De La Soul Is Dead

De La Soul

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 13, 1991)
• Original Release Date: May 13, 1991
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Rhino / Ada
• ASIN: B000000HHR
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (58 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #15,311 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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  Music > Rap & Hip-Hop > Experimental Rap

Track Listings

1. Intro

2. Oodles of O's

3. Talkin' Bout Hey Love

4. Pease Porridge

5. Skit 1

6. Johnny's Dead AKA Vincent Mason (Live from the BK Lounge) [Live]

7. Roller Skating Jam Named "Saturdays"

8. WRMS' Dedication to the Bitty

9. Bitties in the BK Lounge

10. Skit 2

11. My Brother's a Basehead

12. Let, Let Me In

13. Afro Connections at a Hi 5 (In the Eyes of the Hoodlum)

14. Rap de Rap Show

15. Millie Pulled a Pistol on Santa

16. Who Do U Worship?

17. Skit 3

18. Kicked Out of the House

19. Pass the Plugs

20. Not Over Till the Fat Lady Plays the Demo

See all 27 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording

De La Soul burned out on their own hype fast, and their dark, strange second album is a counter-blast to their image and hip-hop culture: perverse, dissatisfied, sometimes brilliant, sometimes out of control. Occasionally it seems mean-spirited--the single "Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)" finds them grousing about getting deluged by demo tapes, and "Kicked Out The House" is a nasty (if very funny) parody of hip-house. But no one's ever made a rap album that sounds like this. Sickly out-of-tune loops drift in and out; songs derail themselves with loud sneers, or give way to bizarre dialogues; Posdnuos and Trugoy chant together like the words have lost all meaning. The concept that ties the disc together---an imaginary radio station called WRMS--gives it an extra kick. --Douglas Wolk

Product Description

180 Gram Vinyl pressing. De La Soul's second album, orginally released in 1991. --This text refers to the Vinyl edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars hip hop classic of the first order!, January 29, 2004

By	Campbell Roark "tri-zeta" (from under the floorboards and through the woods...) - See all my reviews

Here it is- the album that got me into hip hop, summer of '94. This album has it all- thematic flow, classic rhymes, unbelievable (as in you will not believe it) production (damn it's dense, almost Paul's Boutique dense), smart-ass silly skits, and an unerring ear for samples and references... It Showcases Prince Paul at the height of his abilities. This is one of those albums that knocks you over.

My second semester in college I even used the "Hey, How ya doin, sorry ya can't get through" line as my answering machine message... yeah, well, it seemed clever at the time...

As an angry little punk rock kid from the early nineties, I possessed an deep-seated knee-jerk twinge of 'uhg.' to hip hop in general- This album changed that. I still have the tape that I *aherm* 'borrowed' from my girlfriend that summer. Before I was into KRS-ONE, before I could tell the 'funky drummer' beat from the 'Sing a Simple Song' beat, before Paul's Boutique, before ATCQ, before Wu-Tang and Digable Planets and all my indie hip hop faves from the college years, before all of them there is De La Soul is Dead.

I'm sure that one day I'll be old and senile, unable to recall my grandchildren's names correctly, and under my breath I'll be wheezing the back and forth insults/rhymes from "Biddies," and the "Here in frogland, we always eat our porridge cuz it keeps us frogs real peaceful like," from "Peas Porridge."

Classic golden age hip hop. But it remains to be said that De La (unlike everyone else) have not put out one lame album. Not ONE. Damn.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE BEST HIP HOP ALBUM EVER?, July 5, 2000

By	Stopheles (Ridgewood, NY United States) - See all my reviews

No album in any genre really sounds like DE LA SOUL IS DEAD, or even WORKS like it (mmmaybe THE WHO SELL OUT is a good comparison)...This is the first and possibly the ONLY hip hop album to present itself not as a collection of songs/singles but as a complete 70-plus-minute work. In other words: Not every song on this album is exactly a "hit," and in fact some of them really only stand in the context of the complete album...but those tracks ("Johnny", "Who Do You Worship?") flesh the catchier songs out into what reads, much as I hate to use the term, as a "concept album" of the highest order.

And let's not ignore the incredible "singles" (not all of them released as such, but idenitfiably different from the skit-type tracks) like "Pass the Peas," "Ring Ring," "A Roller Skating Jam named Saturdays" and the INCREDIBLE game of dozens that makes up "Bitties in the BK Lounge." Prince Paul and Maseo produced the first hip hop you could HUM along to, and paved the way for the introduction of actual melody into hip hop.

Of course, De La Soul didn't make too much money off this masterpiece. Pop is like that. I've always looked at this as the gem that THE LOW END THEORY is seen as...no dissing Tribe, but De La's ambition seems to alienate a fanbase who just want a solid collection of singles (ala Tribe)...

When I've DJ'ed and put in anything off this album, I get "WOW! " responses from kids who've slept on this record. Don't let yourself be among the ranks of the ignorant. This is an essential album, not only for hip hop heads, but for fans of popular music. Almost ten years (!) later it sounds as uniquely challenging as it did when it dropped. Hip hop still hasn't caught up.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars They Aren't, It's Conventional Hiphop that is, January 18, 2001

By	3rdeadly3rd (Brisbane, Queensland Australia) - See all my reviews

This is seriously a tough album to listen to from start to finish without feeling (at various times) like throwing something at the CD player, hugging it or almost anything in between. I actually wound up buying this (after a long time of tracking them down) on the same day as "3 Feet High And Rising", all I can say is "What A Contrast!!".

Of course most of you will recognise at least one song from this masterpiece, the repetitive and (to the generation above mine) ANNOYING "Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)" and the famous answering machine chorus "Hey howya doin' sorry you can't get through/Why don't you leave your name and your number and I'll get back to you". But that's not where it ends.

It's hard to play favorites with this one, all the tracks are equally good. If I had to name a second-best track on the album, I'd have to say "Roller Skating Jam Called Saturdays" purely for its good, straightforward fun(k).

In short, not an album for everyone's tastes, but one which is worth buying - even if just to have in your collection and look intelligent.