New York hip-hop group De La Soul are touring, celebrating the 20th anniversary of their radical debut album. STACEY KNOTT reports
American hip-hop group De La Soul is back in New Zealand celebrating "20 years in the game", says member David Jolicoeur, aka Trugoy the Dove.
The New York-based rap trio are on their most comprehensive New Zealand tour to date, having played as far south as Wanaka before finishing in Auckland tomorrow night.
The group, made up of Kelvin Mercer, aka Posdnuos, Vincent Mason, aka Pasemaster Mase, and Jolicoeur released their debut, ground-breaking album 3 Feet High and Rising in 1989.
Jolicoeur says this tour will reflect what the group has accomplished over their career to date, and they will be playing tracks from their 20-year catalogue.
After the release of De La Soul's first album, critics said the trio's style was a move away from the more negative "gangsta rap" of the time, and would mark a new way for hip-hop.
De La Soul's career highlights centre on working with their musical heroes, such as fellow New York group The Beastie Boys and, more recently, Gorillaz.
"The highlights are the relationships and working with people we admire ... we record with people we share ideals with," Jolicoeur says.
However, subject matter has changed as the group has aged. Themes like family and marriage now come through the music, but Jolicoeur says the important thing is that band members keep true to themselves in their music.
The tour also marks 20 years since De La Soul were sued for copyright breach in what became a landmark lawsuit in the United States.
De La Soul were found guilty of sampling music from 1960s pop group The Turtles for their single Me Myself and I. The case changed hip-hop music, as it meant all samples had to be legally cleared before an album could be released.
"We lost a lot of the creativity that is the sampling thing, it's a part of what hip-hop is ," Jolicoeur says.
The change in law also meant De La Soul's second album, De La Soul is Dead, was delayed in release so the samples could be cleared.
However, with the band's typically positive outlook, Jolicoeur says De La Soul hold no grudges over the case. They supported copyright laws after the lawsuit, and artists should "deal with it", he says.
"There should be laws to protect artists. We don't know how they feel about it, it could be a song for their child or family ... we respect the laws, and have to play the game accordingly."
He says hip-hop is everything to the group, which reflects why they have lasted so long. "We live it, it's the thing we feel."
Jolicoeur is constantly writing and rapping, even if he has no intention of releasing his works.
"I have tons and tons of stuff that will never get out."
LOWDOWN
Who: De La Soul, good-time New York hip-hop trio
Albums: Three Feet High & Rising (1989), De La Soul is Dead (1991), Buhloone Mindstate (1993), Stakes Is High (1996), Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump, (2000), AOI: Bionix (2001), The Grind Date (2004)
Playing: Powerstation, Auckland Friday May 15
- NZPA
