Friday, October 10, 2008

Friday YouTube Nugget

Happy Friday!

As much as I wanted to post M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes" (because The Wannabe Outdoorsman loves it so much), I must pay my respeck to old-school hip-hop with this week's Nugget.

De La Soul's 3 Feet High And Rising was a phenomenon when it debuted in 1989. It was a complete departure from the hardcore, gangsta rap that dominated the genre in the year. The uniquely positive style, sly humor and the coolest samples yet heard made this album a must have. Transitioning from senior year in high school to freshman in college, I listened to this album a thousand times. Although it wasn't the first rap album to make an impression on me (that honor is shared by Run D.M.C.'s Raising Hell and Public Enemy's It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back), 3 Feet High and Rising made me appreciate hip-hop and the diversity in contemporary music I was about to explore (after spending my high school years immersed in the Allman Brothers and Santana).

Here's my favorite track from the album - a glorious mash-up of Steely Dan, Otis Redding and Sly & The Family Stone.....straight from the D.A.I.S.Y. Age, y'all, this is "Eye Know"

2 comments:

Greg said...

Nice... real nice. Here I expect a groundswell to rally around The Clash with me, and instead I get pelted with tomatoes because it turns out everybody loves MIA.

Since I'm not afraid to disagree with my friends about 10% of the time, I guess that makes me a maverick! Vote Quimby!

The Humanist said...

LOL...I'm sorry your anti-M.I.A. crusade hasn't gained traction. But just think....all those kids who never heard of the Clash will investigate the sample and...voila! The magic of Joe Strummer is visited upon a generation he will never meet.

At least this was a cool Clash sample...as opposed to, say..."Will2K" by the Fresh Prince himself, Will Smith. He bastardized "Rock the Casbah" for Christ's sake!