INTERVIEW: De La Soul On Honoring Dave In Their New Album, Today's Hip Hop Landscape + More

Summary

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The Breakfast Club – De La Soul on Honoring Dave, New Music, Hip Hop's Evolution & More

Podcast: The Breakfast Club
Date: November 17, 2025
Guests: De La Soul (Posdnuos & Dave), DJ Envy, Charlamagne Tha God, Jess Hilarious, Lola Rose, Nyla

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Overview

This episode is a celebration and deep dive into the legacy, creativity, and continued relevance of De La Soul. The conversation is driven by the release of their new album "Cabin in the Sky," made in tribute to the late group member Dave. The hosts and De La Soul reflect thoughtfully on the group’s origins, their impact on hip hop, collaboration with other legends, music industry challenges, and the state of today's hip hop landscape. The tone is candid, affectionate, nostalgic, and occasionally humorous, with the hosts honoring De La Soul’s journey while extracting lessons for the present and future.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Origins and Influences

• How De La Soul Came Together
  • Met during summer school; initially bonded over DJing, not MCing (03:33).
  • Shout-out to producer Prince Paul, who played a pivotal role in shaping their sound.
• Long Island’s Hip Hop Scene
  • Heavily influenced by backyard and college parties, roller skating culture, and a vibrant competitive scene (05:34).
  • Interactions with other Long Island hip hop notables: EPMD, Rakim, Public Enemy, JVC Force.
• Their Unique Musical Direction
  • Moved away from the prevailing "hard" records of Queens to a more playful, home-inspired sound, influenced by parents' record collections and a desire for fun (04:36).
  • The legendary “Plug One/Plug Two” nicknames came organically from club interactions, not any grand concept (08:38).

2. Creative Chemistry & the Native Tongues Collective

• Finding Their 'Tribe'
  • Native Tongues (Jungle Brothers, A Tribe Called Quest, Queen Latifah) formed organically, likened to high school friends finding their group (09:20).
  • Studio sessions were lively and unpredictable, with constant creative cross-pollination (09:55).
• Sampling, Lawsuits & Industry Lessons
  • Early sampling was mostly handled by their record label; lack of experience led to later legal/administrative nightmares, especially as digital took over (10:44 – 13:16).
  • Notable: Missed much of the "download era" and struggled with catalog rights and digital release delays.

3. Enduring Influence & Cultural Evolution

• Reaching New Generations
  • Their music has broken generational barriers, with classic tracks finding new life through movies (e.g., "Three Is The Magic Number" in Spider-Man), streaming, and younger fans discovering them years later (13:45).
• Modern-Day Native Tongues
  • If Native Tongues started today, would ally with Odd Future, Tyler, the Creator, Kendrick Lamar, Rapsody, J. Cole, Ruben Vincent (14:36).
• Visual Identity
  • The iconic “flowers and bright colors” were suggested by the record label to match their unique sound; while not initially on board, the group now appreciates how it made them stand out (15:19).
  • Impact: Inspired fashion trends (African pendants, Cross Colors) among fans in the '90s.

4. Industry Dynamics: Friendship, Competition, and Careers

• Relationship with A Tribe Called Quest
  • Deep friendship, creative synergy, and occasional sibling-like rivalry—“inseparable at one point” (18:05).
  • Reciprocal inspirations; Q-Tip’s jazz influences acknowledged as transformative for hip hop (19:00 – 20:42).
• On Trends and Longevity
  • “Trendsetters know when to bail from the trend they started”—they purposely evolved past each album's iconic style (“We did it our way, and moved on,” 51:58–52:31).
• Corporate Exploitation
  • Reflected on being under-acknowledged (and under-compensated) compared to some borough-born NYC peers due to Long Island’s image (06:37 & 23:51).
  • Discussed being compensated (or not) for things like Nike collaborations (35:31).

5. Honoring Dave: Grief, Legacy, and Album Creation

• "Cabin in the Sky" as a Tribute
  • Album dedicated to Dave and his legacy; described as “him rhyming from heaven” (36:30).
  • Candidly discussed grief and the responsibility of carrying on for a late friend (37:39).
  • Authenticity: All Dave’s vocals on the album are from material he actually worked on; nothing artificial or posthumously constructed (38:21).
• Performing the Old Material
  • Emotional adjustment to performing without Dave; developed new strategies for live shows (39:04).
• Who Dave Was
  • "If anybody did it their way, he did" (39:48).
  • Dave described as quirky, unapologetic, having lived a full, three-to-four-lifetimes kind of life (40:25).

