"3 Feet High and Rising" by De La Soul is finally streaming today

Cafe Society
1

“3 Feet High and RIsing”, De La Soul’s first album released in 1989, is finally available on streaming services today. It has been tied up forever by legal issues around hundreds of samples in the album that hadn’t been cleared with the original artists (like most hip hop back in the day).

I wore this album out in college. It was different from anything I had heard before, and it still holds up now as I refamiliarize myself with it. It was called the first “psychedlic hip hop” album and compared to the hip hop version of Dark Side of the Moon.

There are a few standouts on it, but it’s really an album you have to listen to in totality to appreciate. Give it a listen, even if you don’t think you’re a hip hop fan.

2

I feel the same way about Beastie Boys Paul’s Boutique which has even more samples. I believe BB paid for those samples so they didn’t get shutdown.

I haven’t listened to 3’ High in many years but I see it on Spotify. Will have to give it a renewed listen.

3

This has been an enjoyable week listening to this album, as well as the rest of their catalog that all showed up in Spotify. I haven’t listened to these in years.

4

Yeah, I didn’t listen to De La Soul Is Dead or Buhloone Mindstate much back in the day. I was missing out.