Editing De La Soul (section)

=== 1989–1993: ''3 Feet High and Rising'' and ''De La Soul Is Dead'' ===
De La Soul's debut album, ''[[3 Feet High and Rising]]'', released in 1989, was a critical smash hit in the hip hop genre. They quickly became prominent members of the [[Native Tongues Posse]] along with [[A Tribe Called Quest]], [[Black Sheep (group)|Black Sheep]], [[Queen Latifah]], and the [[Jungle Brothers]] among others. The single "[[Me Myself and I (De La Soul song)|Me Myself and I]]" became a huge hit, further cementing the group's popularity. However, the sixties pop group [[The Turtles]] sued De La Soul for using a [[Sampling (music)|sample]] from their 1969 hit "[[You Showed Me]]" for the interlude track "Transmitting Live from Mars".<ref>{{cite web|title=SAMPLING WARS - Los Angeles Times|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-07-23-ca-392-story.html|website=Los Angeles Times|date=July 23, 1989 |access-date=August 19, 2022|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220316165345/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-07-23-ca-392-story.html|archive-date=March 16, 2022}}</ref>

Lyrically, much of ''3 Feet High and Rising'' focused on striving for peace and harmony. ''3 Feet High and Rising'' also introduced De La Soul's concept of the "D.A.I.S.Y. Age" (an acronym standing for "da inner sound, y'all"). As a result, audiences were quick to peg the members of De La Soul as [[hippie]]s. This stereotype greatly agitated the group's members, as they always envisioned their career as a constantly changing style; this frustration would influence their next recording sessions. In the [[press kit]] for ''3 Feet High and Rising'', the members explained their [[pseudonym|stage names]]: Trugoy when reversed spells yogurt, because he liked yogurt, and Posdnuos spelled backwards is "sound sop". The album artwork was designed by radical British artist collective the [[Grey Organisation]].<ref>[http://www.complex.com/art-design/2010/09/Hip-Hops-50-Greatest-Album-Covers/de-la-soul-2] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927045246/http://www.complex.com/art-design/2010/09/Hip-Hops-50-Greatest-Album-Covers/de-la-soul-2|date=September 27, 2011}}</ref>

[[File:Run Run Run (2720461334).jpg|thumb|right|De La Soul performing at the [[Dillon Gymnasium]] in 1991]]
De La Soul's second album, ''[[De La Soul Is Dead]]'' (1991), was a much more mature album. It featured a wealth of material that criticized the violent, careless direction that hip hop was heading in at the time, though it still managed to maintain a light, absurd sense of humor. The cover of the album features a broken daisy flower pot, symbolizing the death of the "D.A.I.S.Y. Age" and the imagery that went along with it. The album spawned several singles, including the dark "[[Millie Pulled a Pistol on Santa/Keepin' the Faith|Millie Pulled a Pistol on Santa]]", a tale of a young girl who could no longer take the sexual abuse from her father, and the lead single "[[Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)]]", a story about people using the group's recent fame to try to launch their own careers.

De La Soul collaborated with [[Black Sheep (group)|Black Sheep]] on "Fanatic of the B Word" and [[Q-Tip (rapper)|Q-Tip]] from [[A Tribe Called Quest]] on "[[A Roller Skating Jam Named "Saturdays"|A Roller Skating Jam Named 'Saturdays']]"; [[Prince Paul (producer)|Prince Paul]] makes an appearance on the mic in "Pass the Plugs" with a verse of his own. The album also more prominently featured [[Vincent Mason|Maseo]] as a rapper, providing verses of his own on "Bitties in the BK Lounge", "Afro Connections at a Hi-5", and "[[Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)]]".

Though it received mixed reviews and did not sell as well as ''[[3 Feet High and Rising]]'' it eventually became a cult classic. ''[[The Source (magazine)|The Source]]'' magazine listed the album as one of their top 100 hip hop albums of all time.<ref>{{cite magazine|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line --> |title=100 Best Albums: The Top Hip-Hop LP's of All Time|magazine=[[The Source (magazine)|The Source]]|location=New York|page=25|date=January 1998|issue=100|issn=1063-2085}}</ref> There were initially major differences between the CD version and the other formats, as the tracks "My Brother's a Basehead", "Kicked Out the House", and "Who Do U Worship?" were only available on the CD. Subsequent vinyl reissues have restored the running order as originally intended.