De La Soul

By user • Jul 1st, 2007 • Category: Band Bios

Since their self-proclaimed death in 1991 via the excellent De La Soul Is Dead LP, the New York trio has remained an important force in contemporary hip hop. Throughout the bulk of the 1990s the news media focused its attention on East Coast/West Coast feuds and performers disintegrated into misogynistic tirades while Kelvin Mercer, David Jude Jolicoeur and Vincent Mason dropped continually thought-provoking beats and lyrics. Combining elements of funk, soul, blues and new wave with rap’s fundamental aesthetics, the group laid the groundwork for acts ranging from Mos Def to N.E.R.D. And with a resurgence on the 2005 Gorillaz track “Feel Good Inc.”, the group reasserted itself as a genre giant while also introducing itself to a generation that was too young or too caught up in rap’s angriest moments to pay attention to their sultry intelligence during the band’s first go-round.

Chicago Innerview Magazine, July 2007

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