History Music / DeLaSoul

** The Atmosphere song "Mille Fell Off The Fire Escape" is a sequel to this, which has Millie running from the mall, trying to hide out on the roof of an old factory, realizing the severity of the situation she put herself in, and falling to her death when the cops corner her.

* LongTitle: "This Is A Recording 4 Living In A Fulltime Era (L.I.F.E.)"

** From the same album, "Afro Connections at a Hi 5 (In the Eyes of the Hoodlum)" is an entire song lambasting "studio [[GangstaRap gangstas]]" and "Kicked Out The House" mocks house-rap. (''And'' it ends with an Arsenio-style "Let's get busy!")

* FunWithAcronyms: What's with the daisies? D.A.I.S.Y. stands for "DA Inner Sound Y'all".

* StillbornFranchise: The ''Art Official Intelligence'' series of albums started with ''Mosaic Thump'' and continued with ''Bionix''; the third and final installment, ''Dedicated To The DJ'', never materialized.

** From the same album, "Afro Connections at a Hi 5 (In the Eyes of the Hoodlum)" is an entire song lambasting "studio [[GangstaRap gangstas]]" and "Kicked Out The House" mocks house-rap.

* SelfDeprecation: A lot of tracks on ''De La Soul Is Dead'' features characters responding negatively to their music, calling them "wack", "punks" and incomprehensible. (It's best if you don't try to make a DrinkingGame where you take a shot every time one of the bullies asks "What are they ''saying''?!".)
** The skits on ''3 Feet High and Rising'' depict De La Soul as the hapless contestants on a bizarre game show, unable to answer questions like "How many times did the [[{{Batman}} Batmobile]] catch a flat?".

** From the same album, "Afro Connections at a Hi 5 (In the Eyes of the Hoodlum)" is an entire song lambasting "studio [[GangstaRap gangstas]]" and "Kicked Out The House" mocks house-rap.

* AlbumTitleDrop: In "The Magic Number", the title is dropped by Music/JohnnyCash, via a sample. And the outro of ''De La Soul Is Dead'' has the bully leader Hemorrhoid dropping the title after throwing the album in the trash.

** The skits on ''3 Feet High and Rising'' depict De La Soul as the hapless contestants on a bizarre game show, unable to answer questions like "How many times did the [[{{Batman}} Batmobile]] get a flat tire?".
* ShoutOut: Two of the characters on "Please Porridge" sound like [[TheMuppets Kermit The Frog]] and Peter Lorre.
* TakeThat: Being compared to Arsenio Hall is a particularly offensive insult on ''De La Soul Is Dead''. "Pass the Peas" notes that "Arsenio dissed us but the crowd kept clapping".
** From the same album, "Afro Connections at a Hi 5 (In the Eyes of the Hoodlum)" is an entire song lambasting "studio [[GangstaRap gangstas]]" and "Kicked Out of the House" mocks house-rap.

* SelfDeprecation: A lot of tracks on ''De La Soul Is Dead'' features characters responding negatively to their music, calling them "wack", "punks" and incomprehensible.

Following continuing frustration over being called hippies, De La Soul released a DarkerAndEdgier album, ''De La Soul Is Dead'', featuring an album cover depicting a broken pot of daisies. The album's sketches formed a storyline that was essentially a TakeThat towards GangstaRap, where the group expressed frustration over the fact that they were overlooked because they didn't embody HardcoreHipHop stereotypes by portraying a group of bullies listening to ''De La Soul Is Dead'' and mocking the group because they didn't rap about guns, violence and gang life. This storyline is presented as a "read along storybook", and much like their debut, featured a comic strip in the booklet. In sharp contrast to Hardcore and Gangsta lyrical themes, ''De La Soul Is Dead'' took a conscious approach to inner city life, such as on "Millie Pulled a Pistol on [[SantaClaus Santa]]" (which is about a girl who shoots her father while he is working as a MallSanta, because he sexually molests her and no one believes her) and "My Brother's a Basehead" (which is about Posdnuos' brother).

