De La Soul going on tour w/ 10-piece band to celebrate 20 years of 3 Feet High & Rising (dates include Nokia Theater)
by Black Bubblegum
DOWNLOAD: De La Soul – “Big Mouf” (MP3, Clean Version)
One of the great innovators of hip hop, De La Soul, are hitting the road in celebration of the 20th anniversary of their landmark 1989 LP (and one of my personal favorites), 3 Feet High and Rising!
The most inventive, assured, and playful debut in hip-hop history, 3 Feet High and Rising not only proved that rappers didn’t have to talk about the streets to succeed, but also expanded the palette of sampling material with a kaleidoscope of sounds and references culled from pop, soul, disco, and even country music. Weaving clever wordplay and deft rhymes across two dozen tracks loosely organized around a game-show theme, …Prince Paul (from Stetsasonic) and DJ Pasemaster Mase led the way on the production end, with dozens of samples from all sorts of left-field artists — including Johnny Cash, the Mad Lads, Steely Dan, Public Enemy, Hall & Oates, and The Turtles…. If it was easy to believe the revolution was here from listening to the rapping and production on Public Enemy’s It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, with De La Soul the Daisy Age seemed to promise a new era of positivity in hip-hop. -[allmusic]
The anniversary tour, dubbed “20 Years High and Rising” will feature the supa emcees backed by the the 10-piece Rhythm Roots All-Stars, and includes a NYC show at Nokia Theater on August 13th! Tickets go on sale to gen pop on 6/19 at noon, while the AMEX presalers get a crack at ’em at noon on Wednesday (6/17).
Pos and Trugoy of De La Soul‘s bandmate in Gorillaz, Damon Albarn, recently played a few reunion shows with his old band Blur.
De La Soul‘s latest release, Are You In?, is part of the Nike+ Original Run series that has included such notables as A-Trak, LCD Soundsystem, and Aesop Rock. Check out “Big Mouf” from that record above, and download all of Are You In? via iTunes. The trio discusses the LP and the making of it in the video, which is posted with all known tour dates, below….
De La Soul talks Nike+
DE LA SOUL – 2009 TOUR DATES
06/19/09 The Canyon Agoura Hills, CA
06/20/09 Galaxy Theatre Santa Ana, CA
07/23/09 Fillmore San Francisco, CA
07/24/09 Key Club Los Angeles, CA
07/31/09 House of Blues Dallas Dallas, TX
08/01/09 Emos Austin, TX
08/02/09 House of Blues Houston Houston, TX
08/07/09 Masquerade Atlanta, GA
08/09/09 The Orange Peel Asheville, NC
08/13/09 Nokia Theatre Times Square New York, NY
08/18/09 Surf Club Ortley Beach, NJ
08/19/09 Showcase Live Foxboro, MA
08/23/09 The Phoenix Concert Theatre Toronto, ON
08/25/09 House of Blues Cleveland Cleveland, OH
08/26/09 House of Blues Chicago Chicago, IL
08/27/09 First Avenue Minneapolis, MN
08/29/09 Mishawaka Amphitheatre Bellevue, CO
(more dates TBA)
