Defari - Focused Daily (CD, 1999)

I went to see Outkast in Los Angeles in 2000, maybe 2001. Ludacris opened (this was before he was big time), and Xzibit played after him. I'm not a huge Xzibit fan, but he put on a pretty good show. The thing I noticed most was his hype man/secondary rapper guy. Dude was flying around the stage, and when it was his turn to kick a verse, he fucking nailed it. While all the other hangers-on were swinging towels and hitting the Courvoisier way too hard, this cat was all about the performance. It was really something to see.

I can't remember if I figured out his name at the show or determined who he was later. I feel like my brother helped me narrow it down, and I decided I should check out his solo CD. This is it. It's not one of my favorites, but I've never thought about getting rid of it in the seven or eight years I've owned it. He's all about lyrics. And that is fine by me. But, the songs are long and the beats are fairly empty, so it can get a little tedious after a half hour. But, if I'm in the mood for some solid hip hop from a dude who is far from corny, this is a good one.

He's smart as shit, and it comes through in the songs. He's almost got too much to say. Better that than resorting to the same ol' shit. He steers clear of the cliches, doesn't really swear that much, and has a strong delivery.

This is the "real hip hop" you hear people talking about. Heh.

"Focused Daily"

Death Cab for Cutie - The Photo Album (CD, 2001)

I was given this CD a few years ago by a friend who was moving, and getting rid of most of his earthly possessions. I thought I hadn't listened to it more than a few times, but as I listen to it now, I realize I must have had it my car, dubbed cassette style, for a short time. Because I do know these songs.

And they're OK. It just doesn't have the same "oomph" as their first one. It's cleaner, and the guitar is much more defined and precise. Maybe that's a good thing, I don't know. It doesn't do much for me.

But, I do like "We Laugh Indoors" and "Why You'd Want to Live Here." They're a little more ragged, a little more urgent than some of the other songs. But they're moving, going towards something bigger, something that doesn't really work for me.

But I remember having a good time listening to this for a while.

"A Movie Script Ending"

Death Cab for Cutie - Something About Airplanes (CD, 1998)

Right before I moved away from Eugene, in the summer of 1998, I met a girl at a party and fell in love with her for about an hour. We were sitting on the back deck of the house where the party was, smoking cigarettes and drinking beer from bottles. (This was a classy party, by Eugene standards.)

We were talking about music, and though I'm sure I was more than a little drunk, I was just astounded by her taste. She liked Frank Black's solo stuff more than the Pixies (me too!) and knew about bands (really knew about them) that girls weren't supposed to know about. I was absolutely impressed, and smitten enough to forget I had a girlfriend. Though I quickly remembered, and the subject matter stayed wisely focused on music. And that was fine by me; like I said, she knew her shit.

She asked me if I had heard Death Cab for Cutie. I had not. She began gushing, telling me how I just had to hear their new record, their debut. She said it was the best thing she had heard in years. Usually, when people I meet at parties give me advice on music to check out, I smile politely while I roll my eyes internally. This time I listened. I don't know how I remembered their name, but I did. The next time I was out record shopping, I looked. I found. I bought.

I expected too much. This is a record that took a good half year to grow on me, but when it did, I finally got what she was talking about. Though they clearly had a boner for Built to Spill, they didn't really sound like them. They didn't really sound like anything. And the lyrics were, to an early 20's me, just fucking fantastic:

"drinking champagne from a paper cup/is never quite the same/and every sip's moving through my eyes/and up into my brain/at half past two; about time to leave/'cause the dj's playing rhythm and blues"

Listening to that song, specifically when I was alone and bleary-eyed drunk, is an experience that sent me into some seriously wuss-filled places that I will never reveal the true extent of. But it was therapeutic in some surely fucked-up way.

I never really got past this Death Cab. I watched them get more and more famous, and became less and less interested. That's sort of my thing, but that wasn't the sole reason. I legitimately love this record, and I didn't want any of their new shit to overtake it. It was a timing thing. I was vulnerable. They got me.

And this will always be my favorite song of theirs:

"Pictures in an Exhibition"

De La Soul - Stakes Is High (CD, 1996)

Prince Paul is nowhere to be seen.

Considering that (if I hadn't mentioned it, he produced the previous three records), this record is pretty good. It picks up where Buhloone left off, with the group becoming increasingly pissed at the state of hip hop. While they keep flying that flag, they also fall back on some lazy beats and call-and-response hooks that, even if they're satirical, sound fairly lame.

The lyrics are dope, but if we're looking for a De La record after which they (intentionally or not) couldn't be labeled as outsiders anymore, this is it. They give in to guest spots (Common, Mos Def), let some songs drag a little too long, and allow the whole record to go a little longer than it probably should.

Yes, I gripe. But, there are some good songs. The title track is a fun (but serious) one, and there's a few others. But with beat-dense production that keeps it mostly sparse with accompaniment, it's too much of a shock after hearing the multilayered work of Prince Paul.

Honestly though, for me, the verdict is still out on this one. '96 was an awkward year for hip hop, so I try and keep that in perspective. Considering the shit that was being pumped out around the same time, this could seem brave and brashly rebellious. Which it is.

