3 Feet High And Rising- De La Soul (1989)

Rating-- 9.5/10

Having listened to this, I almost feel like I'm not worthy of reviewing this album-- it's a really, really good one. I've always heard that 80s-90s hip hop is fantastic, since it's always being referenced here and there-- kind of the modern equivalent of wanting to sample disco and funk, both of which are referenced in this album. 

But this is really, really good. Everyone who knows about 80s hip hop and rap knows it's good. It's a sort of hippie-disco-game show concept album that specifically says it isn't about hippies, and it's just so colorful and happy and carefree, compared to other rap songs from the late 80s and early 90s. Of course, it isn't all just cheerful songs about dandruff ("A Little Bit Of Soap") and the number 3 ("The Magic Number")-- there's a love song ("Eye Know", one of my favorites from the album), a song about ghetto life ("Ghetto Thang"), and a famous one ("Say No Go", which samples "I Can't Go For That" by Hall and Oates) on the topic of the Crack Epidemic-- "a baby is brought into a world of pits... and if it could have talked that soon... it would have asked the nurse for a hit".

I enjoyed all the references between the different songs, and the clever lyrics, and the samples most of all. The thing with samples is that usually it makes me want to listen to the original song, but with "3 Feet High and Rising"-- a name sampled from a Johnny Cash Song-- I'm just enjoying the way everything is blended together in such an original way. It seems kind of ahead of its time, but also very rooted in its time. I think that might be what makes it a classic.

I realize I haven't really discussed the background of the album or the artists who worked on it. It was a huge hit, the debut album from De La Soul, a hip hop trio that started in 1987. This came out in 1989 and is considered one of the best albums of all time, compared to the Beatles a lot. The psychedelic imagery on the cover art helps, too.

In 2010, it was picked for the National Recording Registry for obvious reasons-- it is very much a fantastic album. I'm kind of embarrassed I'd never heard of it before.

Today's "Music Was Better Back Then" comment: 

Odds that the young head you're arguing rap with has ever heard this album? Well, it has 74,000 views, so that should tell you. They don't even know.