The hip-hop connection from yesterday turns back to a hit single of 1990, taken from De La Soul’s first album, 3 Feet High and Rising of 1989. Dave, Maseo, Posdnuos broke hip-hop through to a broad audience with their witty, catchy, lighter style, but were, and remain to this day, very much in the true traditions of the genre, and are currently on a top-form tour. But this was very much a signature song, with eclectic sampling, quirky lyrics that capture the thee high school friends’ approach to their work:
(What does it all mean?)
Difficult preaching is Posdnuos' pleasure
Pleasure and preaching starts in the heart
Something that stimulates the music in my measure
Measure in my music, raised in three parts.
The number three serves multiple purposes here, and of course the chorus is based on a segment from the children's show Schoolhouse Rock!, written by Bob Dorough in 1973. The title of the album is inspired by Johnny Cash’s song Five Feet High and Rising (1959), and there are samples and effects from Syl Johnson’s Different Strokes (1967), The Fatback Band’s Is This The Future (1983), Double Dee & Steinski’s Lesson 3 (History of Hip Hop Mix 1985), James Brown’s Funky Drummer (1970), and some spoken words form actor Eddie Murphy’s Hit By A Car (1982) and Jam Master Jay by Run-DMC (1984). Multiple samples indeed, but the result is refreshingly new and different.
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