Frenchy’s Fracas

General Description
Artist/Band: De La Soul
Album Title: Three Feet High And Rising
Year: 1989

“How many times did the Batmobile catch a flat?”

How I Got Into This Music
Hmm.. Man, what a ride! Those times were incredible: just started out listening to the next generation of rap with people like Public Enemy setting the political tone on one side and party groovers like Big Daddy Kane doing their pimping stuff on the other side.
Then, at least to me, the heavens broke and De La Soul happened to my mindset. Crazy hippy shit with fantastic samples and weird lyrics (a new slang/code was made public, but you had to decypher it yourself).
I remember seeing the first dude with a DA.I.S.Y. (Da Inner Sound Y’all!) T-shirt, wow! Where did he get it?!? Who are these guys? Who - are - these - guys?!?! So I finally got the album and my mind was totally blown away! Here we go.. But first a small explanation about an album with 24 tracks. In between the ‘normal’ tracks you get several smaller tracks (skits) intersected about the most weird stuff. Anyway..

Tracks that got my attention
(well, all of them actually, but still..):

Intro
Setting the main theme of the album: a quiz show, the contestants and the questions: “What does Touche et Lele Pu mean?” and such.. No actual music, but I got me a set of friends who’ll start quoting this stuff when the first few words are heard.. (Men really are sick puppies, heheh..)

The Magic Number
Wanna hurt yourself silly? Start scanning the web for info on the samples used on De La tracks! Official credits for this track include Becker/Fagen and I’m guessing it’s our boys of Steely Dan..
Fantastic vibe and energy from this track and a great introduction of the band

Cool Breeze On The Rocks
Oh-frigging-wow!! Brilliant!!! Fantastic!!!! (there’s a sanity criterium for the amount of exclamation marks used while writing - five implies a restraining order or some serious medication).
Anyways, let your DJ set the tone: sample/paste a gazillion parts where the word ‘rock’ is being used like ‘Solid’ by Ashford and Simpson, ‘Rock With You’ by Michael Jackson, ‘Shake You Down’ by Gregory Abbott and some track(s) by Public Enemy.. Drooool..

Can You Keep A Secret
Silliest of funny lyrics ever! And a great set of samples used in the background

Jenifa Thaught Me (Derwin’s Revenge)
Like with most of the tracks, I still can remember my amazement when Derwin’s intermezzo starts..

Ghetto Thang
Easy-going, mellow-happy hippies? I think not! This track has an unbelievable strong lyrical representation. This one gets to the marrow of life: suck it and it sucks back..

Transmitting Live From Mars
I remember laughing my ass off when I heard this the first time: your French language learning tapes never sounded as good as this.. “C’est l’heure de dejeuner”

Eye Know
Instant summer feeling! Great samples from Steely Dan and Sly & The Family Stone. The most famous sample is of course the whistle part from “Sitting On The Dock Of The Bay” by Mister Otis Redding. Can you imagine what people’d ‘ve thought if you told them you’re planning to mix samples by the aforementioned artists into one single song? And it damn well works!

A Little Bit Of Soap
A 47 second long track that still makes me smile. I catch myself chanting the final line three to four times a year, you know?

Tread Water
Not my favorite track but I do love the quest story and the roles of the soul-spirit animals: “It’s me, said mister Squirrel.”

Say No Go
Man, Hall & Oates got a second lease of life with this second hit single from this album. I remember being quite amused by the sight of Dutch students dancing to this music.
Favorite bit: “Run me a score from the Funky Four Plus One More. (It’s the joint!). Rewind that back..”

Do As De La Does
Party chant! “Ah, you big sconzilli heads!”

Plug Tunin’
Just love the piano work!

De La Orgee
Well.. “What’s my name? What’s my name?” Nuff said..

Buddy
Native Tongue collaboration - Jungle Brothers and A Tribe Called Quest joining the boys on this track. “For the lap Jimbrowski must wear a cap. Just in case the young girl likes to clap” helping youngsters with any awkwardness regarding prophylactics

Description
Important track! The creative mentor of the band gets his credits: “Will rise, not fall - Definition, Prince Paul - The Mentor - Don’t be sore - When I say - That’s all..”

Me Myself And I
Breakthrough single and a frigging great one! Sampling Funkadelic, Ohio Players and James Brown to create an instant floor filler. The shit works to this date even with people who were born after Live Aid!

D.A.I.S.Y. Age
Incredible beats and scratching.

Conclusion
Weeeellllll… Kinda hard to describe the historical importance of this album without getting all thirty-someting about it.. But still.. These guys put out an album that still is used as a reference for hip-hop music in general and specifically for the creativity in sampling techniques, lyrics and production. I still get a little buzz when I hear De La’s doing something new even though the impact’s not necessarily the same.
“Three Feet High And Rising” set the tone for a different way of making hip-hop music: no macho crotch-grabbing, gold chain wearing gangsta bees and wannabees bollocks, but musicians setting intelligent and entertaining music on the front stage. Without conforming to expectations on both sides of the musical divides this music was real rap that attracted a non hip-hop audience without selling out.
These guys were at the top of their skills when they made this album and you know why? Because after this album they had the guts to make the “De La Soul Is Dead” album.. Which in some ways, is an ever better album! But that’s another review, lads and laddettes..

Share This