6. Hip Hop Then and Now: Critique & Advice

• Constructive Criticism & Gatekeeping
  • Advocated for supportive, constructive mentorship versus harsh industry criticism (33:31).
  • “There should be some level of gatekeeping, but...the keepers of the gate have to be pure in their intentions.” (49:09)
• On Modern Hip Hop Noise
  • Observed that there's more music than ever, making it difficult for true artistry to break through the "noise" (43:50–44:29).
  • Social media and technology have reduced artist development and made it harder to achieve longevity without intentional effort (47:42–48:19).
• Artist Development and Longevity
  • Importance of coaching, the role of mentors (compares to basketball players needing good coaches) (48:04–48:19).
  • Personal press and real-life connections still matter for fan engagement and career longevity (50:14–51:01).
• Lessons for the Next Generation
  • “You can't make anyone learn anything they don't want to learn,” but humility and a gentle approach work best (44:48).

7. Memorable Quotes

• "We did it our way, man. We had fun with it." — Posdnuos, on De La Soul’s legacy (53:40)
• "Three Black men who stuck together." — Dave, defining their story for the history books (53:45)
• "Nothing that we used of him was manipulated...his intent, his energy is throughout the album, and it's organically him." — Posdnuos, on Dave’s contributions to "Cabin in the Sky" (38:21)
• "If anybody did it their way, he did, definitely—he unapologetically, his way." — Dave on Dave's legacy (39:48)
• "Trendsetters know when to bail from the trend they started...we were always on to the next to try something else." — Posdnuos (51:58)
• "There's so much music and it's good music out, but there's so many places to get it from that it's understandable that this one place only does it this way. But if you go to maybe SoundCloud, they do it this way." — Posdnuos, on the current music landscape (43:51)

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Notable Moments & Timestamps

|Timestamp| Topic / Quote | |-------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 03:33 | Origins: "Ah, man, we met in summer school..." – Dave | | 04:36 | Creative inspiration: “We put together records based off what was in our parents’ cribs...” – Posdnuos | | 08:38 | The ‘Plug One / Plug Two’ story | | 09:20 | Formation of Native Tongues; finding their creative "tribe" | | 13:45 | New generations & Marvel’s "Spider-Man" using “Three Is The Magic Number” | | 14:36 | “Who would Native Tongues be today?” The collective name-checks Odd Future & Kendrick | | 15:19 | Record label’s influence on their visual identity; initial resistance | | 18:05 | Relationship with A Tribe Called Quest: "Those was our brother..." | | 19:00–20:42 | Q-Tip and the jazz-sampling revolution; family tree of hip hop innovation | | 23:51 | Reflections on Long Island’s under-recognized legacy | | 36:30 | Album as tribute: "Cabin in the Sky was for him [Dave]..." | | 38:21 | Authenticity of Dave’s vocals on the new album | | 39:48 | "If anybody did it their way, he did definitely—he unapologetically, his way." – Dave | | 43:50 | The challenge of too much music ("just too much music") – Posdnuos | | 44:48 | On wisdom: "You're going to learn it when you learn it..." – Posdnuos | | 49:09 | "There should be gatekeeping..." – Charlamagne | | 51:58 | “Trendsetters know when to bail from the trend they started.” | | 53:40 | “We did it our way, man. We had fun with it.” – Posdnuos | | 53:45 | “Three Black men who stuck together.” – Dave |

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Final Reflections

The episode closes with De La Soul’s philosophy summed up in two points: their commitment to having fun and their unity as three Black men sticking together through the highs and lows. The interview balances nostalgia and vision, offering practical advice to younger artists while underscoring the importance of friendship, artistic evolution, and staying true to one’s creative voice.

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Episode Highlights for New Listeners:

• 03:33 – 06:10: De La’s origin & Long Island context
• 09:20 – 12:10: Native Tongues memories
• 13:45 – 14:59: Reaching new fans & imagining a modern Native Tongues
• 36:30 – 39:10: Album as tribute and grief
• 43:50 – 51:00: How hip hop and the industry have changed
• 53:40 – 53:50: What De La Soul wants to be remembered for

For fans old and new: The conversation not only explores De La Soul’s legacy but digs deeply into the values and lessons they hope will inspire artists and listeners for generations to come.