* AlbumTitleDrop: In "Three Is The Magic Number", the title is dropped by Music/JohnnyCash, via a sample. And the outro of ''De La Soul Is Dead'' has the bully leader Hemorrhoid dropping the title after throwing the album in the trash.

* TakeThat: Being compared to Arsenio Hall is a particularly offensive insult on ''De La Soul Is Dead''.

** From the same album, "Afro Connections at a Hi 5 (In the Eyes of a Hoodlum)" is an entire song lambasting "studio [[GangstaRap gangstas]]" and "Kicked Out the House" mocks house-rap.

* TakeThat: Being compared to Arsenio Hall is a particularly offensive insult on ''De La Soul Is Dead''.

Following continuing frustration over being called hippies, De La Soul released a DarkerAndEdgier album, ''De La Soul Is Dead'', featuring an album cover depicting a broken pot of daisies. The album's sketches formed a storyline that was essentially a TakeThat towards GangstaRap, where the group expressed frustration over the fact that they were overlooked because they didn't embody HardcoreHipHop stereotypes by portraying a group of bullies listening to ''De La Soul Is Dead'' and mocking the group because they didn't rap about guns, violence and gang life. This storyline is presented as a "read along storybook", and much like their debut, featured a comic strip in the booklet. In sharp contrast to Hardcore and Gangsta lyrical themes, ''De La Soul Is Dead'' took a conscious approach to inner city life, such as on "Millie Pulled a Pistol on [[SantaClaus Santa]]", which is about a girl who shoots her father while he is working as a MallSanta, because he sexually molests her and no one believes her.

* AlbumTitleDrop: In "Three Is The Magic Number", the title is dropped by Music/JohnnyCash, via a sample.

* SelfDeprecation: A lot of tracks on ''De La Soul Is Dead'' features characters responding negatively to their music, calling them "wack" and "punks".

De La Soul continued to experiment with {{Jazz}} fusion on ''Buhloone Mindstate'' and featured a guest spot by Japanese rappers Scha Dara Parr. Chris Rock listed this album as the 10th best hip hop album of all time, out of 25 listed for a ''Rolling Stone'' article. This was the last De La Soul album produced by Prince Paul. Without Paul, they continued to release albums, including ''Stakes Is High'' and ''The Grind Date''. They've also collaborated with Music/{{Gorillaz}} on their single "Feel Good Inc", and with the AlternativeRock band Teenage Fanclub, they contributed to the RapRock-based ''Judgment Night'' soundtrack.

* DomesticAbuse: "Millie Pulled a Pistol on Santa" is a story about a girl abused by her father until she hits the breaking point.

One of the best known acts in the first wave of AlternativeHipHop, De La Soul is best known for their eclectic {{sampling}} and quirky lyrics. The group consists of Posdnuos. Dave Jude Jolicoeur (formally Trugoy) and Maseo. They were also heavily associated with producer Prince Paul (also known for his work with Handsome Boy Modeling School and Music/{{Gravediggaz}}).

* TakeThat: Being compared to Arsenio Hall is a particularly offensive insult on ''De La Soul'' Is Dead''.

* ShoutOut: Two of the characters on "Please Porridge" sound like [[TheMuppets Kermit The Frog]] and Peter Lorre.

De La Soul continued to experiment with {{Jazz}} fusion on ''Buhloone Mindstate'' and featured a guest spot by Japanese rappers Scha Dara Parr. Chris Rock listed this album as the 10th best hip hop album of all time, out of 25 listed for a ''RollingStone'' article. This was the last De La Soul album produced by Prince Paul. Without Paul, they continued to release albums, including ''Stakes Is High'' and ''The Grind Date''. They've also collaborated with Music/{{Gorillaz}} on their single "Feel Good Inc", and with the AlternativeRock band Teenage Fanclub, they contributed to the RapRock-based ''Judgment Night'' soundtrack.