RIP Trugoy the Dove

[ClemmonsDevil]

RIP to one of the founding members of seminal rap group De La Soul. Damn. 54.

[Edouble]

Way too young. De La Soul paved the way for many others and invented the hip hop album skits.

Buhloone Mind State is one of the greatest hip hop albums ever laid down on vinyl.

RIP Dove

[HoKogan]

DLS and ATCQ will always be to me what early 90s rap & hip hop was going to be before Gangsta Rap took over the zeitgeist. Just excellent lyrics, hooks and samples. Anyone that can take that distinctive warble of Paul McCartney's Wonderful Christmastime and turn it into their own bop, you have to respect that. And they sampled Steely Dan too.

[mkirsh]

Man that is so sad. Will have to break out the old De La albums and give them a listen again. Seeing them on main west sometime in the mid 90s (my memory is not what it used to be) was definitely a highlight of my time at Duke (as was the Roots concert in Few quad around the same time).

[Edouble]

Man that is so sad. Will have to break out the old De La albums and give them a listen again. Seeing them on main west sometime in the mid 90s (my memory is not what it used to be) was definitely a highlight of my time at Duke (as was the Roots concert in Few quad around the same time).

I attended the Roots concert, but missed De La Soul! I don't remember them playing at Duke. Maybe I was there a year or two after you (1995-99).

I did catch De La Soul when I went to visit Yale friends in New Haven duting freshman year fall break (around October 1995?). Camp Lo was the opener and De La put on a great show.

As much as it is revered (and rightfully so) as a highly influential album , I find 3 Feet High and Rising to be unlistenable. Their next three LPs: De La Soul is Dead, Buhloone Mind State, and Stakes Is High, I still enjoy immensely.

[mkirsh]

I attended the Roots concert, but missed De La Soul! I don't remember them playing at Duke. Maybe I was there a year or two after you (1995-99).

I did catch De La Soul when I went to visit Yale friends in New Haven duting freshman year fall break (around October 1995?). Camp Lo was the opener and De La put on a great show.

As much as it is revered (and rightfully so) as a highly influential album , I find 3 Feet High and Rising to be unlistenable. Their next three LPs: De La Soul is Dead, Buhloone Mind State, and Stakes Is High, I still enjoy immensely.

I was 94-98 (ie the non FF years) so maybe it was my freshman year? Honestly can't remember when, but it was a free concert on main west, it was good albeit brief, and they let random students come up and freestyle at the end with some being not so great and some actually pretty talented. I disagree with you about 3 Feet High and Rising though; Buhloone is my favorite, but some of the songs on 3 Feet are sillier than what they would do later, but Magic Number, 3 Feet High and Rising, Eye Know, Jenifa Taught Me, Me Myself and I, and Plug Tunin are all pretty solid (and very catchy). (Also looks like Apple Music doesn't have the full album so I need to see if I still have the disc!)

[MartyClark]

I have to admit that I had never heard of this group until reading this thread.

I got online and watched a few of their songs on Youtube. They are quite good. I'll give them a closer listen.

[Edouble]

I was 94-98 (ie the non FF years) so maybe it was my freshman year? Honestly can't remember when, but it was a free concert on main west, it was good albeit brief, and they let random students come up and freestyle at the end with some being not so great and some actually pretty talented. I disagree with you about 3 Feet High and Rising though; Buhloone is my favorite, but some of the songs on 3 Feet are sillier than what they would do later, but Magic Number, 3 Feet High and Rising, Eye Know, Jenifa Taught Me, Me Myself and I, and Plug Tunin are all pretty solid (and very catchy). (Also looks like Apple Music doesn't have the full album so I need to see if I still have the disc!)

I gave 3 Feet a listen from start to finish and I wouldn't want to again.

Obviously Eye Know and Me, Myself, and I are highly listenable, but after Eye Know the album moves into a full three minutes combined of Take It Off and A Little Bit of Soap, back to back. This is one of several places where the album loses steam.

Do As De La Does and De La Orgee are another three minutes combined of "music" that I am not sure I even enjoyed the first time I heard them.

In contrast to Buhloone Mind State, or The Low End Theory or Midnight Marauders by their contemporaries ATCQ, I just can't put 3 Feet High and Rising on the "legendary" pedestal. Just way too much filler that did not age well, IMHO.