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Transcript

[Host]

This is an Iheart podcast.

[DJ Envy]

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[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Okay, only 10 more presents to wrap. You're almost at the finish line.

[Host]

But first.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

There the last one.

[Host]

Enjoy a Coca Cola for a pause that refreshes.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

The wait was worth it. The keys to your dream home have been secured. Now comes time to fill it with memories. But first, furniture and movers. When's the house warming? Who's cooking? Or should you cater? All that planning can be stressful, but ensuring your home shouldn't be. And that's where State Farm comes in. Because State Farm agents can help you choose the coverage you need. Just call, go online or check out the app. An agent is ready to help so you can focus on showing off your new home. If you know, you know like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Tonight at 10, 9 Central on BET.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

An all new episode of 106 in.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Sports from executive producers LeBron James and Maverick Carter. It's a new top five countdown with hosts Ashley Nicole Moss and Cam Newton. They're breaking down the top moments in.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Sports, culture and entertainment and highlighting both established pros and the stars on the come up. Watch the all new series 106 in.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Sports tonight at 109 Central on BET. Or catch up the next day on BET on ebay.

[DJ Envy]

Every find has a story. Like if you're looking for a vintage band tee. Not just a tee. The band tee you wore everywhere until your ex girl stole it. Now you're on ebay. And there it is. Same tee from the same tour. The things you love have a way of finding their way back to you. Especially on ebay. Where else can you find that mint sign baseball card you've been searching everywhere for? Or your first car, the one you wish you never sold. Shop ebay for millions of fines, each with a story. EBay. Things people love.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Every day I wake up.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Wake your ass up.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

The Breakfast Club.

[DJ Envy]

Morning everybody. It's DJ Envy. Just hilarious. Charlemagne the guy. We are the Breakfast Club. Lola Rose is here and also Nyla is Here as we. As we introduce some legends, some icons in this game, Long Island's own De La Soul. Welcome, brothers.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

Peace, my brother.

[DJ Envy]

My voice a little shaky. That's why I had to make sure I was here for y'.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

All.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Thank you, bro.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

Peace, brother.

[DJ Envy]

OG legendary, man.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

How y' all feeling, man? New album. First album in nine years in the sky.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, we feeling good, bro. We feeling really good, man.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

Still be a part of the fabric.

[DJ Envy]

I always like to be a part of it.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

You are the family.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Part of it.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

What?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Come on, man.

[DJ Envy]

When we have legendary groups like this, I like to start from the beginning for people that don't know and introduce them to. So how did De La Soul come together?

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

Ah, man, we met in summer school. Damn.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Why you have to say that? I was intelligent.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

We was in summer school, not doing too well that year before.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Right.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

And yeah, for some reason we clicked in class. And from there we would pretty much end up at one another's crib after school and started messing with the music. You know, Possum Dave wasn't really known as MCs in the neighborhood back then. When parties was happening, I was DJing around the neighborhood. Paul was DJing around the neighborhood. Yeah, true to my brother, Prince Paul. Yeah. And then things just started to click. We started to realize we. We got something here and we just kept it going. And when we finally met Paul, things started to really change, you know, at.

[DJ Envy]

That time in Queens. It was. It was hard records at the time, right?

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

Yeah.

[DJ Envy]

But you guys went the other way, so break that down.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Of.

[DJ Envy]

Of why the difference of why the native tongue comes.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

It was just who we were, man. It's really hard to explain. We, we. We put together records based off what was in our parents cribs, you know what I'm saying? Like, we loved the Coogee Raps, the Rakims. Rakims, the Canes, all that. We loved all of it. But, you know, it just. What, what, what appealed to us. Even Mace could come from a. Like a more street background from Brooklyn. I came from the Bronx at a really young age, but. And moved to Long island. But we were just using stuff in our crib. We knew biz biz showed us that you can make these dope records but have fun. And that, that kind of just spoke to us. So we just. That this is what we did when we was putting together records. And it just like, was what we wanted to present.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

What was the hip hop community in Long Island? Cause y' all know you got the Rakims and the Public Enemies and the Biz and the Daylight Soul.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Buster Stone, you know what I mean?

