De La Soul Is Dead - Overview

Overview

De La Soul's first album, 3 Feet High and Rising is widely regarded in the hip-hop community as a classic, leaving this, the follow-up, something of a poisoned chalice. The album's title is in reaction to the group being labeled hippies following its debut release. The album cover, a broken pot of daisies, signals the end of the D.A.I.S.Y. Age. In an attempt to shake this label off, De La Soul's second album is significantly edgier than its first release. Despite the fact that it clearly did not want to be labeled as hippies, the group also did not want to be labeled hardcore. The album's 13th track, "Afro Connections at a Hi-5 (In the Eyes of the Hoodlum)," is an ironic attack directed at the emerging gangsta movement of the early 1990s.

The album features a series of separate, ongoing skits. The intro to the album features Jeff, a teenaged character played by Chi Ali, who was introduced in the B-sides to Eye Know and Me Myself and I: "Brain Washed Follower," "The Mack Daddy on the Left," and the rare "Double Huey Skit" (all are featured on the Limited Edition Bonus CD of the 2001 3 Feet High and Rising remaster). In a parody of old children's book-and-record read-along sets, Jeff finds a cassette tape copy of a De La Soul album in the garbage. Bullies appear, beat up Jeff, and steal the tape. Ensuing skits feature these bullies harshly criticizing the songs on the album. Mista Lawnge of Black Sheep provides the voice of the lead antagonist, while P.A. Pasemaster Mase voices the other bully who gets ridiculed and abused by Lawnge for his admiration of the album. Throughout the skits, the sound of the signal that lets the reader know that it's time to turn the page is heard. In the end, they throw the tape back in the trash, exclaiming, "De La Soul is dead." The album also introduces a fictional radio station called WRMS that plays nothing but De La Soul music.

The lyrics are again heavily praised for their intelligence and seamless infusion with almost endless references to pop culture. The album's strength further stems from the production of Prince Paul.

The song "Pass the Plugs" features the lyrics "Arsenio dissed us but the crowd kept clapping." This refers to the group performing on The Arsenio Hall Show, where Arsenio Hall introduced them as "the hippies of hip-hop." The group then performed "Me Myself and I," which explicitly states that they are not hippies. The credits for the show also began to run over the performance before the group was finished, contributing to the perceived lack of respect.

In 2008 the album was re released on vinyl. This version did not contain the CD bonus tracks.