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De La Soul is a Grammy-award winning hip hop group from Long Island, New York. They are best known for their eclectic sampling and quirky, surreal lyrics, and their contributions to the evolution of the jazz rap subgenre. The members are Kelvin Mercer (Posdnuos, Mercenary, Plug Wonder Why, Plug One), David Jude Jolicoeur (Trugoy the Dove, Dave, Plug Two) and Vincent Mason (P.A. Pasemaster Mase, Maseo, Plug Three). The three formed the group in high school and caught the attention of producer Paul Huston (Prince Paul) with a demo tape of the song "Plug Tunin'". Prince Paul was also sometimes referred to as Plug Four. 3 Feet High and Rising De La Soul's debut album, 3 Feet High and Rising (1989, but available in August 1988 in Germany), was a critical smash hit in the hip hop genre. They quickly became prominent members of the Zulu Nation, along with A Tribe Called Quest, Black Sheep, Queen Latifah, The Jungle Brothers and others. They were also members of the famed Native Tongues Posse and mentioned the group often in their music (though they have since left the group for various reasons). The single "Me, Myself and I" became a huge hit, further cementing the group's popularity. However, rock group the Turtles sued the group for sampling "You Showed Me" without permission on De La Soul's "Transmitting Live from Mars". From that point on, sampling required permission from the sources before it was released. Lyrically, much of 3 Feet High and Rising focused on striving for peace and harmony — a message that was slowly fading from the rap community in the late 1980s. 3 Feet High and Rising also introduced De La Soul's concept of the "D.A.I.S.Y. Age" (an acronym standing for "da inner sound, ya'll"). As a result, audiences were quick to peg the members of De La Soul as hippies. This stereotype greatly agitated the group's members, as they always envisioned their career as a constantly changing style. This frustration would influence their next recording sessions. De La Soul is Dead De La Soul's second album, De La Soul Is Dead (1991) was a much more mature album. It featured a wealth of material that criticized the violent, careless direction that hip hop was heading in at the time, though it still managed to maintain a light, absurd sense of humor. The cover of the album features a broken daisy flower pot, symbolizing the death of "D.A.I.S.Y. Age" and the imagery that went along with it. Though it received mixed reviews and did not sell as well as 3 Feet High and Rising, it eventually became a cult classic. "Score" magazine listed the album as one of their top 10 Hip Hop albums of all time, stating that "true genius is rarely understood". Buhloone Mindstate 1993's Buhloone Mindstate saw the group evolve a new sound and cemented their position as mainstays of the alternative hip hop movement. The album was a critical success and is widely considered their strongest work by fans, but the commercial success was even less this time out than with their previous release. Female MC Shortie No Mas, Mercer's cousin, was prominent on many tracks on the CD, particularly "In The Woods". There were several moments on the album which proved the band had matured and moved away from the silliness of their previous works, partially due to the deterioration of the Native Tongues movement around the same time. "I Be Blowin'" was a departure as the track was an instrumental featuring saxophone playing by the legendary Maceo Parker. "Long Island Wildin'" was a collaboration with Japanese hip-hop trio Scha Dara Parr (SDP). First single "Breakadawn" used a sample of Michael Jackson's "I Can't Help It" throughout. The album ended with a fun Biz Markie collaboration called "Stone Age." Clear Lake Audiotorium & Stakes Is High In 1994, 500 copies of a promotional EP called Clear Lake Audiotorium were released on clear vinyl and CD. The 6 track EP contained edited versions of tracks off of Buhloone Mindstate but also featured the tracks "Sh.Fe.MC's" (Shocking Female MC's) which was a collaboration with A Tribe Called Quest, and "Stix & Stonz" which featured old-school hip hop artists Grandmaster Caz, Tito of Fearless Four, Whipper Whip, La Sashae and Superstar. The EP was widely bootlegged afterwards. 1996's Stakes Is High was the first album produced solely by the trio, and again, was met with mixed results and poor sales. The title track, produced by Jay Dee, and first single was not a hit, but the album did provide a launching pad for future star artist and actor Mos Def, who appeared on the track "Big Brother Beat." The album also featured collaborations with Common (Sense), Truth Enola, Zhane, and the Jazzyfatnastees. Art Official Intelligence Four years later, De La Soul announced that they would release a triple album series entitled "Art Official Intelligence" (or AOI). All three albums were intended to be released within a year, beginning with the release of Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump. This was followed by AOI: Bionix in late 2001. After this, however, the public saw no release of the third and final album in the AOI series. For the next two years, the only De La Soul releases were singles or remix compilations. Jolicœur (Dave) stated in an interview that it usually takes about four years for the group to record an album, promote it with advertisements, touring and so on. The group was having trouble finishing the last AOI installment for many reasons, one of which being an ongoing struggle with Tommy Boy Records, who had been releasing their albums ever since their debut. In 2004, De La Soul ended up releasing a new full album: The Grind Date on Sanctuary Records. Although it was not the new AOI album their fans had been anticipating, it was released to some critical acclaim and was well received by most fans. The album features guests MF Doom, Ghostface Killah and Flava Flav, with production from Jake One, Madlib and more. In 2005, they were featured on the Gorillaz single, "Feel Good Inc" and on the LA Symphony single "Universal". "Feel Good Inc" also won a Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Collaboration. Also in 2005, Posdnuos collaborated with the Portuguese rapper Boss AC on a track called "Yo (Não Brinques Com Esta Merda)" (Don't play with this shit). In 2006, they released a mixtape entitled "The Impossible Mission", from their AOI Records label.