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

JVC Force, epmd.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Epmd. Yep.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

Keith Murray.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

What was the scene?

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

The scene was more backyard parties. Yeah, VFWs.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Backyard.

[DJ Envy]

A lot of VFWs.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

And college parties. A lot of college parties. Yeah. And that was. That's pretty much how we. We rocked. We had a. We had a spot called a dugout around our way. And that's where everybody came and rocked. You know, you never knew who was going to pop in there. And then all the local talent, you know, between DJs and MCs that was just trying to do their thing.

[DJ Envy]

Roller skating, too. Roller skating was big.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

Roller skating was a very big thing also. Yeah.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

And y' all all knew each other? Like, who all knew each other? What era was that?

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

We knew each other. You know, we knew who. Epmd. You know, we would see them here and there. Like, even Freddie Fox lived out around that way.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

My brother Freddy.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

So we would see him.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Freddie Fox would beat your ass.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

He sure was him. And him and him and his brother, the supreme. They called themselves the Supreme Force. Me and Dave at that, working in Burger King. We would see him whipping people all up and down the mall.

[DJ Envy]

You know what I wanted to know? Do you feel like if De La Soul wasn't from Long Island, De La Soul would be a bigger group? Cause I think Long island is that one place. I always feel like people just leaves Long island out for some reason.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

I don't know. I mean.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

I think with hip hop, there's generically, there's the struggle. And people don't realize this is a struggle out there amongst them grass and trees. Long island was thoughtful and all of that out there, too.

[DJ Envy]

People don't see that side. They think, when you get money, you move to Long island, you made it. Cause that was the thing. Like, when you get money, you move to Long Island. But Long island has some dirty, dingy.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Indeed crazy areas as well, you know, My parents was from the South. You know, we lived in the Bronx for a minute. I had two older brothers. By the time me and my younger brother came around, they was like, yo, we gotta get outta here. So they did the same thing. They moved us to Long Island. Respectfully, all the white people ran away and we was there. But, yo, there was some grimy parts of that place, you know, I mean, Wyandanch is like, baby Brooklyn.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

That's what it was named. If you were from the boroughs and moved to Long island, you had some challenges. Cause Them dudes was gonna definitely let you know you ain't who you think you are from the Burrows. Yeah, you will pop you with a shovel out here. Yeah.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

And it's funny when people say things to me, like, you know, when I hear Emmy say, would Daylight be a bigger group? Because I grew up in South Carolina and people was bumping De La Soul crazy. Where I was, where I was from, people did love De La Soul.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

No doubt. You know, I mean, like, yeah, we were one of those groups that were not only blessed to get this love that was bubbling in New York, but we could find, like, yo, in the South. They mess with us. That first song we had called Plug Tuning, it was a little slower, so we had Houston really messing with it. And then let alone when all of a sudden they was like, yo, y' all can go to London. Word, we can go to Amsterdam. So we were just kind of like, running around the world just off of this first album. And it was. It was like, really a blessing, you know.

[Host]

What is the origin behind, like, Plug one, Plug two?

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

And just that concept in general, it was the listeners. We had the song Plug Tunein, and it was just a chant. So it's just like how any rapper could jump into a verse, be like, yo, yo, yo, yo, A one, a one, a one, two. And you just start saying what you say. That was just a chant. We'd be like, plug one, Plug two. I wasn't supposed to be Plug one. I was just the one saying it. And Dave was saying plug two. So when we was walking around in clubs, people were like, yo, you Plug one, you plug two. And then he just automatically became my default Plug three. We didn't even make that up for ourselves.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah, and it's also funny, too, when they say, if you do things, you'll find your tribe. I feel like y' all found y' all tribe literally, when it came to the native tongue.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Indeed. Because when we first came into was like being in a high school, you know, you've already heard nice and smooth records, and now they're hanging with you. You already heard Audio2's records, and now you're around them in light. And so we all hanging around. But when we met Jungle, it was like, yo, like, yeah, sit at my table. Let's do the beats on the table, us. And then they bring around Q Tip, and it's the same thing. And then Latifah comes hang out with us. So, yeah, it was just like this frequency that we just all felt like, yo, we should really like, Be around each other and make records.

