How De La Soul Made It Acceptable for Rappers to Be Themselves
De La Soul helped change the sound and image of modern rap music. Thanks to bad business deals, you can't stream De La in 2020. We're shouting out the legendary rap group for all of their accomplishments.
De La Soul is the iconic rap trio from Amityville, New York. The group emerged alongside A Tribe Called Quest and the Native Tongues movement in the late 1980s.
The group members are; Posdnuos/Plug 1, Dave/Plug 2 and DJ Maseo/Plug 3. De La managed to sign to Tommy Boy Records and released their legendary debut ‘3 Feet High and Rising’ in 1989.
Stylistically, De La was the antithesis to the ‘gangster’ sound and image prominent in rap music at the time. For a while, a yellow daisy flower became synonymous with De La's image.
It can be said that Tyler, The Creator was influenced by De La for his album ‘Flower Boy’ with similar jazzy production and style.
Throughout the nineties, De La dropped ‘De La Soul is Dead’, ‘Buhloone Mindstate ‘and ‘Stakes Is High’. Which were well received and unique in their own right.
De La’s subject matter was Afrocentric, often positive. They touched on politics, racism and the state of rap music.
The rap careers of Mos Def and the late J Dilla were also thanks to De La. The group gave them notable guest spots on songs early in their career.
Most people remember De La for their collaboration with virtual band Gorillaz for their song ‘Feel Good Inc.’ in 2005.
Sadly, De La’s music is hard to access is thanks to their label Tommy Boy. Tommy Boy owns the rights to the first six De La albums, a majority of their music.
Over the years, fans have campaigned and petitions for their older work to be added to streaming services and digital stores as De La makes no money from royalties.
Sadly, Tommy failed to renegotiate De La’s dated contract made in the late 80s before digital music existed. As a result, De La's exposure to new fans is limited. This is a classic case of young impressionable black artists being exploited by the industry without fair compensation.
The same can also be said for Aaliyah’s music catalogue which is also notably absent from streaming.
Despite the shortcomings, De La Soul will remain a pioneer for the modern landscape of rap music with their bright personalities, wild art direction and timeless music.
Stream the latter half of De La Soul's music on Spotify and Apple Music here. Also, check out Stakes Is High and 3 Feet High and Rising on YouTube.
