De La Soul - Is Dead (27 tracks) +Album Reviews

Hip hop classic of the first order!

Campbell Roark | from under the floorboards and through the woods.. | 01/30/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Here it is- the album that got me into hip hop, summer of '94. This album has it all- thematic flow, classic rhymes, unbelievable (as in you will not believe it) production (damn it's dense, almost Paul's Boutique dense), smart-ass silly skits, and an unerring ear for samples and references... It Showcases Prince Paul at the height of his abilities. This is one of those albums that knocks you over. My second semester in college I even used the "Hey, How ya doin, sorry ya can't get through" line as my answering machine message... yeah, well, it seemed clever at the time...As an angry little punk rock kid from the early nineties, I possessed an deep-seated knee-jerk twinge of 'uhg.' to hip hop in general- This album changed that. I still have the tape that I *aherm* 'borrowed' from my girlfriend that summer. Before I was into KRS-ONE, before I could tell the 'funky drummer' beat from the 'Sing a Simple Song' beat, before Paul's Boutique, before ATCQ, before Wu-Tang and Digable Planets and all my indie hip hop faves from the college years, before all of them there is De La Soul is Dead. I'm sure that one day I'll be old and senile, unable to recall my grandchildren's names correctly, and under my breath I'll be wheezing the back and forth insults/rhymes from "Biddies," and the "Here in frogland, we always eat our porridge cuz it keeps us frogs real peaceful like," from "Peas Porridge." Classic golden age hip hop. But it remains to be said that De La (unlike everyone else) have not put out one lame album. Not ONE. Damn."

They Aren't, It's Conventional Hiphop that is

3rdeadly3rd | Brisbane, Queensland Australia | 01/19/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is seriously a tough album to listen to from start to finish without feeling (at various times) like throwing something at the CD player, hugging it or almost anything in between. I actually wound up buying this (after a long time of tracking them down) on the same day as "3 Feet High And Rising", all I can say is "What A Contrast!!".Of course most of you will recognise at least one song from this masterpiece, the repetitive and (to the generation above mine) ANNOYING "Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)" and the famous answering machine chorus "Hey howya doin' sorry you can't get through/Why don't you leave your name and your number and I'll get back to you". But that's not where it ends.It's hard to play favorites with this one, all the tracks are equally good. If I had to name a second-best track on the album, I'd have to say "Roller Skating Jam Called Saturdays" purely for its good, straightforward fun(k).In short, not an album for everyone's tastes, but one which is worth buying - even if just to have in your collection and look intelligent."

THE BEST HIP HOP ALBUM EVER?

Stopheles | Ridgewood, NY United States | 07/05/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"No album in any genre really sounds like DE LA SOUL IS DEAD, or even WORKS like it (mmmaybe THE WHO SELL OUT is a good comparison)...This is the first and possibly the ONLY hip hop album to present itself not as a collection of songs/singles but as a complete 70-plus-minute work. In other words: Not every song on this album is exactly a "hit," and in fact some of them really only stand in the context of the complete album...but those tracks ("Johnny", "Who Do You Worship?") flesh the catchier songs out into what reads, much as I hate to use the term, as a "concept album" of the highest order. And let's not ignore the incredible "singles" (not all of them released as such, but idenitfiably different from the skit-type tracks) like "Pass the Peas," "Ring Ring," "A Roller Skating Jam named Saturdays" and the INCREDIBLE game of dozens that makes up "Bitties in the BK Lounge." Prince Paul and Maseo produced the first hip hop you could HUM along to, and paved the way for the introduction of actual melody into hip hop.Of course, De La Soul didn't make too much money off this masterpiece. Pop is like that. I've always looked at this as the gem that THE LOW END THEORY is seen as...no dissing Tribe, but De La's ambition seems to alienate a fanbase who just want a solid collection of singles (ala Tribe)...When I've DJ'ed and put in anything off this album, I get "WOW! " responses from kids who've slept on this record. Don't let yourself be among the ranks of the ignorant. This is an essential album, not only for hip hop heads, but for fans of popular music. Almost ten years (!) later it sounds as uniquely challenging as it did when it dropped. Hip hop still hasn't caught up."

De La soul may be the most uncompromising group in hip hop.

3rdeadly3rd | 07/20/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"De La Soul is Dead is one of the most quirky albums you'll ever hear. While most people credit it as being the album that started the skit movement, De la's underlying message is the most critical element to come from this album. First off, the beats on this album are tight. De La has never be a group to bowl you over with their lyrical content, but their lyrics and message are more than satisfy your cravings for verbal content. On "Millie pulled a pistol on Santa" Plug's 1 and 2 tell the story of a girl who is sexually abused by her father. The beat here is phat and if you were down with the Soul in 1991, then you probably heard the vintage remix. "Hey hey Ring Ring" is the album's jewel, as De la tells the toils of being in the record business and having the phone ring off the hook. Not to be outdone is "Fanatics of the B Word" which features Dres of the Black Sheep. The beat is symphonic and the chorus will have you wondering why it took you 8 years to purchase the album. The skits on this album, working in conjunction with the tracks convey the message that what De La did on the first album will not work in the future, hence the title. The first album boasted songs of peace and unity amongst a growing hip hop nation. There was no speaking of shooting the next man or making sexual advances at the neighbor's 15 year old daughter. It was just an album with 3 teenagers expressing their affinity towards hip-hop. During the skits De La's album bounces around amoungst a group of kids. If the voices sound familiar one of them is Mr. Lawnge (long) of Black sheep and P A Mase (Plug 3). As the tape bounces around The kids critique the album (for the most part dissing it). At the end of the album the kids throw the tape in the garbage where they initially found it. If you don't have this album I would say that on a scale of 1-10 on the must-have-list its an 8.5. De La was very prophetic on this album, because if you follow hip hop then you know that very rarely do you get the feeling that artists make records because they enjoy the music. They may enjoy shooting video's or the money or the women, but they don't enjoy sitting down crafting lyrical themes, content, and records. Ironically enough, even though De La is "Dead", it was this realization of the change in hip-hop that helped De La stay De La. They never changed their formula for success and as a result they continue to thrive and remain successful."

Why doesn't anybody make albums like this?

TrEE | Venice, FL | 01/16/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Another fun hip hop album, with outstanding production courtesy of Prince Paul. His use of odd and fun samples keeps this album interesting. This album consists of many fun songs and skits. It was released in 1991 and it pokes fun at alot of things that were going on in that time. Most of y'all are probably too young to remember. They have a song making fun of house music "Kicked Out The House", a song making fun of being hardcore "Who Do U Worship?" A song about a crackhead brother "My Brother's A Basehead" and a reoccuring mentioning of a girl who works at Burger King. haha. The album's skits between songs play along as if it was a story book where it beeps and you turn the page. Such a fun album. Recommended for anybody with a good sense of humor."

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