Review by Booklist Review
Music critic Moore presents a captivating biography of the influential rap/hip-hop trio De La Soul while tracing hip-hop's origins and mapping rap's evolution over time. This homage to the group delves into their revolutionary influence on the rap music scene as it intertwines with Moore's personal development. De La Soul stood out in the music world due to their blend of rap infused with jazz and punk elements that appealed to the alternative music crowd. The group's debut album, 3 Feet High and Rising, received acclaim within the hip-hop genre upon its launch in 1989. The trio championed diversity and individuality in rap music despite facing challenges such as sampling disputes, difficulties with music distribution on streaming services, and the unfortunate loss of member Dave "Trugoy the Dove" Jolicoeur. Moore highlights De La Soul's commitment to their artistic vision and values and encapsulates the band's journey, triumphs, and struggles while capturing moments of turmoil and redemption. High and Rising is a must-read for music-history enthusiasts and hip-hop culture fans.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Journalist Moore (The Butterfly Effect) examines in this energetic account the legacy of hip-hop group De La Soul. Moore begins in 1980s Long Island, where Kelvin "Posdnuos" Mercer, David "Trugoy the Dove" Jolicoeur, and Vincent "Maseo" Mason met in high school and began rapping together. They signed with Tommy Boy Records in 1988 and released their debut album, 3 Feet High and Rising, the following year. Marked by a stripped-down, psychedelic sound inflected with jazz and punk elements, the record held unique appeal for a "Black alternative" audience, Moore writes; it also reflected an "against-the-grain" ethos that set the group apart from mainstream hip-hop acts and inspired such later albums as 1991's De La Soul Is Dead, a "sardonic response to hippy culture." Moore suggests, however, that the band's "refusal to conform"--in addition to friction with their record label and a decades-long battle over streaming rights--helped fuel its descent into relative obscurity, despite bringing "freedom" and "weirdness" to a genre then dominated by artists who styled themselves as "screw-faced thug dudes." Interwoven throughout are Moore's resonant memories of becoming a De La Soul fan, as when he recalls watching the "Potholes in My Lawn" music video at age eight and thinking that "they looked like my older cousins and spoke just like me." The result is a boisterous ode to an important rap group. (Nov.)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
Rappers who broke the mold. When De La Soul released their first album,3 Feet High and Rising in 1989, it immediately caught the ears of music critics and hip-hop fans. The single "Me Myself and I," with its irresistible sampling of Funkadelic's "(Not Just) Knee Deep" under the quirky, sauntering rhymes of Kelvin Mercer, David Jolicoeur, and Vincent Mason, stood in sharp contrast to the urgent, hard-edged tales of street life from the biggest rap acts of the day. Moore was a nerdy, gifted kid in a Washington, D.C., suburb when he first heard the album at a cousin's house, and it made a huge impression on him. "They didn't portray themselves as gangsters like N.W.A or smooth-talking ladies' men like Big Daddy Kane or LL Cool J," Moore writes. "Instead, De La appealed to the Black alternative….They spoke to those who didn't conform to what Black was supposed to be." Legal troubles over samples and contractual disagreements kept the Long Island trio's music off streaming platforms until shortly after Jolicoeur's death in 2023, which only added to their mystique. The reader may feel cheated of new information about the group or wish that Moore had provided a more detailed analysis of its music and sociological impact. Then again, the author notes, the musicians didn't talk to him for the book. An affecting memoir of a music journalist's lifelong relationship with an eccentric rap trio. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