[DJ Envy]

How was recording back then with all those people that you just named? How was those studio sessions?

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

That was crazy.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Yeah.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

I mean, you just never know who's going to pop in the studio that day and make a song. You know, I mean, we. We hung out a lot, so making a song was like second nature because we were just together a lot. And then, you know, the vibe of just wanting to play records and make records, and we were kids loving this thing, you know, that's now called hip hop.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Yeah.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

Even when we were doing it, wouldn't call hip hop yet. Yeah.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

You know what I'm saying?

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

It's like, yo, this. This rap thing, you know what I'm saying? We're trying to do this.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Yeah.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

Figure this out. And we got the opportunity for somebody to spend their money on your dream. It was like, let's go and we could sample records and. Yeah. It was like new toys to play with.

[DJ Envy]

When y' all sample Rack Records back then, did y' all clear the records or y' all just.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Well, we.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

We gave it to the record company to clear, and if they chose not to clear it.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

Right.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

You know, that was.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

We. We knew we needed to get permission. How you go about getting permission? We didn't know that, but we knew it. The record company was supposed to do that.

[DJ Envy]

Did they do it for your records?

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Some.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

Some. And. And not. So, yeah.

[Host]

You know, I know y' all went through everything with this. The lawsuit, with the clearing and not clearing it. I kind of messed y' all up when things started digital.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Yeah.

[Host]

And so what was that journey like? Because you got all this great feeling, all this great music, and then the business kicks in, and it's like, whoa, wait. Like, we were kids figuring this out, but now the adult business kicks in, and it's making it where you guys kind of disappear when the streaming.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Yeah, we missed. We missed the download error. We missed all that. That's crazy. Download error, streaming error at the top of it. Yeah. So, I mean, now we were putting out newer records that weren't involved with our catalog that was on, say, Tommy Boy, the first six records. But we had good people who was in control of this catalog at Warner Brothers, you know, and they was trying to help us to get it right and get these samples clear. But you know how with record companies, then a new regime comes in and everyone leaves, and now you gotta start over again. And that's where it really became an ordeal, where it just took too long. Leor Cohen was up there, and he was our former manager.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

He was trying to help us.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Help us out. But then he left.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

And he left.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Yeah. So.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

And then Tom Silverman tried to come back.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Yeah. And he got the catalog, and that's.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

When things started between us and him, because he offered a deal that wasn't really cool.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

How does the label end up with a 1090 split? How does the label get 90? Because I'm thinking, like, back then, y' all didn't. There was no screaming, so it's not like y' all signed something like that. How did you end up with a 1090?

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

I don't know, man. I. Usually, us, the artists, just, like, sometimes us, the people, whatever we're being introduced to, it's already been figured out. They give it to you. And I think it's the same way. It's like they already know where they're going. They already know that this streaming thing is coming before we even know it's coming. And I just think it has a lot to do.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

Back then, he was getting paid on, like, 12 or maybe 18 songs, you know, and it would be like a 12% to 18% royalty anyway. That was kind of standard, you know? But what we didn't know is those admin fees is what can make it 10% when you're paying that admin fee on the back.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

That's what. Administration.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

Yeah, the administration fee. Yeah.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

That's crazy.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

Yeah.

[DJ Envy]

How does it feel when you see the. The younger generation finding new daylight soul? So Nyla, who's a young OG over here, we did this. We do this segment called Pastor Aux, and I think maybe the first or second one, she came in here and she was like, I got a De La Soul record. And we like. De La Soul is new. And she played a classic, but it just had joined the stream in it. And she's a native tongue fan.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

She played a song off Cabin in the Sky. Today?

[DJ Envy]

Yeah, today. So how does it feel when the young generation hears that? Because it's almost like a recreation.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

It's beautiful, man. It's amazing. Like, even right before the catalog came out, Marvel had came to us and like, yo, we want to put one of your oldest songs in the Spider man movie. Was like, yo, that'd be amazing. So it was a big thing where at the end of the movie, when the three spider mans come together, they play three's the magic number, and everyone pulls out their phone, your young kids trying to Shazam it, and they still couldn't find it because it wasn't up yet. So it's Just amazing. Like how even all of us living in our homes and listening to like a Gladys Night record and your parents would be like, what do you know about this? But you was around them, you're hearing it and it speaks to you. And it's just great to see something that we did in 89 is speaking to someone right now. Is, yes. The words for it.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

If daylight started in 2025, what would native tongues look like today? Like, who are the artists you'd call?

