Product Details

* Audio CD (October 23, 2001)
* Original Release Date: 2000
* Number of Discs: 1
* Format: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
* Label: Tommy Boy
* Catalog Number: 1019
* ASIN: B000000HHE
* Other Editions: Audio CD | Audio Cassette | LP Record
* Average Customer Review: based on 69 reviews. (Write a review.)
* Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,703 in Music (See Top Sellers in Music)
Yesterday: #1,595 in Music

Listen to Samples
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1. Intro Listen Listen
2. The Magic Number Listen Listen
3. Change In Speak Listen Listen
4. Cool Breeze On The Rocks Listen Listen
5. Can U Keep A Secret Listen Listen
6. Jenifa Taught Me (Derwin's Revenge) Listen
7. Ghetto Thang Listen
8. Transmitting Live From Mars Listen
9. Eye Know Listen
10. Take It Off Listen
11. A Little Bit Of Soap Listen
12. Tread Water Listen
13. Potholes In My Lawn Listen
14. Say No Go Listen
15. Do As De La Does Listen
16. Plug Tunin' (Last Chance To Comprehend) Listen
17. De La Orgee Listen
18. Buddy (With Jungle Brothers And Q-Tip From A Tribe Called Quest) Listen
19. Description Listen
20. Me Myself and I Listen
See all 24 tracks on this disc
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com essential recording
De La's debut represented a new path for hip-hop, a reaction to conventions that had turned into clichés. It was friendly and playful enough to cross over to a pop audience (thanks to Prince Paul's production, which found the funk hiding inside Steely Dan and "Schoolhouse Rock"), but complicated and tough enough to be hugely influential in the hip-hop world. Cryptic but ecstatic, and sometimes sexy (especially the ingenious double-entendre "Buddy"), Trugoy and Posdnuos's lyrics invented a "new style of speak," dense with self-invented slang and metaphors. The hits, including "Say No Go" and "Me Myself And I," are delightful, but the little sketches and sound-experiments between them make the whole disc flow effortlessly. --Douglas Wolk

Product Description
Import edition of the alternative rapper's seminal and groundbreaking 1989 debut. Currently available domestically on cassette only! Standard jewel case. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.
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23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
A breath of fresh air, June 9, 2001
Reviewer: 3rdeadly3rd (Brisbane, Queensland Australia) - See all my reviews
This is one of the few albums (especially rap ones) that I haven't heard a bad thing about - ever. Now that I've finally got it, I can see why.

Simply put, De La Soul are gods. Everything on this album comes together in a way which few other albums have (not even the later De La albums). It's very interesting to listen to this in 2001 and think that this is what hip-hop could/should have become if not for the "gangstas" of the world.

On all the tracks, it's easy to see that the three members are rapping out of love for the style and don't really care what anyone thinks. There are the names (Posdnous and Trugoy for example), which have to be spelled backwards to begin to understand the jokes; the game show (on which no one can answer the questions); the strange interludes (check out "Can You Keep A Secret"); and the bizarre rapping throughout.

The opening cut "The Magic Number" is pure joy. From the opening verse, it's obvious that these guys must be slightly out of their minds - this is proven throughout the album. Crazy rhymes, silly samples and an attitude of pure fun abound. There's even the infamous "Transmitting Live From Mars" which became the major evidence in one of the early anti-sampling cases. If that isn't enough, listen to "Plug Tunin'" - the intro will get into your mind even if you don't want it to.

Then of course comes the biggest hit from this album - "Me Myself and I". I defy anyone to listen to this track without breaking out laughing at some point - De La Soul are unable to take anything seriously.

On top of it all, there's the DAISY (Da Inna Sound Y'all) motif and appearances by the Jungle Brothers and a very young Q-Tip, all of whom were involved in the Native Tongues movement of the early 90s. What to give the hip-hop fan with everything? This album would have to be a good start (unless the fan already has it).

In short - an album which cannot seriously be missing from a respectable hip-hop collection. I've used it to convince rap haters and gangstas that there is something better - and this is certainly better.

A breath of fresh air well worth taking.

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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
Scandalous Deletion, March 3, 2001
Reviewer: Michael B. Richman (Portland, Maine USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME) (TOP 100 REVIEWER)
I am always amazed at some of the classic CDs that get deleted domestically. De La Soul's "Three Feet High and Rising" is one of the best hip-hop albums of all time. I know the band goes to great lengths sometimes to distance themselves from this disc, but more than a decade since its release, the trippy, daisy-age concept of this effort is now almost back in vogue. Regardless, it has always stood the test of time for me. The gameshow concept and the jokes sometimes get a little dated, though they will always retain their cleverness, but the grooves and the samples are intelligently constructed and first rate. "The Magic Number," "Eye Know," "Potholes," "Me Myself and I" (which introduced as many people to P. Funk in its own way as Snoop-Dog did) and "Daisy Age" are seminal cuts. Bring this beat back to the States! ( )