★★★★★
Even though it proclaimed the death of its playful bohemian aesthetic in 1991, De La Soul didn't really leave it behind until five years later, when the trio of MCs largely self-produced its fourth album, Stakes Is High. Until that point, producer Prince Paul was essentially a band member, his unconventional samples and kaleidoscopic funk/game show pastiches arguably the most defining element of the De La sound. In hindsight, it was a great move...
- www.popmatters.com
2014-05-07
★★★★★
When De La Soul released Stakes Is High in 1996, the MCs were at a significant crossroads--and so was James Yancey, whose work as J Dilla helped define their transition from the Prince Paul-produced lightheartedness of their first three albums. The producer's credited on that album's stirring title track, which flipped jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal's early '70s cut "Swahililand" in ways unheard of since DJ Premier turned the first few bars of "Misdemeanor" into the pacing tension of Gang Starr's...
- pitchfork.com
2014-04-04
★★★★★
You may recall that in February, De La Soul celebrated the 25th
anniversary of " 3 Feet High and Rising "
by giving away
almost all of their music catalogue for 25 hours. That period has
long since expired, but one gem remais tucked away in their vault -
"Remixes, Rarities & Classics." Within the confines of their free
give away were portions of a slept on De La compilation from 2004...
- rapreviews.com
2014-03-11
★★★★★
Many critics never got over 1989's 3 Feet High And Rising, the greatest hippie album since hippies, so let's skirt around it. Suffice to say it's still uplifting. De La Soul Is Dead (1991), a crapping-on-expectations record that was one of the biggest lows of this writer's fan life, still sounds craftily snidey...
- recordcollectormag.com
2013-04-02
★★★★★
2013 repress. "De La Soul's second album, originally released in 1991, was initially received poorly by the press and their fans due to its immediate rejection of the 'daisy-age' image created by their debut LP...
- www.forcedexposure.com
2013-04-01
★★★★★
De La Soul return with De La Soul?s Plug 1 & Plug 2 Presents - First Serve their first full length album in eight years. Although Maseo (plug 3) is absent for First Serve, Plug 1 (Pos) and Plug 2 (Dave) have delivered a vintage De La Soul album. The duo have taken on the personas of Deen Witter (Plug 2) and Jacob ?Pop Life? Barrow two young friends trying to make a name for themselves by making music in their basement...
- www.music-news.com
2012-04-16
★★★★★
In recent years, alternative hip-hop has reached an all-time high commercially. Mainstream artists like Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco and Drake have been tremendously successful with their heartfelt and emotional subject matter, while fusing various genres together in their music. Interestingly enough, in this day and age of hip-hop it is hard to find more than a few hardcore rappers achieving mainstream success...
- rapreviews.com
2012-03-06
★★★★★
'A riposte to the macho posturing of rap' ... De La Soul's Three Feet High and Rising My teenage years were a nightmare: cursed with a sunny disposition, easygoing nature and ability to make friends easily, it seemed as if everyone understood me ... yet whenever I looked around all the cool kids were channelling misery and angst through Morrissey and Cure albums. Where were the poets for our generation who found each day not all that bad? Well, that's where De La Soul came in...
- www.guardian.co.uk
2011-09-12
★★★★★
Sure, George W. won the election, but De La Soul have a new album out and it's amazing. Thankfully moving away from whatever it was they were up to on AOI: Bionix, their last full-length, the Strong Island natives create an album for 2004 that manages to sound both current and representative of their own sound, a distinctive voice that goes back almost as far as the genre itself...
- www.hour.ca
2010-11-02
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