De La Soul - Classic or Dud?

Mase & Pos posted long rememberances for Dave on instagram today

crying for real

i love masturbatory backpacker shit

also no prince paul, he went way further into left field after the split

gravediggaz ?
and then random stuff here and there that antidote compiled for 2 cds : politics of the business, hip hop gold dust.
but since then, i have not really followed his groove.

A Prince Among Thieves is a masterpiece

Handsome Boy Modelling School, Psychoanalysis are great

i love gravediggaz but i was thinking more of psychoanalysis, prince among thieves and handsome boy modeling school

ha xp

I was about to post the same exact re4commendations re: Prince Paul. A Prince Among Thieves and So... How's Your Girl? (Handsome Boy Modeling School) are two of my favorites from that era. Highly recommended

*recommendations

i genuinely forgot about HBMS.
Psychoanalysis is something i have realised i will never find in my travels.
but hey, never say never.

listened to Prince Among Thieves a bunch a while back, I felt even more strongly about it now. To be able to do a whole concept/rap opera thing and have the plot make sense, the superb "casting" (like Everlast as a dirty cop was inspired, and obviously all the others like BDK, Kool Keith, De La, etc) and then to center it on two relatively unknown rappers who are great in the lead roles, a real great piece of work. great beats too.

i love masturbatory backpacker shit

― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, February 22, 2023 11:13 AM

me too, but de la did it first + best.

totally they opened up whole new possibilities

I always had a soft spot for Beautifully Absurd from Politics of the Business

Confirmation about the replays:

Yes there were some replays that had to be done for clearance purposes. We challenge you to find them!! I spent over 4 months doing it with the man Prince Paul himself along with the members of the band. Set to be released on 3/3/23. It’s the Magic Number!!

— Scotty Hard (@scottyhardmusic) January 4, 2023

okayplayer has a GREAT interview about how these albums were (mostly) cleared and it even touches on other things (like the Beastie Boys, Lou Reed getting 100% of "Can I Kick It?," etc.):

https://www.okayplayer.com/music/de-la-soul-samples-deborah-mannis-gardner-interview.html

As mostly a lurker I feel nervous suggesting a thing but... would it be fun / is there appetite for having a listening thread or a poll or something once the albums are on streaming? A nice way to mark the moment and pay sustained attention to everything that's coming back out. I would like to sit with it properly and it'd be fun to do with company.

great idea!

I would vote!

i'm in.

Yep

in for poll

listening thread would be fun

I’d be game.

I would follow this thread esp if the tru headz here can break down the sample spotting

i will reup og mp3s if anybody wants to a/b.

listening thread is a fantastic idea

agreed

Confirmation about the replays:

So here's a question about replays: if they couldn't clear, say, a James Brown sample, studio musicians can re-create/re-record that. But why can't someone go into the studio and, doing an Eddie Murphy impression, say, "Anybody in the audience ever get hit by car?"

I think that would be extremely noticeable. Plus, isn't his voice slightly sped up/higher in the sample?

I think doing a replay indicates they cleared the rights to the composition but not the performance....

It was that sped up, I never knew it was Eddie Murphy

nice to see that scotty hard has been involved.

also, look at the swerve re questions re samples :

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/feb/23/de-la-soul-interview-belated-streaming-debut

Yeah I love Scotty Hard. Also interesting that given the sample replays, this must have involved going back to the multitracks, and presumably remixing and remastering the records.

not going to lie, there was a time i would buy anything with scotty hard involvement.
his solo album, 'the return of kill dog-e' on wordsound was one of those cds that when i found it made me grin from ear to ear.

I worked with him on a project recently; he mixed this album, which my label released. Nice guy, and very pleased when I told him that I still listen to the second New Kingdom album about once a month.

the fact there is a connection from this place to the genius behind so many albums i have in the archive ..
once again ilm delivers.

the rhyme scheme in magic number is so strange, is there a story/logic behind it?

streaming version sounds very loud to my ears

Tbh I started checking for him after hearing Medeski, Martin, and Wood's 'Combustication' in high school, which I still think is an incredible sounding album, some of the best drum sounds ever.

Today, De La Soul announced The DA.I.S.Y. Experience at Webster Hall in New York City on March 2. This immersive activation honors the life and legacy of the late David “Trugoy The Dove” Jolicoeur, and the influence and impact of pioneering New York hip-hop trio De La Soul, which he co-founded with fellow members Kelvin “Posdnuos” Mercer and Vincent Lamont “Maseo” Mason Jr.

“The DA.I.S.Y. Experience”—named for the group’s song “D.A.I.S.Y. Age” off 3 Feet High and Rising, and standing for “Da Inner Sound Y’all”—will morph Webster Hall into the ultimate celebration of De La Soul on the eve of the group’s music arriving on streaming services March 3. Produced in conjunction with Amazon Music, the event will unite family, friends, and fans for a celebration of Dave and De La Soul. The venue will be transformed with artwork from the group’s classic album, 3 Feet High and Rising.

The Originals (Stretch Armstrong, Clark Kent, Rich Medina, and Tony Touch) will curate a DJ set dedicated to the De La Soul’s legacy. Fans can watch the set on Maseo’s Twitch Channel starting at 8 p.m. ET. Meanwhile, Posdnuos and Maseo, along with other VIPs, will be on hand at the event to celebrate their brother Dave. Fans can RSVP to the free event here: thedaisyexperience.com.

The Amazon Music channel on Twitch will livestream a series of interviews with friends of De La Soul and special guests, hosted by Rob Markman and Free Marie, starting at 10:30 p.m. EST.

Are these reissues going to have replayed elements instead of original samples? Major bummer if the samples aren’t 100% present and correct.

Are these reissues going to have replayed elements instead of original samples? Major bummer if the samples aren’t 100% present and correct.

Will the physical reissues of your albums be exactly the same as the originals, or did you need to redo some of the samples? johnnymoseley
Posdnuos: A lot of work went into getting hold of the masters and remastering, but everything will sound as tight and beautiful as you remember.
Maseo: It was frustrating that our first six albums weren’t on Spotify [owing to record company disputes]. It felt like we were being erased from history. Newer fans would ask: “Where’s your older stuff?” Now, they’ll be able to get it.

Well this makes it sound like these reissues will be shit shows featuring garbage relays of the original samples. I’ll wait and see but I’m the answer to this direct question is troubling.

i mean i thought we all agreed that the "official" version of "magic number" (that's been there for several weeks now) definitely has some missing / different elements?

(and i like it just fine?)

(I'm happy you like it just fine.) (I don't.)

I read that Prince Paul was working on the sample re-dos on the reissues as well

see to me, that's a great sign.

Prince Paul needs a luden.

In light of that Deborah Mannis-Gardner interview I posted upthread, it's probably a good idea to buy a physical copy of any other hip-hop album you'd want prior to the mid-'90s. It just sounds like there's a ton of albums out there that are extremely vulnerable to litigious rights holders, including some that I would count among my very favorites.

is there a thread on attempts at re-recording/recreating recordings? wheatus' teenage dirtbag 2020, taylor swift's old albums, or the kind of blue note for note cover album from 2014

(I'm happy you like it just fine.) (I don't.)

It's taken them this long to reissue them as they'll be coming out, and they had to jump countless hurdles and jump through endless hoops to get there. If you want a copy of the original, they are plenty of them out there. These reissues are as good as they can manage them at this moment in time.