De La Soul - Is Dead
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Category: Music CD
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CD Details
Artist: De La SoulEdition: Music CD
Audio: English (Original Language)
CD Release Date: 1991-05-13
Music Label: Tommy Boy
Soundtracks:
- Intro
- Oodles Of O's
- Talkin' Bout Hey Love
- Pease Porridge
- Skit 1
- Johnny's Dead Aka Vincent Mason (Live From The BK Lounge)
- A Roller Skating Jam Named 'Saturdays'
- WRMS' Dedication To The Bitty
- Bitties In The BK Lounge
- Skit 2
- My Brother's A Basehead
- Let, Let Me In
- Afro Connections At A Hi 5 (In The Eyes Of The Hoodlum)
- Rap De Rap Show
- Millie Pulled A Pistol On Santa
- Who Do U Worship?
- Skit 3
- Kicked Out The House
- Pass The Plugs
- Not Over Till The Fat Lady Plays The Demo
- Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)
- WRMS: Cat's In Control
- Skit 4
- Shwingalokate
- Fanatic Of The B Word
- Keepin' The Faith
- Skit 5
Music reviews of Is Dead
Music Review: Hip Hops Only Schizophrenic Self-Diss Concept Album
Rating: 5 Stars
Back in 1989, a new tidal wave of music was cascading along the shores. The sounds of the Native Tongues were staking their claim as alternative rap pioneers. The world of hip hop would never be the same after "3 Feet High and Rising" which is considered by many as the greatest hip hop album to ever drop. However, being taunted by people as the hippies of hip hop, De La did something artisticly bold. Plagued by labels, due to their visual of flowers on "3 Feet High's" cover art, De La Soul killed their 'pyschadelic image' by illustrating a pot of dead daisies on their sophomore effort. Suddenly, "De La Soul Is Dead" showed a edgier dark side that flew over heads of the buying public and disallowed critics to really put a finger on it.
"De La Soul Is Dead" was a record attacking ignorance and gangsta posturing. The record starts off with a pack of goons who roughs up a young kid with a copy of the De La Soul tape and then they pop the tape in and harshly criticize each song at certain intervals. At the end of the record they throw the tape in the garbage stating, "no guns, no cursing; that's what rap music is all about...RIGHT". Although the album contains little profanity the message is loud and clear on the hardcore parody of "Afro Connections At The Hi 5". This is an underappreciated gem. De La calls in to question of all the acts who changed their sound to be grittier claiming they, "fell the FU-- OFF". Posdunous mockingly says, "now I hold my crotch because I'm top notch".
The album is not nearly enjoyable without the man behind the boards. Prince Paul is the mad scientist of hip hop, orchestrating a collage of samples that has yet to be duplicated. The albums first song "Oodles of O's" (a highlight on a classic album) has a dischordant loop that is endlessly catchy. The loopy bassline is like the hook and your attention is the bait and you can't help but get hooked and nod your head to this. "Peas Porridge" ranks amongst Prince Pauls best beats as De La Soul talks in witty double speak. Again, the song is broken up by people who trash De La Souls reputation. Maseo claims, "why do people think just because we speak peace we can't blow no joints" (I-I-I Don't Know). The most lighthearted jam has to be the single "Roller Skating Jam Called Saturday" which had a friend of mine mezmerized recently (especially with the 'Greece' sample thrown in the middle of the song)! "Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)" was actually an unlikely choice for the lead single. The upbeat production seemed cheery enough but the groups frustration with being burdened around third-rate demos was harsh to say the least. It is an incredibly playful song which got the group in copyright troubles. "Pass The Plugs" had many people flocking to YouTube to check out the hype around the Posdunous line, "Arsenio dissed us but the crowd kept clappin' when Arsenio dissed them before their performance on the show.
Prince Pauls beats and the lyrics from "De La Soul Is Dead" have been sampled over and over again. You will be amazed at all of the fragments and ideas that came from this. On top of that, the record contains the greatest album liner note ever. Maseo states, "To the Amittyville community: you are the ones who say when people like us get successful we never come back to contribute to our community. Well we came to you on so many occasions and, in so many words, you said 'f--- De La Soul" and now I'm saying "f--- you"! Fitting with the albums theme it is a statement on people who pigeon hole rap as stagnated music failing to realize that it evolves from the same epicenter of other genres. "De La Soul Is Dead" is a testament to silence all those critics who say rap is not music. Honestly, if rap artists today took half the risks that De La took then hip hop would be a much better place.
Description of Is Dead
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. In the years since, however, it has come to be accepted as a stone classic that may even surpass the feel-good jams of Three Feet High And Rising with its expansive scope and more diverse subject matter (drug addiction, incest, poseurs, in addition to the more expected, light-hearted material). Prince Paul's production is, again, nothing short of brilliant and rappers Plug's 1, 2 and 3 bring the flow that has made them, rightfully, hip-hop legends. 180 gram vinyl reissue.De La Soul burned out on their own hype fast, and their dark, strange second album is a counter-blast to their image and hip-hop culture: perverse, dissatisfied, sometimes brilliant, sometimes out of control. Occasionally it seems mean-spirited--the single "Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)" finds them grousing about getting deluged by demo tapes, and "Kicked Out The House" is a nasty (if very funny) parody of hip-house. But no one's ever made a rap album that sounds like this. Sickly out-of-tune loops drift in and out; songs derail themselves with loud sneers, or give way to bizarre dialogues; Posdnuos and Trugoy chant together like the words have lost all meaning. The concept that ties the disc together---an imaginary radio station called WRMS--gives it an extra kick. --Douglas Wolk
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