
11. De La Soul - Stakes Is High (Choppin' Mastah Remix) 39:07
12. De La Soul - The Bizness (Vinyl Reanimators Remix) 43:15
13. Da Bush Babees (feat. De La Soul) - The Love Song (Extended Radio Remix) 47:25
14. De La Soul - Keepin' the Faith (12" UK Mix) 52:35
15. De La Soul - The Grind Date (Wale Oyejid Remix) 56:35
16. De La Soul - Cobbs Creek (King Britt Great Skate Remix) 59:59
17. Cradle Orchestra - Picnic (feat. De La Soul) (TRI4TH Remix) 1:03:09
18. De La Soul: Stakes Is High (Jay Dee Remix) 1:08:08
19. De La Soul - Itsoweezee (feat. Yankee B) (De La Remix) 1:12:40

De La Soul is an American hip hop group formed in 1988 in the village of Amityville on Long Island, New York. They are best known for their eclectic sampling, eccentric lyrics, and contributions to the evolution of the jazz rap and alternative hip hop subgenres. Kelvin "Posdnuos" Mercer, David "Trugoy the Dove" Jolicoeur, and Vincent "Maseo" Mason formed the group in high school and caught the attention of producer Prince Paul with a demo tape of the song "Plug Tunin'".

With its playful wordplay, innovative sampling, and witty skits, the group's debut album, 3 Feet High and Rising (1989), has been called "a hip hop masterpiece". It remains their biggest commercial success, though subsequent albums have continued to receive acclaim. De La Soul is the second-longest-standing Native Tongues group, after the Jungle Brothers. In 2006, the group won a Grammy for their collaboration with Gorillaz on their single "Feel Good Inc."

The group released a Kickstarter-funded album, And the Anonymous Nobody..., in 2016. The album features guest appearances from artists such as Damon Albarn, Little Dragon, David Byrne, 2 Chainz, and Snoop Dogg. Trugoy the Dove died in 2023.

De La Soul's debut album, 3 Feet High and Rising, released in 1989, was a critical smash hit in the hip hop genre. They quickly became prominent members of the Native Tongues Posse along with A Tribe Called Quest, Black Sheep, Queen Latifah, and the Jungle Brothers among others. The single "Me Myself and I" became a huge hit, further cementing the group's popularity. However, the sixties pop group The Turtles sued De La Soul for using a sample from their 1969 hit "You Showed Me" for the interlude track "Transmitting Live from Mars".

Lyrically, much of 3 Feet High and Rising focused on striving for peace and harmony. 3 Feet High and Rising also introduced De La Soul's concept of the "D.A.I.S.Y. Age" (an acronym standing for "da inner sound, y'all"). As a result, audiences were quick to peg the members of De La Soul as hippies. This stereotype greatly agitated the group's members, as they always envisioned their career as a constantly changing style; this frustration would influence their next recording sessions. In the press kit for 3 Feet High and Rising, the members explained their stage names: Trugoy when reversed spells yogurt, because he likes yogurt, and Posdnuos spelled backwards is "sound sop". The album artwork was designed by radical British artist collective the Grey Organisation.

De La Soul's second album, De La Soul Is Dead (1991), was a much more mature album. It featured a wealth of material that criticized the violent, careless direction that hip hop was heading in at the time, though it still managed to maintain a light, absurd sense of humor. The cover of the album features a broken daisy flower pot, symbolizing the death of the "D.A.I.S.Y. Age" and the imagery that went along with it. The album spawned several singles, including the dark "Millie Pulled a Pistol on Santa", a tale of a young girl who could no longer take the sexual abuse from her father, and the lead single "Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)", a story about people using the group's recent fame to try to launch their own careers.

De La Soul collaborated with Black Sheep on "Fanatic of the B Word" and Q-Tip from A Tribe Called Quest on "A Roller Skating Jam Named 'Saturdays'"; Prince Paul makes an appearance on the mic in "Pass the Plugs" with a verse of his own. The album also more prominently featured Maseo as a rapper, providing verses of his own on "Bitties in the BK Lounge", "Afro Connections at a Hi-5", and "Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)".

#delasoul #nativetongue #daisyage