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Posts tagged as “Jungle Brothers”

MUSIC MONDAY: “Me Myself and I: Best of De La Soul” Playlist (LISTEN)

by Marlon West (FB: marlon.west1 Twitter: @marlonw IG: stlmarlonwest Spotify: marlonwest)

When De La Soul member David Jude Jolicoeur (aka Trugoy the Dove) unexpectedly passed away in February, anyone seeking to revisit the group’s best-known works would have come away baffled and empty-handed.

The scores of uncleared samples that defined De La Soul’s classic records made for a legal minefield when it came to making them available for streaming, until this March:

[spotifyplaybutton play=”https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1kRPAJoH5L1ZR4Bvf5u0hm?si=9d11edfb742f40e2″]

One of the giants of hip-hop’s “golden era” of the late ’80s through mid-’90s, De La’s penchant for playful creativity would fly in the face of the “gangsta rap” that dominated hip-hop at the time.

While most rapped about slinging drugs, they dedicated a track to telling the story of a drug-addicted family member and told the dangers of ignoring sexual abuse victims.

They would influence everyone from OutKast to The Pharcyde, Jungle Brothers to Childish Gambino.

For several years, the band’s catalog rights were tangled up in major label red tape from their time at Warner Bros. Records and Tommy Boy.

Me Myself and I: The Best of De La Soul” is a collection of some of their classic, their many collaborations (Beastie Boys, Busta Rhymes, MF DOOM and others), and guest appearances (Gorillaz, Ibrahim Maalouf, Potatohead People and others.)

Enjoy this deep dive into the influential work of De La Soul.

And until next month, stay sane, safe, and kind.

Marlon West (photo courtesy Marlon West)

MUSIC MONDAY: “Excursions” – A Jazz Rap Collection (LISTEN)

by Marlon West (FB: marlon.west1 Twitter: @marlonw IG: stlmarlonwest Spotify: marlonwest)

The connection between jazz and rap goes back to the glory days of Louis Jordan. In the 1970s, The Last Poets and Gil Scott-Heron brought their spoken word to straight ahead jazz music.

Though the sub genre of Jazz Rap really started In 1988 with the release of Gang Starr’s debut single “Manifest” sampling Dizzy Gillespie‘s “Night in Tunisia” from 1952, AllMusic.com describes the genre as “an attempt to fuse African-American music of the past with a newly dominant form of the present, paying tribute to and reinvigorating the former while expanding the horizons of the latter.”

The main groups involved in the formation of the style include A Tribe Called Quest, Digable Planets, De La Soul, Gang Starr, The Roots, Jungle Brothers, and Dream Warriors.

This collection features classics of the genre as well as recent releases from this year. I do hope you all enjoy.

Stay safe, sane and kind, you all.

Marlon West (photo courtesy Marlon West)