100 Greatest Songs of the 80’s #92 De La Soul – Me, Myself & I

Released : 1989

By the end of it’s first decade since escaping from the obscurity of New York block parties, rap was growing exponentially as a musical form, an avenue of self expression which like no other before it allowed it’s creators both a means of representing their neighbourhoods but also escaping them.

Part of the Native Tongues collective along with A Tribe Called Quest, Queen Latifah and The Jungle Brothers, De La Soul brought a vibrancy to Hip Hop which it’s never had before or since, pillaging classic funk tracks with abandon and offering a conscious alternative to the gang banging nihilism becoming prevalent on the west coast.

Me Myself & I was the anithesis of the drugs, guns and bitches street life: playful, open and hugely danceable, it was denounced as hippy by it’s detractors, but the trio brought superlative wit and confidence to their work, a relateable brashness which briefly made them global stars. They shredded all of their dayglo trappings by necessity on their subsequent album De La Soul Is Dead, but this remains a rare memento of pure joy.