3 Feet High and Rising

Product Information

Source Magazine's 100 Best Albums". Raquenel.com. Archived from the original on 2011-07-24 . Retrieved 2011-08-16. Released amid the late-1980s boom in gangsta rap, which gravitated towards hardcore, confrontational, violent lyrics, 3 Feet High and Rising stood out from this trend by showcasing De La Soul's more positive style. [10] The mirth and intelligence of De La Soul's self-presentation led many observers to label them a " hippie" group; however, this characterization was disputed by De La Soul themselves. [11] On the album, De La Soul sought to explicitly distance themselves from gangsta rap by "lampoon[ing] emerging tropes" such as the growing materialism within the genre. [12] Their lyrics are instead characterized by a variety of "bizarre and surreal" choices of subject matter, such as dandruff, gardening metaphors, and " Dr. Dolittle-esque interactions with animals". [13] Feet High and Rising emerged fully formed, offering a world as richly imagined as anything American pop has ever produced. Just as hip-hop was firmly establishing itself as the most avant of pop’s garde, the best of their peers—from smooth operator Big Daddy Kane to Blastmaster KRS-One to Living Colour’s Vernon Reid—showed up at their release party to salute their achievement. Even KRS, who had just dropped what would come to be recognized as one of the best albums in hip-hop history, said it couldn’t compare what De La Soul had just made. While huddled in Los Angeles to finish their own sample-heavy Paul’s Boutique, the Beastie Boys reportedly listened to 3 Feet High, despaired, and briefly considered starting all over again.

Lydia Slater (9 September 2010). "Toby Mott, from the punk of Pimlico to power player". Evening Standard. Released amid the 1989 boom in gangsta rap, which gravitated towards hardcore, confrontational, violent lyrics, De La Soul's uniquely positive style made them an oddity beginning with the first single, “Me, Myself and I.” Their positivity meant many observers labeled them a “hippie” group, based on their declaration of the “D.A.I.S.Y. Age” (Da. Inner. Soul. Yall). Sampling artists as diverse as Hall & Oates, Steely Dan and The Turtles, 3 Feet High and Rising is often viewed as the stylistic beginning of 1990s alternative hip hop (and especially jazz rap). 3 Feet High & Rising was chosen by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry for its cultural significance and general excellence. The album sounded like a hip-hop version of the novelist Dos Passos’ America, crowded with voices, rhythms, rhymes, and the wit, joy, and pain of becoming aware of one’s power to change the world. And De La Soul felt like the closest hip-hop equivalent to Parliament and Funkadelic: high-concept, hilariously genuine, generously human.

Statistics

In 2011, 3 Feet High and Rising was among 25 albums chosen as additions to the Library of Congress' 2010 National Recording Registry for being cultural and aesthetical and also for its historical impact. [46]

This is from a New York Times article from March1. 2023 in case you wondered what's different to previous versions of the album: Feet High and Rising received widespread critical acclaim upon its release. "An inevitable development in the class history of rap, [De La Soul is] new wave to Public Enemy's punk", wrote Robert Christgau of the album in his 1989 "Consumer Guide" column for The Village Voice. "Their music is maddeningly disjunct, and a few of the 24-cuts-in-67-minutes (too long for vinyl) are self-indulgent, arch. But their music is also radically unlike any rap you or anybody else has ever heard— inspirations include the Jarmels and a learn-it-yourself French record. And for all their kiddie consciousness, junk-culture arcana, and suburban in-jokes, they're in the new tradition— you can dance to them, which counts for plenty when disjunction is your problem." [28] Rolling Stone magazine's Michael Azerrad called 3 Feet High and Rising "(o)ne of the most original rap records ever to come down the pike", and described it as an "inventive, playful" record which "stands staid rap conventions on their def ear." [14] When The Village Voice held its annual Pazz & Jop critics' poll for 1989, 3 Feet High and Rising was ranked at number one, outdistancing its nearest opponent ( Neil Young's Freedom) by 21 votes and 260 points. [29] Psychedelic, undeniably funky and underpinned by elements of Afro-futurism, De La Soul's landmark 1989 debut LP 3 Feet High and Rising is a defining album of 80s rap, marking the espousal of the 'Daisy Age' spirit which permeated hip-hop at the turn of the 90s. A Little Bit Of Soap: contains excerpts from "A Little Bit of Soap" written by Bert Russell and published by: Sony/ATV Songs, LLC (BMI)/Sloopy II Music/Wren Music Co (BMI). Used by permission. All rights reserved. Contains a sample of "A Little Bit of Soap" as performed by The Exciters, used courtesy of Sony Music Entertainment. Contains excerpts from "Don't Play That Song (You Lied)" written by Ahmet Ertegun, Betty Nelson and published by Unichappell Music. Inc. (BMI). Used by permission. All rights reserved. Featuring samples from the Ben E. King recording "Don't Play That Song (You Lied)". Produced under license from Atlantic Recording Corp., by arrangement with Rhino Entertainment Company, a Warner Music Group Company. Ultratop.be – De La Soul – 3 Feet High and Rising" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved March 12, 2023.The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. September 22, 2020 . Retrieved August 4, 2021. Feet High and Rising has been included on numerous "best-of" lists. In 1998, the album was included in The Source 's "100 Best Albums" list. [35] It was ranked number 346 on Rolling Stone 's 2003 list of the " 500 Greatest Albums of All Time", [36] maintaining the ranking in a 2012 revision of the list, [37] then rising to number 103 in a 2020 revision. [38] 3 Feet High and Rising was voted number 138 in the 2000 edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums, [39] while in 2005, it ranked 88th in a survey held by British television's Channel 4 to determine the 100 greatest albums of all time. [40] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. [41] and commercial peak of both parties. Critically, as well as commercially, the album was a success. It contains By the end, Mase and Paul were scratching snippets at a fast and furious rate— Steinski, Syl Johnson, and Eddie Murphy all fly by before Johnny Cash suddenly drops in to give the album its title: “How high’s the water, mama? Three feet high and rising.” The line was taken from a reverb-drenched performance of “Five Feet High and Rising,” a blues in the grand tradition of Mississippi River flood songs.