Live at Tramps, NYC, 1996 [PA] [Digipak]

Performer: De La Soul
Artist: Mos Def; Common; Jungle Brothers
Producer: De La Soul; Prince Paul
Distributor: WEA (Distributor)

Notes: De La Soul: Maseo, Posdnous, Trugoy. Additional personnel: Common, Jungle Brothers, Mos Def. While De La Soul's groundbreaking 1989 debut, 3 FEET HIGH AND RISING, met with practically universal acclaim, the ensemble's early live shows were known to be erratic. However, by 1996, the New York trio of Posdnuos, Trugoy and DJ Maseo had honed its stage act into one of the finest in the rap game--a unique, impassioned party where talented lyricists from the Native Tongues collective and beyond could show up on any night. LIVE AT TRAMPS captures a boisterous De La Soul performance around the time that the group was putting the finishing touches on its underrated fourth (and fiercest) record STAKES IS HIGH. Pos, Trugoy, and Mase have always been archivists of hip-hop, understanding the roots and history of the music, and consistently unearthing pitch-perfect samples from pop, jazz, and old-school rap. This particular show is, in part, a celebration of rap's past, as Mase cuts in tributes to EPMD, Boogie Down Productions, Digable Planets, and many others throughout the concert. The set also reveals that De La Soul could accurately predict the future of hip-hop, as the trio calls the then-unknown Mos Def up on stage for a few tracks. Energy is the engine of live rap, and this concert at TRAMPS reveals De La Soul at its most vital.

Skit comedy, abstract rhyming, samples from pop's left field, and a self-consciously intellectual approach to rap became hip-hop staples after De La Soul's 1989 debut, 3 FEET HIGH AND RISING. But despite the group's widespread influence, no one ever has ever come close to appropriating their singular style.

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