De La Soul

by Dave Heaton

De La Soul has been an indestructible creative force over the past thirty years. From the nonconformist humor of their Day-Glo debut, 3 Feet High and Rising, to their eventual role as hip-hop elders, the trio is a model of fearless evolution and perseverance. They've toured the globe, worked across genres, and helped to establish the Afrocentric collective known as Native Tongues. De La Soul conveys the scope and depth of their legacy, going behind the scenes to look at how they formed, trace the evolution of their sound over three decades, and discuss why the band still matters today.

162 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 11, 2024

Reviews

[Gerrod Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

As an early addition to the new J-Card Press series, Dave Heaton's De La Soul is a brief, but meaningful, biography that effectively pays tribute to the artistry, longevity, and influence of one of underground hip-hop's greatest of groups. Heaton takes the reader, album by album and era by era, to better understand De La Soul from the very beginning to present day, exploring their records, song by song, and their recent challenges within the industry and the 2023 passing of David Jolicoeur; ultimately demonstrating how De La Soul managed to navigate hip-hop's formative years in an ever shifting musical landscape.

[Mr. Wavvy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent, super digestible and informative read on one of hip-hop’s most enduring acts.

[Rene Cuellar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book! My expectations were low based on how musical biographies normally are written but I was shocked and impressed at the amount of information. There's stuff I knew and stuff I didn't, but I was engaged the whole time

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed Dave Heaton's De La monograph. He's good at unpacking the white-centric marketing and criticism the group first courted, through their label, and then chafed against, and he details all the legal rigamarole involved with finally getting their albums to streaming services. Plus he breaks down the samples on a bunch of songs - I dog-eared a bunch of pages for further reference. And it turns out Dave H (not De La Dave) and I grew up listening to the same Friday night rap show on KDHX - small world!