1980's Bands/Artists
£ 19.95
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£ 22.00
- Ex Tax: £ 19.95
High and Rising : A Book About De La Soul
De La Soul - Book - by Marcus Moore
(2024)
The first book about De La Soul, High and Rising is a stunning cultural
biography of the era-defining hip-hop trio that touched millions of
lives and changed rap forever. De La Soul burst onto the scene with
the release of their groundbreaking 1989 album 3 Feet High & Rising,
an "anything goes" hip-hop masterpiece. Between their dusty drums and
obscure samples, De La's debut was received as a new masterwork from a
bygone era of Black experimentation.
Formed in Long Island in
1988 by Kelvin "Posdnuos" Mercer, Dave "Trugoy the Dove" Jolicoeur, and
Vincent "Maseo" Mason, De La Soul rebuked classification and appealed to
the Black alternative. Their music was positive and psychedelic, their
album art and music videos were full of flowers and peace signs. It was
rap with a broad sonic palette, which would set a blueprint for artists
like The Roots, Pharrell, Kid Cudi, Kanye West, and Kendrick Lamar.
But as quickly as De La ascended, they were faced with the pressures of
a changing industry and legal battles around sampling. Written by the
acclaimed journalist Marcus J. Moore, author of The Butterfly Effect:
How Kendrick Lamar Ignited the Soul of Black America, High and Rising
tells the whole story of one of the most influential rap groups of all
time.
In the process the book unpacks the birth of hip-hop and
the evolution of alternative rap. Marcus also weaves in a deeply
personal coming-of-age story about his journey through life with De La
as a backdrop. Completed in the wake of Dave's passing and the group's
arrival on streaming platforms after a long and bitter legal fight,
High and Rising is not just a hip-hop tale, it's a triumphant book about
staying the course, and how moving with integrity can lead to dynamic
results.