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Who would we call family? I mean, I. I would immediately think, like, you know, odd future, them dudes, Tyler, the creator, those Earl Special, and it's impact. Like, those dudes are us. Like, we would be hanging around, running around, bugging out everything.

[DJ Envy]

Kendrick too.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Kendrick?

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

Indeed.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Indeed.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

Yeah, for sure.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Indeed.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Who you see now?

[Host]

Rhapsody.

[DJ Envy]

Rhapsody, yes, absolutely.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Yeah, definitely. Yeah, definitely.

[Host]

Everyday man type rap. Cole.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

I mean, half of the rappers that.

[Host]

Are out right now.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Ruben Vincent.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Yes, definitely Ruben. Yeah.

[Host]

But I am curious about just, like, aesthetically, the world that you guys built, the bright colors, the flowers, who inspired that?

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

It. Honestly, we were just doing music. When it came time to promote the music, the record label was like, look, man, everything y' all making, it's not like what anyone else is doing. And it reminds us of this era, like Woodstock and hippie. Would y' all be down to try these covers? Mace wasn't really with it.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

Nah, I wasn't really with it, but I learned to appreciate it over time.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Yeah.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

Yeah.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

And so when we. When he. As he said, we appreciate the fact that when you put this cover next to, like, Nwa's cover or Rakim's cover, it stood out and it made someone pick it up. And we start learning how people would tell us, like, yo, like, it was because of you. I learned about Rakim because I saw this cover. It seemed like it was safe and we started listening to it. But we got into hip hop and realized all hip hop is what it is. Like, what's the difference between hip hop and a gangster movie? It's like it ain't really real. You know what I'm saying?

[DJ Envy]

So crazy. Just because I'm thinking back of the influence that you guys had. I remember back then, we didn't care about gold jewelry. I wanted my African pendant and we wanted it from Jamaica Avenue. It had to look a certain way. It had to be a certain way because De La Soul wore it.

[Host]

He's Dominican envy with an African pendant.

[DJ Envy]

I am not Dominican.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Why would you think about it? I am not Dominican influence that y' all Have.

[Host]

Can y' all imagine?

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

I mean, but, you know, I'm saying, yo, Dominicans. You know, our Dominican Haitian brothers.

[Host]

With that African pendant on.

[DJ Envy]

Just confused. If you see some of my old pictures, I done had cross colors with the African. Like, it was. It was crazy. Back New York was crazy.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

Yeah, man, that's fire.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Do you think the industry ever fully understood how radical and rebellious what y' all was doing actually was when y' all first introduced it?

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

I'm being honest.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

I think so.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Well, I don't know. I don't know if we really understood it. Nah, I'm being honest. We was just. Because. Just to even go back to what you were saying, B. Don't get it. Do not. Do not miss the fact that we want to go changes. We want to be like rock. We want to be like Eric B. You know what I'm saying?

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

Yeah.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

We had our moment, you know, we had the Busy Bee compart. When me and Dave had our chain on.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

Lairwood had gold fronts, you know what I'm saying?

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

But we still just had this way about us. There's no different than how I would go see his family in Brooklyn and, like, yo, you could have someone who stood out or, like, old Dirty Bastard's brother who was like a punk rocker from Brooklyn. Like, you just had these people who was just, like, different, but still from a circumstance of images that you still love. I love Dapper Dan. I would've loved to have a Dapper Dan suit. I couldn't afford that, you know what I'm saying? So, hey, let me just stick to this. This pendant, because it's easier to rock than a gold chain, you know what I mean?

[DJ Envy]

How close are y' all to Tribe? Because I feel like Tribe had so much influence, got so much from you guys. How close were y' all to them?

