De La Soul

About

Also known as: De La Sou, Dela Soul, Delasoul, デ・ラ・ソウル

Few hip hop groups rewired the genre's DNA quite like De La Soul. Formed in Amityville, Long Island in 1988, the trio of Posdnuos, Trugoy the Dove, and Maseo built their sound on eclectic sampling, sharp wit, and a restless refusal to stay in one lane. Their debut, 3 Feet High and Rising, landed in 1989 and was immediately hailed as a hip hop masterpiece, with the single "Me Myself and I" becoming a breakout hit. They were a cornerstone of the Native Tongues Posse alongside A Tribe Called Quest, Queen Latifah, and the Jungle Brothers, helping push jazz rap and alternative hip hop into the spotlight. Over ten studio albums, De La Soul kept shifting their sound, from the darker, more confrontational De La Soul Is Dead to the critically beloved Buhloone Mindstate. Their catalog was famously locked out of streaming platforms for decades due to sampling disputes, only becoming available digitally in 2023. That same year, Trugoy the Dove passed away, marking a profound loss for the group and for hip hop at large. Their Grammy win for the Gorillaz collaboration "Feel Good Inc." in 2006 brought them to a whole new audience, but real heads have always known what they were about.