Preview
DE LA SOUL
Sunday, July 10
Tequila
Few people have the longevity to stay in the hip hop game the way Pos and De La Soul have for the past 16 years. As one third of De La Soul, Pos (a.k.a. Plug One or Posdnuos) has been an integral part of hip hop’s past, an influence on its present and a guide for its future.
"One minute you can see us doing something that’s really down home and classic type styles of back-and-forth," says Pos. "And then you can see us on something as out there and witty and funky as the new Gorillaz track ("Feel Good Inc."). There’s no limit or boundaries to how we rhyme and how we produce."
But Pos’s place in the hip hop canon doesn’t interfere with his focus. "For me, personally, the most important thing is the present," he says. "Because whatever you do in the present becomes the past, and helps you to move on in whatever direction you deem positive or agreeable for the future."
When De La Soul planted the seeds of their debut, 3 Feet High and Rising, in 1989, critics and fans were willing and able to fall headlong into the DAISY patch (Da Inner Sound Y’all) of hippie-flavoured hip hop made up of laid-back rhymes, psychedelic samples, strange wit and positive energy.
Although De La Soul has experienced many of the ups and downs of any long career, they have rarely got discouraged and continually resist stasis. A recent down (and up) for the group came when they departed from longtime label Tommy Boy Records.
Pos explains how Tom Silverman, owner of Tommy Boy, owed its parent company, Warner Bros., "a whole lotta money." When Silverman couldn’t come up with the cash, Warner Bros. chose to settle by taking all of his original masters.
"So that’s what they did, they pretty much took his catalogue," says Pos. In true Da La Soul form, the group embraced the positive aspects of being free agents.
"Being able to be released from them was not a problem at all. We’re happy," says Pos. "I mean quite honestly we were at odds (with Tommy Boy)."
Now De La Soul is on U.K. label Sanctuary Records – owned by Beyonce Knowles’s father Matthew Knowles – where they feel they can manage their image more closely. Their October 2004 release, The Grind Date, is the group’s current focus and they’ve been out touring the world since it dropped. Being on the new label has also given the group the chance to change things up a bit.
"We’ve always been fans of change. We know nothing can stay the same," says Pos. "I wouldn’t sit here and say that what we went through with Tommy Boy didn’t play a part in The Grind Date because it obviously did."
Hardcore De La Soul fans will likely be wondering what happened to the third instalment of the Art Official Intelligence trilogy. "We definitely want to (finish it) and a lot of it is done," says Pos, "we’re just trying to figure out when we’re gonna do it."
One of the reasons De La Soul is still strong is due to extensive touring and incredible shows. "We take people out on the road with us when we can," says Pos. "We’ve taken Phife (from A Tribe Called Quest) out on the road, and one of the highlights from my last year was doing a show, and Q-Tip happened to be in town in the studio. Tip came to the show and him and Phife did the Tribe shit, and that was the first time they’d formed in a really, really long time."
Pos tells the story like the true fan he is. "It’s a blessing to know that you’ve gathered all these great friends," he adds, "but when you look at them, you’re just fans, really."
While taking the stage with people he admires is one of the pleasures of touring, Pos enjoys the opportunity to make new fans whenever De La Soul steps onstage. "That’s what I love about touring. If people didn’t get to know about the new album when it came out, well, they get to know about it when we perform." |
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