{"id":39572,"date":"2005-12-19T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2005-12-19T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/three-feet-high-and-rising\/"},"modified":"2005-12-19T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2005-12-19T00:00:00","slug":"three-feet-high-and-rising","status":"publish","type":"review","link":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/three-feet-high-and-rising\/","title":{"rendered":"Three Feet High And Rising"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

For the “unofficial” new college student enrollment
\npack, there should be a copy of Jack Kerouac’s On the Road<\/i>,
\nAlex Haley’s The Autobiography of Malcolm X<\/i>, a discarded ID
\nby someone over the age of 21 who vaguely resembles your features
\nand De La Soul’s Three Feet High And Rising<\/i>.<\/p>\n

It’s one of the ultimate college albums: dense with
\npop culture and literary references with stoner (read: hippie)
\nsensibilities. It also doesn’t hurt that when it came out, Three
\nFeet High And Rising<\/i> gave audiences a window to the emerging
\nculture of hip-hop for people who may have been put off by the
\nmisogynistic and violent world of N.W.A. and the searing politics
\nof Public Enemy.<\/p>\n

For their 1989 debut, De La Soul unleashed a
\nconfident landmark album that for better and for worse altered
\nhip-hop forever. Three Feet High And Rising<\/i> helped
\npopularize the role of the skit in hip-hop and rap albums by
\ncentering the album around a mock game show. In addition, the album
\nhelped bring about an end to the relatively free practice of
\nsampling. (The Turtles sued De La Soul for using one of their songs
\nwithout their permission. While this didn’t bring an end to
\nsampling, the idea that people were starting to follow through on
\ntheir threats to sue if an unauthorized sample landed on an album
\nmade artists think twice before lifting a guitar riff or a
\nmemorable chorus.)<\/p>\n

While initially this was heralded as a great victory,
\nit’s sad to think that albums like Three Feet High<\/i> and the
\nBeastie Boys’ Paul’s Boutique<\/i> probably could not have been
\nmade in this era because the purchasing the permissions for all of
\nthe samples included in these two masterpieces would have probably
\nbankrupted each band.<\/p>\n

Posdnuos, Trugoy the Dove and Pasemaster Mase stuffed
\njazz samples, Steely Dan, Schoolhouse Rock and even stuff that came
\nout a year before the album was released (Public Enemy). The
\nsubject matter was as rich as the samples; “Ghetto Thang” and “Say
\nNo Go” were socially-conscious without being too preachy. Though
\ntheir pro-peace message may have caused a more than a few snickers
\nfrom the gangsta rap crowd, the bedroom banter of tracks like
\n“Jenifa Taught Me (Derwin’s Revenge),” “Take It Off” and “De La
\nOrgee” could match any of the sex-obsessed tracks of their gangsta
\npeers in terms of sexual bravado.<\/p>\n

Three Feet High And Rising<\/i> was produced by
\nhip-hop trailblazer Prince Paul. Paul knew the members of De La
\nSoul while they were in high school. Friends of De La Soul actually
\ngot some mic time on the album, namely A Tribe Called Quest’s Q-Tip
\non “Buddy,” on of the hottest tracks on the album.<\/p>\n

So successful was Three Feet High And Rising<\/i>
\nin defining who De La Soul was to its listeners and peers that they
\nhad to spend their next album tearing down and deconstructing their
\nimage. Flowers and daisies may have marketed the band, but one
\nlisten to Three Feet High And Rising<\/i> should dissuade
\nlisteners from lumping the band into the “harmless hippie” category
\nof music.<\/p>\n

“Me Myself and I” became the defining song for De La
\nSoul. There are superior tracks on Three Feet High And
\nRising<\/i>, but the song sums up De La Soul’s easygoing flow, wry
\nhumor and irresistible hooks. One of the tracks declares “This is a
\nRecording 4 Living in a Fulltime Era (L.I.F.E.).” For a debut
\nalbum, Three Feet High And Rising<\/i> can make such a statement
\nsound like fact, not just a boast.<\/p>\n

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