[mkirsh]

I gave 3 Feet a listen from start to finish and I wouldn't want to again.

Obviously Eye Know and Me, Myself, and I are highly listenable, but after Eye Know the album moves into a full three minutes combined of Take It Off and A Little Bit of Soap, back to back. This is one of several places where the album loses steam.

Do As De La Does and De La Orgee are another three minutes combined of "music" that I am not sure I even enjoyed the first time I heard them.

In contrast to Buhloone Mind State, or The Low End Theory or Midnight Marauders by their contemporaries ATCQ, I just can't put 3 Feet High and Rising on the "legendary" pedestal. Just way too much filler that did not age well, IMHO.

Now that the entire De La Soul catalogue is available on streaming (finally!!), I gave both Buhloone Mind State and 3 Feet High and Rising another listen. Buhloone was better than I remembered - a really solid album all the way through. 3 Feet, as you say, does have a lot more filler. That didn't bother me too much as 90s rap albums frequently had skits/interludes/filler so it was sort of par for the course, and in general I think the highs of 3 Feet are higher than Buhloone. To me Buhloone is Houston - a team with a really great record but only 5 Quad 1 wins, where 3 Feet is Kansas, who has more losses but 15 Quad 1 wins. I also like the more irreverant and quirky nature of 3 Feet, but recognize that is personal preference.

As far as the second part of your post, as much as I love De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest to me is on a whole other level. The 2 albums you mentioned are in my personal top 10 of the 90s, along with Fear of a Black Planet, the Chronic, the Predator, Mecca and the Soul Brother (this one is likely an outlier just personal preference), Ready to Die, Enter the Wu Tang, Illmatic, and Aequimini (note: Jay Z and Tupac are hard for me - they are definitely top rappers of the decade (and all time), but they put out so much music across so many albums that no one 90s album really stands out to me). De La Soul falls just below that tier with the likes of Snoop, Eminem, Cypress Hill, Fugees, Ghetto Boys, EPMD, Pharcyde, etc. Again YMMV.

[rsvman]

I've heard of the band but never really heard their music. I have never heard of the guy who passed.

I started listening to rap in the 1980s with Run-DMC. I watched a lot of "Yo! MTV Raps!" back in the day. Still, I have no memory of De La Soul's music.

[Skydog]

I have to admit that I had never heard of this group until reading this thread.

I got online and watched a few of their songs on Youtube. They are quite good. I'll give them a closer listen.

I’m in your camp - never heard of them (I was a nothing good after the 70’s kind of guy). Told Alexa to play some De La Soul and it's pretty awesome. Thanks to you guys for educating me.

[Edouble]

Now that the entire De La Soul catalogue is available on streaming (finally!!), I gave both Buhloone Mind State and 3 Feet High and Rising another listen. Buhloone was better than I remembered - a really solid album all the way through. 3 Feet, as you say, does have a lot more filler. That didn't bother me too much as 90s rap albums frequently had skits/interludes/filler so it was sort of par for the course, and in general I think the highs of 3 Feet are higher than Buhloone. To me Buhloone is Houston - a team with a really great record but only 5 Quad 1 wins, where 3 Feet is Kansas, who has more losses but 15 Quad 1 wins. I also like the more irreverant and quirky nature of 3 Feet, but recognize that is personal preference.

As far as the second part of your post, as much as I love De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest to me is on a whole other level. The 2 albums you mentioned are in my personal top 10 of the 90s, along with Fear of a Black Planet, the Chronic, the Predator, Mecca and the Soul Brother (this one is likely an outlier just personal preference), Ready to Die, Enter the Wu Tang, Illmatic, and Aequimini (note: Jay Z and Tupac are hard for me - they are definitely top rappers of the decade (and all time), but they put out so much music across so many albums that no one 90s album really stands out to me). De La Soul falls just below that tier with the likes of Snoop, Eminem, Cypress Hill, Fugees, Ghetto Boys, EPMD, Pharcyde, etc. Again YMMV.

Ooooo... top ten 90s Hip Hop Albums!

OK, here's mine. I couldn't get it under 12.

The Low End Theory
Midnight Mauraders
Buhloone Mind State
ATLiens
The Chronic
Enter the Wu-Tang
Illmatic
Blowout Comb
Jazzmatazz Volume 1
Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde
The Infamous
Check Your Head

[rsvman]

The Low End Theory is still fire.