Music > Live Reviews

De La Soul

The Nick Rayns LCR, UEA

by Lizz

09/03/17

De La Soul were the first hip hop act I ever fell in love with 26 years ago. Mine ears were full of Nirvana, Bikini Kill, Rage Against The Machine, The Smiths and The Cure at the time. I was wearing Dr Martens and babydoll dresses. But De La brought a joy to my life that I had not felt before. Their intricate and skilled wordplay, hilarious well crafted lyrics and jaunty tunes lit a fire inside me that led me to love hip hop as much if not more than other genres even now. The twist of happiness in my tummy when I am able to rap along to the whole of 3 Feet High And Rising and the syncopated and many moments of genius from three of the most talented rappers the world’s ever seen has not faded. I’ve seen them twice before, once in Cambridge and once in Lowestoft and they were great both times – would seeing them in my own hood be the charm?

Support comes from local hip hop stalwarts Chrome and Illinspired. Starting off with their most memorable number You Should Know, they instantly impress the growing crowd. Filling the stage confidently, and tight as a drum as always, this is the best I’ve ever seen them. I love how they take the best elements of old school hip hop but manage to make it current and relevant to their own lives and times. The beats are interesting, provided by DJ Super JB, but it’s Bill and Mike’s talent on the mics that really draws the attention, particularly when, at the end of their 45 minute set they both perform solo and acapella, Mike showing off his mad syncopation skills and Bill doing a beautifully lyrical almost spoken word piece. Mike tells us that actually he supported De La Soul at the LCR back in 1989 so it’s a lovely nostalgic moment for him, and he and Bill should both be proud that they continue to keep it real and work hard on their music nearly 30 years on. Ricky Lix from relatively newish Norwich hip hop crew Music Lessons comes out for one track, and although he’s pretty good he just doesn’t have the positive, bouncy energy of Bill and Mike. A now packed-out audience lap up their set, and they leave the stage to applause and whoops.

This is De La Soul’s third visit to the LCR (they also came in 1989 and 2006). Sadly tonight we’re told there’s no Maseo as he's ill. DJ Strike is on the decks instead - from outta Brooklyn, he’s toured with Butta Verses and Black Sheep amongst others. He does a good job throughout, coping with some technical difficulties and joining in the rapping when he is able…but I really do miss Mase’s voice badly.

The crowd is very split tonight, between a large swathe of hyped up youths taking up the front half of the dance floor, ready for mosh action and exuberant arm waving, and the rest of the room filled with 30+ old school fans who prefer to head nod, as is traditional. De La Soul are clearly ready to party, preferably with the most enthusiastic of their fans. There’s an incredible response from the crowd tonight – in fact in all my years of gig going I have to say I don’t think I’ve seen anything like it in terms of sheer up-for-it-ness. That there are so many young people here is surprising – their latest album is very mature and serious, beautifully made and very different to their early work, so I expected a bit more of a similar evening. However, the trio had already bought us tickets to the party train, so we felt we should hop onboard.

Soundwise, DJ Strike’s Serrato set up is way too loud, sometime drowning out the voices and sometimes forcing them to be much louder than they would do naturally, which means my ears actually hurt after a while. Not great. There is a lot of crowd participation and call and response. A LOT. I would say about half the gig was concerned with picking which side of the room was louder. As a result, De La only gave us 11 songs. 11 songs in an hour and quarter is not nearly enough, especially when they had so many hundreds of belters that we were all dying to hear. Posdnous and Dave were full of genuine energy and passion, but some of the tracks broke my heart because they were rushed, mumbled, and performed with an overemphasis on the chorus. Grind Date, Oooh, Stakes is High, a stripped back version of one of my top favourites Oodles Of O’s that took all the cleverness out of it, I Am I Be all flow past without a huge response from the crowd – it seems they are mainly feeding off Plug One and Plug Two’s buoyancy rather than the music itself. It’s not until Ego Trippin’ (Part Two), A Rollerskating Jam Named Saturday, Me Myself And I, Gorillaz' Feel Good Inc and Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey) that people get pumped because they know these ones. Sigh.

Saturday is speeded up to a ridiculous extent, Feel Good Inc has only its second half performed without Albarn’s gentle chorus included, and the delivery of Ring Ring’s lyrics are messed with so much that it’s barely recognisable. And that’s it. I have listed all the songs they played. Nothing from the new album, which is an amazing collection of songs (why didn’t they get Justin Hawkins over from Lowestoft to do his guest spot on Lord Intended?!), and the much loved and treasured songs they did do weren't held true to themselves. I wanted to hear all those De La phrases and lines that I find popping into my head on the regular said live, from the mouths of those who had originally come up with them. De La Soul’s latest album is a great example of a well established band who have grown up, who aren’t afraid to be amongst the elder statesmen of hip hop, and to speak about their own lives and experiences. I felt, personally, that it was a shame that they didn’t embrace this more live – let the songs ring out properly, give them their proper respect and time to breathe instead of rushing through and not allowing their amazing lyrics to shine. They seemed a bit bored of doing the same old songs, and of course they are, after 30 years or so. But those songs are what has brought them to where they are today, and I don’t know that whooping the crowd up into a frenzy and rushing through a few tracks showed the right attitude to what they have; a huge body of accomplished and genius work that they are still able to perform to packed out venues worldwide. I can’t deny they worked tonight, they put a huge amount of effort in and I expect most people loved the positive and jump up vibes. But I felt De La Soul did a disservice to their own catalogue. Only because I love them so much, mind.

Thanks to Mark Smith for the video.