De La Soul – Plug Tunin’
Label: Tommy Boy Music
Catalog#: TB 910
Format:Vinyl, 12″
Country: US
Released: 1988
Style: Hip Hop
Notes: Dedicated to the Memory of Hattie Mercer
Tracklisting:
A1: Plug Tunin’ (Are You Ready For This?) (3:41)
A2: Freedom Of Speak (We Got Three Minutes) (2:52)
B1: Freedom Of Speak (We Got More Than Three) (4:16)
B2: Plug Tunin’ (Something’s Wrong Here) (3:10)
B3: Strictly Dan Stuckie (0:38)
De La Soul
Real Name: Dave Jolicoeur, Kelvin Mercer, Paul Huston, Vincent Mason
Profile: Formed in 1987, Long Island, NY, United States. De La Soul is a Grammy Award-winning hip hop group. 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.
With its playful wordplay, innovative sampling, and witty skits, the band’s debut album, 3 Feet High and Rising, has been hailed as a hip-hop masterpiece.[1] It is also the band’s biggest commercial success to date, with their subsequent albums selling progressively less, despite receiving high praise from critics. A measure of 3 Feet High and Rising’s cross-over appeal was the fact that it was voted Album of the Year by NME Magazine, a title better known for its taste in guitar-based music. De La Soul has influenced numerous other hip hop artists such as Camp Lo, Black Eyed Peas, and Digable Planets. They were also instrumental in the early stages of rapper/actor Mos Def’s career, and are a core part of the Spitkicker collective. They are the longest standing Native Tongues Posse group, after the Jungle Brothers.
URLs: http://www.myspace.com/delasoul
Members: Dave Jolicoeur, Kelvin Mercer, Vincent Mason. Paul Huston is no longer a member.
Tommy Boy Music
Profile: Founded by Tom Silverman.
Perhaps more so than any other, Tommy Boy epitomizes the ideal independent record label, with one glaring exception: success. Tommy Boy achieved it; most did not. Since the independent record label rush of the early 1980s, most companies have faded into obscurity, but Tommy Boy remained important and has consistently released high quality music by innovating, not imitating trends, and the results are clear.
In 1985, the label entered into a joint venture with Warner Bros. Records, which purchased a 50% stake in Tommy Boy, and Tom Silverman and Monica Lynch were made VPs of Warner Bros. Records. What was unprecedented about the venture was that it was the first-ever venture in which an independent label was given the choice to remain independent rather than moving all of its product to major-label distribution: Warner allowed Tommy Boy to release its titles through independent distribution while giving it the option to release anything it wanted through Warner’s major-label pipeline. However, this option was used seldomly: Information Society was the only act whose entire oeuvre got the major-label push—through Warner’s Reprise Records subsidiary. None of its 12-inch singles or CD-5s were released with major-label distribution. Other Warner Bros.-distributed titles were one-shots, such as Coldcuts debut album; the second, third, and fourth albums by the Force MDs; and the second album by TKA. The latter is the only Tommy Boy release that has both the Tommy Boy and Warner Bros. Records logos on it. Information Societys Hack is the only Warner Bros.-distributed title that used the modern-day Tommy Boy logo. Conversely, Warner Bros. used Tommy Boy for its expertise in 12-inch singles to help it break acts such as Club Nouveau.
In 1990, Warner Bros. purchased the remaining 50% that it did not already own. Tommy Boy became a victim of the early 1990s backlash against WEAs hip-hop acts from the campaign led by C. Delores Tucker, and Pariss second album was canceled because of this (it was released subsequently on Pariss own label). In 1995, Tommy Boy purchased 50% of itself back from Warner Bros. Records.
http://www.discogs.com/release/130665
Duration : 0:3:1
Read the rest of this entry »