633 Hello De La Soul - Me Myself And I

Chart  entered : 8  April  1989

Chart  peak : 22

Number  of  hits : 15

Hip  hop's  most  idiosyncratic  group  now  make  their  entrance.

The  trio  who  make  up  De  La  Soul  all  hail  from  New  York. Kelvin "Posdnuos" Mercer  ( born  1969 ) and  David  "Trugoy  the  Dove " Jollicoeur   ( born  1968 )  were  childhood  friends. At  Amityville  High  School,  they  met  up  with  Vincent  "Pacemaster  Mase "  Mason  ( born  1970 ) and  formed  De  La  Soul  in  1987  to  bring  a  sense  of  fun   and  creativity  into  the  world  of  rap. They  sent  a  demo  to  a  member  of  th  rap  collective  Stetsasonic, Prince  Paul  , who  was  breaking  out  as  a  producer. He  got  them  a  deal  with  the  Tommy  Boy  label  and  produced  all  their  early  material.

"Plug  Tunin"  was  their  first  single  release  in  the  US, and  is  an  advertisement  for  their  eccentric  live  show  with  references  to  their  flower  girls  China  and  Jet  who  held  up  cue  cards  to  the  audience  in  the  style  of  Dylan  on  the  Subterranean  Homesick  Blues  promo  film. It's  a  laid  back  shuffling  groove  and  a  long  way  from  the  sonic  terrorism  of  Public  Enemy  although  Chuck  D  gets  a  friendly  name  check  in  the  lyric. It  is  pretty  boring  though.

The  next  single  was a  double  A-side  of  "Jenifa  ( Taught  Me )"  and  "Potholes  in  My  Lawn " . perhaps  it  needed  to  be  given  that  "Jenifa"  is  a  tale  of  teenage  sexual  encounters  with  a  girl  who , if  the  lyric's  to  be  believed, screwed  at  least  two  of  the  group.   Samples  used  came  from   Liberace, Isley  Brothers  and  Steve  Miller   Band. "Potholes  in  My  Lawn"   seems  to  be  a  complaint  about  plaigiarism,  illustrated  with  uncleared  samples  from  Eric  Burdon  and  War   and   Parliament. All  these  tracks  featured  in  remixed form  on  their  debut  album  " 3  Feet  High  And  Rising".

"Me  Myself  And  I"  was  the  next  single , a  defence  of  their  singular  style  including  a  specific  denial  of  being  hippies.  It  was  their  first  7  inch  release  in  the  UK.  The  music  was  supplied  by  a  sampled  groove  from  Funkadelic's  Knee  Deep, hence  the  credits  to  George  Clinton  and  Philippe  Wynne  as  writers.  I  get  where  they  were  coming  from  and  they  seem  like  nice  guys  but  not  for  me  I'm  afraid.