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Those was our brother, like, you know, and just for me, like, Africa and Q Tip, like, we were, like, inseparable at one point. We was like the Three Stooges running around, like, love those. Those brothers. We got on each other's nerves, as brothers should do. We loved each other, and we love each other to this day.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

Yeah. We still locked in.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Yeah. You know, so, I mean, hanging out with them, hanging out at Q Tip's house. His mother's making us food. His older sister is friends with Sweet Tea, who was down with Herbie Love Bug. And I'm like, yo, Sweet Tea. And I'm in love with Sweet Tea, and she's at his house. Like, we always hung out together, and we just created music. And I learned from them. They learned from us. Like, Tip is younger than us, but I call him like my little big brother. Cause he's so wise beyond his years, you know?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

You know, we had Knife Wonder up here, and Knife Wonder was talking about.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

I saw he fronting on Daylight. He was saying how much he loved. I saw that.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

And so after I said after, he Knife fronted. I love Knife.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

I love him.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

We got the clip.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I want to hear the clip.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

I was gonna send him live.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Let me hear the clip. Who break down the Q Tip family tree? Oh, man. So the Q Tip family tree. Q Tip was one of the first ones to not sample funk and soul only, right? Q Tip was one of the ones like, oh, I'm a sample of artist by the name of Kyle Jader. And I'm a sample an artist by the name of Les McCann and Freddie Hubbard. Cause Q Tip grew up in a neighborhood of jazz musicians.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

You got the jazz.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Exactly. And so that euphoric feel, like I always say, Bonita Applebaum is like the tree of life for everything after it. So if Bonita Applebum is not made, we're not getting. Well, first, not first of all, with our tribe, we not getting outcasts. Facts, right? They said it. They said it all, you know, all the time. We're not getting outcast. We're not getting the roots. We're not getting Badu. We're not getting Jill. We're not getting Little Brother. We're not getting d'. Angelo. We're not getting this thing called Neo soul. We're not getting. We're not getting Kanye West. We're not getting anything that feels euphoric and feels good. We're not getting that because chord changes wasn't in hip hop in 89, 88. We had. We just talking about Public Enemy. It was just, you know what I'm saying, what Night Live bass is. But Q Tip, when he sampled those chord changes and all of that, that's what. That's what made everybody turn the corner. And we're still. We owe a lot to that dude for making that turn and making the music that he did. Well, making the music that Tribe did. So why. So why. I agree with you, but damn, where did they lock come into play then? So daylight. So Daylight was. Of course, Daylight was before that and Jungle Brothers before that. You know, the, you know, Native Tongues movement.

[DJ Envy]

Also.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Queen Latifah was in that box. You know what I mean? Tribe was more. It was a different thing from Daylight. Daylight was way Left to center, right. You know what I mean?

[DJ Envy]

I think Tribe. And this is gonna sound crazy. Cause Daylight was from Long island and more street.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Tribe was.

[DJ Envy]

Tribe was more street. Cause remember, Tribe is really. They're from Farmers, they're from Queen.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah.

[DJ Envy]

You go up a little bit. That's LL Cool J's area. You go to the left a little bit. That's, you know, 50 sitting them. So they were more street than Daylight, I would say.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

And you noticed it because when Daylight. Daylight and Tribe kind of dressed the same on their fur on three feet. And people distinctive, they trust the same by the time Tribe did. Low end theory is baseball jerseys and hats, bro. Like, they totally just change everything. But I don't feel like you get any of that without three feet high and rising.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

No, you don't. I mean, but I would say, like, we were definitely like minded and. And we were like in kinship together when it came to creativity. And like, you have Dayla being Dayla, and you can have jive records. Like, yo, these Tommy boy dudes, they won with this. They won with Dayla. Like, let's let me find my Dayla. And like, that's Tribe. Tribe was theirs. But we even knew that Tribe ain't De La Tribe got this thing that, like, Tip was coming up with stuff. Like, I was like, yo, how is he doing this? How is he coming up with all this?

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

The jazz influence.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Yeah, it was crazy with him.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

Was way deeper than where we were going. Yeah. Because we were actually messing with a whole lot more pop culture of a different period.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Yeah. You know, we would sample Peg, you know, from Steely Dan and make a record. Like, Tip was just going elsewhere with it. So. I get it, man. I understand where certain things and frequencies that Tip or Tribe was on that the brothers related to. But a lot of the brothers related to us as well. And even with De La Soul is Dead, our second album, we left all that. That psychedelic stuff to the side as well. It just was so iconic. People didn't want to let it go. I mean, our second album was called De La Soul is Dead because we were saying we was getting off the hip image. Yeah, the image.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

The image that was drowning the music.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Yeah.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

The daisy always meant. It was an acronym. It meant the inner sound, y'.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

All.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Yeah.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

D A was the sound wise, y'.