I think I just miss Prince Paul.

"Stakes Is High"

De La Soul - Buhloone Mindstate (CD, 1993)

After their big debut and the anticipation involved with their sophomore effort, it was probably nice for De La Soul to sink into their third album, and just get back to making music. This is purely speculation on my part, but to me, they sound more comfortable on this one.

The intro's short and entertaining, and then they bust right into it. I've always thought "Eye Patch" was a pretty sweet opening track, if for no other reason than it's weird as shit. "Patti Dooke" is a great song, though it's the most un-De La the group has sounded up to this point. I think it's due to the live instrumentation, and it doesn't really matter. The song works.

Their frustration with the hip hop scene really spills out on this record, and while their raps are still as nutty and unfocused as ever, they certainly sound more mature. For me, that's a minus, but it's understandable.

So, the album starts strong, but it runs into some problems. "I Be Blowin'" and "Long Island Wildin'" are b-sides if I've ever heard one. Put 'em right in the middle of the record, and it makes for a rough patch. They have trouble picking it back up after that, though the record finishes as strong as it starts. "Breakadawn" is sweet as shit (though very Tribe Called Quest), and "Stone Age" with Biz Markie is a great closer.

So, again, my expectations are too high for De La, but I like parts of this one a lot. It gets rocked.

"Breakadawn"

De La Soul - De La Soul Is Dead (CD, 1991)

By the time 1991 rolled around, I was hopelessly immersed in the NW rock scene that was taking over both my neck of the woods and the world, and maybe that's why I missed this one upon its release. I think it was also partly due to the cover and the title. De La had clearly grown tired of the "hippie" label, and were eager to show the world they were more than that. I would have been happy if they stuck with it, honestly. And really, how were they going to follow such a classic debut?

They decided to get a little weirder, starting with an intro that is at least a minute too long, and interspersing some other interludes that are lazily titled "Skit 1," "Skit 2," etc. The concept behind the skits is a solid one, but they're not as fun as the ones on the first record. Neither is the rest of the record, for the most part.

This one has grown on a lot of people over time, and while I feel like that hasn't really happened for me yet, I do enjoy listening to it. Their views haven't changed much, but there is a slight air of self-indulgence (the record is far too long), and a sense that they may have believed their well-deserved hype.

The last thing I wanted was for De La Soul to start morphing into just another rap group. I feel like this was the beginning of that progression. Or maybe I just don't "get it" like everyone else. I keep trying.

"Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)"

De La Soul - 3 Feet High and Rising (2xCD, 1989/2001)

Wow. I don't even know where to start with this one. I could go on for days.

First off, I'm listing the date like that because I have the reissue, which came with a bonus disc of b-sides. Not that it really matters, but I like to get specific. Secondly, this is one of the most brilliant and important records in the history of hip hop. And I really, really mean that.

I picked this gem up on cassette when I was 13, and I wish I had a good story as to why I decided to buy it. I know I hadn't heard it before I purchased it, so I think I was just giving it a shot. (Kids: this is something you had to do in the pre-internet days.) The rap section was pretty small at Fred Meyer (it was small everywhere in those days, but really small at Freddy's), so my options were limited. I remember always staring at the same tapes: MC Hammer's Let's Get It Started, Too $hort's Life Is..., Just-Ice's The Desolate One. De La's tape glowed, literally. The thing was neon. My tastes were pretty much encompassed within two genres at the time: rap and classic rock. This cover had rappers and hippie daisies on it. Looked good to me.

When people talk about this being the first rap record with skits, I'm not sure if that's technically true. But, it was certainly the first to integrate them so fully into the music. I can still listen to the game show skits on this record, and I'd miss 'em if they weren't there. They're trying to be funny, but they're also smart, and they're just one reason why this record is so good.

The main reason this record is so good: Prince Paul. Not to take anything away from De La Soul, because they are brilliant in their own inimitable way on this album, but it's Prince Paul who's laying down the beats and calling the shots. And the beats are amazing. The interludes are amazing. There is not a bad second on this record. I have heard so many songs on the radio since first hearing this record, and realized that I am recognizing them from being sampled on 3 Feet High and Rising. This is another one that people point to, much like Paul's Boutique, that simply wouldn't be commercially possible in this day and age. And though the songs are clearly sample-based, Prince Paul makes entirely new compositions out of the material. Songs like "Say No Go" and "Eye Know" make no secret about what they're using, but the method is crafty. It's something that's really missing from hip hop these days.

De La Soul themselves were barely 20 when they made this. It's pretty nuts, especially when you listen to the message they were trying to get across. It's not that they sound world-weary, it's that they care. On some level, this appealed to me just as much as the gangsta raps that NWA were kicking out, but for completely opposite reasons. Ice Cube didn't give a fuck, but Trugoy called himself the Dove. He clearly didn't give a fuck either. It was cool as shit. And while everyone talks about how this record was consumed with hippie tones and cries for peace, it's really not.

It's just fucking smart, catchy, varied, and as close to perfect as hip hop's ever going to get. I'll stop now. I'm getting worked up.

"Say No Go"