34 years ago, one of hip-hop's most critically acclaimed albums was released to the world. Armed with heaps of funky samples and beats, and complex yet groovy lyrics, 3 Feet High and Rising was an album that I'll certainly be listening to again.
The album opens with a comedy sketch about four contestants on a game show, each being the members of the group and the producer of the album, Prince Paul. After that comes the first two tracks - The Magic Number and Change in Speak. They both are fairly strong openers, and sets the listener up for the album ahead. I did bop my head a lot.
After two skits, the next track comes on, Jenifa Taught Me. An equally comedic and funky track that works well on good speakers, about a schoolgirl who is basically a garden tool (you know what I mean...)
Next up is Ghetto Thang, which is an extremely chilled track that makes you want to bop your head the whole way through, about life in the ghetto. It's a unique track because it is one of the only songs on the album that is not of a positive nature.
After another skit about French people speaking about music, the groups most well known track, Eye Know comes on. An extremely catchy and groovy song that details relationships in an extremely positive and happy light. I smiled a lot during the track.
After that, two more skits.
You might be able to notice by now that the album has a lot of short 'skits' that can last between ten seconds and a minute long, and for those that haven't listened before might see these as simple album fillers, however I don't think so. They provide a fresh take on the album and still sound either funny (keep in mind they were high schoolers at the time, so nothing had to be that serious) or catchy.
My personal favourite of these skits is "Take It Off" which basically just has them chanting "Take it off!" while listing embarrassing and foolish items of clothing (including jeans designed by your momma)
Next is Tread Water, which in its own way feels like a story. It features the members of De La meeting various animals on an average day which give them positive information for them to learn and take in, to help them around life. There's also a small easter egg in the track where Pos buys a monkey a copy of 3 Feet High to help him reach his bananas, which were three feet in the air.
After that are two iconic tracks, both released as singles - Potholes in My Lawn and Say No Go. They both sound incredibly bad-ass, littered with samples of jazz and synth pop for a unique listening experience.
Plug Tunin', the next track on the album, sounds heavy and funky, and feels particularly relaxing due to its use of choir samples and crackly samples of instruments, mixed with a neck snapping drum beat which when all together sounds extremely satisfying.
Buddy tops that even further, by using more funky drum breaks and chilled rhode samples. The track also features the Jungle Brothers, and Q-Tip of award winning hip-hop group A Tribe Called Quest.
Once the next skit, Description is over, the hit Me Myself And I bellows. As much as I like this track, it seems that the song is a lot more poppy, more fit for radio and does not hold up to the rest of the album. It sounds a lot cleaner and uses synthesizers to broaden out the track, which isn't seen on the rest of the album as a whole.
Fun fact: They used to open the song in gigs by getting the crowd to chant along with the group "We hate this song!"
This is A Recording is a track that I don't like as much as the rest of the album either. To me, it doesn't sound as full as other tracks on the album, however it is still pleasant to listen to once in a while.
The final two tracks on the album, beatbox skit I Can Do Anything (Delacratic) and D.A.I.S.Y. Age close the album on a high note (Get the pun?) and while Delacratic sounds fun and raw (seeing as it is a studio recording of them beatboxing and having a laugh), Daisy Age is full of crackly samples drum breaks and sounds fantastic on good speakers (as the rest of this album does!)
To conclude this review, this album is fantastic. It is still revolutionary for its time (as I certainly haven't heard anything like it!) and it overall is an album that anyone can get into at any time. Everything sounds good, funky and fun, and compared to the gangsta rap craze that was taking over in 1989 (I'm looking at you, NWA) the album is extremely positive, and still holds a massive impact.
Rating: 9/10
3 Feet High and Rising is available to stream now on all major streaming services, and reissues of the CD and vinyl are out now.
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The World of Music
Non-fictieMusic is a massive world, and I completely and utterly love it. This book is an amalgamation of reviews, facts and general music nerd-ness, all compiled online.
