I tend to avoid concerts involving old fogies playing their ‘best of’ catalogue with an infuriating half-arsed attitude, going through the motions without showing much/any interest and milking the proverbial cash cow for all its worth. But De La Soul have slipped through my fingers enough times for me to miss this gig in Amsterdam’s Melkweg. The fact that this current gig coincides with the rap trio’s 20-year anniversary of their massively influential debut, 3 Feet High & Rising only added my eagerness to take the risk and attend.
You see De La played a huge role in my introduction to and subsequent love for hip-hop music and culture. 3 Feet High & Rising alongside Public Enemy’s It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back were the first full hip-hop LPs that woke me up to the beauties of creative sampling and imaginative rhyming at a time when experimental rock records (or Bob Dylan) dominated my record player. De La’s debut with its barrage of jaw dropping sampling courtesy to Prince Paul (along with Madlib, one of the true geniuses of quirky hip-hop production) and hilariously imaginative socially conscious peace loving rhymes got me pining for more. Annoyingly every time I had the opportunity to catch them live, something trivial would inevitably come up (travel to Indonesia, University exams, work engagements, etc.) forcing me to be content with stories from friends telling me how extraordinarily fun the whole event was and how I shouldn’t miss their next show for love nor money.
With 2 opening acts supporting De La Soul, it was quite a while before the Long Island trio took the stage. Dutch rap outfit Zwarte Licht opened the set with their mix of American sample based hip-hop and the synth heavy UK Grime with a quite entertaining performance despite my perceived unsuitability of the Dutch language to the rap genre. Harlem native Billy Ray was next to enter the fold with Maseo of De La manning the turntables with Ray hyping up the crowd and belittling the state of modern commercial hip-hop only for Trugoy the Dove and Posdnuos to bum rush the stage a few minutes afterwards.
While hip-hop shows at its worst can involve poor sound quality, stagnant production and a half-hearted MC laying corny rhymes, De La Soul today showcased almost all the positive aspects of a live rap performance. And despite not being a full re-enactment of their 1989 classic 3 Feet High & Rising, a medley of tracks from the aforementioned album, the underrated De La Soul Is Dead, 1993’s Buhloone Mindstate and their fourth album: Stakes Is High was extremely well executed as their constant interaction with the crowd by dividing the room into two competing factions to scream, clap and cheer was refreshing and inexplicably fun. Furthermore, halfway through the performance the MCs started quizzing the crowd on their favourite genres of popular music (blues, rock, country, soul/funk) with the crowd (myself included) booing when country music was announced (perhaps oblivious to the fact that 3 Feet High & Rising was named after a Johnny Cash song: Five Feet High and Rising) and cheering into a frenzy when soul/funk and the name James Brown were belted by Trugoy and the gig momentarily turned into a hard funk and The Godfather of Soul tribute. Brilliant usage of the Seven Minutes of Funk sample by Tyrone Thomas and The Whole Darn Family (also previously used by Jay-Z, EPMD and Gravediggaz) in three separate tracks was also a highlight of the show as were Trugoy, Mase and Posdnuos taking turns manning the turntables at various points during the gig.
The group came back for an encore after about an hour into the show and finished the set with a couple of their best known tracks: Me Myself and I and Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey) and paying a special homage to Amsterdam (apparently the first city they visited outside the US way back in ’89) to a hyped up crowed before hanging outside the venue for a t-shirt signing session. I hope Prince Paul will be involved the next time De La come as I was completely sold by the group’s energy, exuberance and creativity in a live gig even when in their 40s.
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