[Host]

All.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

So it just, you know, the images just took it elsewhere, obviously, for the record company to try to sell some records. And I can't front on the art department listening to the music and making this cover because this Is their interpretation.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Yeah.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

You know what I mean? So over time, I began to appreciate what the effect it had on everyone, you know what I mean?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I still don't think you get. You don't get tried without daylight. So of course, I understand the Q tip family tree thing, but daylight, to me sparked all of that.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

Well, you know, and to speak to trial in tribes defense, they had a lot of success.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Oh, absolutely.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

You know, so when you come to. When we talking industry standards, they sold a lot of records, man. You know, they had some joints, man. You know, I could say maybe we had good albums, but they had good albums and joints.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Yeah, yeah.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

Just hitting the airwaves. Crazy.

[DJ Envy]

I still think it's. It's part of the Long island thing where people slept on a lot of Long island artists. Whether it was Rakim. I think Rakim. Rakim's a huge artist, but I think Rakim would have been bigger if he was from the boroughs. I think same thing with epmd. I think the same thing. Well, Keith Murray was there, but I just think people sleep on Long island so much.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Rakim gets mentioned as the God. Like, he's number one on some people's.

[DJ Envy]

List, on some people's list. But I think it would be even bigger if he was from one of the barrels. I just think people sleep on Long Island. That's what I really feel.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

I agree.

[Host]

Do y' all feel like Rakim was always mentioned as one of the gods generationally?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah. Yes.

[Host]

I feel like I hear people talking about it more now.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

He was the one for even Kendrick to say it. Like he.

[Host]

I mean, but those are music. When I say that. When I say that, I guess I mean, like transcending outside. Like you said, like an industry success. Like, I feel like sometimes when we have these conversations, it's like two different groups of people. You talking about. You got people that are heavily intertwined in music and hip hop and culture. And then you have everybody else that just, like, sees it from a celebrity aspect. I feel like the world now is giving Rakim what he should.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Ra.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Yeah. What a matchup we got, y'.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

All.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

This is that classic HBCU vibe. Non stop action. The band is rocking and the crowd lit. Chance echo drum beat. Everybody showing that school pride. A game like this. Yeah. It calls for an ice cold Coca Cola. Ah. Crisp and refreshing. That's a game changer right there. Yeah, that taste always hits the right note. Just like a band at halftime. And just like that, we're back at it. Passionate fans, school colors everywhere. And an Ice cold Coca Cola. That's a winning combo no matter the sport, no matter the yard. Everybody knows fan work is thirsty work. So grab a Coca Cola and keep that HBCU pride going. The wait was worth it. Positive affirmations and all the hard work. The keys to your dream home from the vision board have been secured.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

I see you.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

A whole new future awaits your planning. From top notch decor but on a budget to late night backyard summer cookouts, life feels good. Now comes the time to fill it with memories. What will you host first? Maybe movie night, game night stories that make us laugh. And spades tournaments that make us cry. First you need to get movers and new furniture. And what about party favors? Will there be a theme? Of course it's theme because you're always doing the most. Oh yeah, the food to cook or order out. Don't forget to put it in the group chat so everybody can already see.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

Who gonna be there.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

All that planning can be stressful, but.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

Ensuring your home shouldn't be.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

And that's where State Farm comes in. Because State Farm agents can help you.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

Choose the coverage you need.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Just call, go online or check out the app. An agent is ready to help so.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

You can focus on showing off your new home.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

If you know, you know like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Tonight at 10, 9 Central on BET.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

An all new episode of 106 in.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Sports from executive producers LeBron James and Maverick Carter. It's a new top five countdown with hosts Ashley, Nicole Moss and Cam Newton. They're breaking down the top moments in.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Sports, culture and entertainment and highlighting both established pros and the stars on the come up. Watch the all new series 106 in.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Sports tonight at 10, 9 Central on BET. Or catch up the next day on BET on ebay.

[DJ Envy]

Every find has a story. Like if you're looking for a vintage band tee. Not just a tee, the band tee from the last show your favorite band ever played. You wore it everywhere. Then your girlfriend started wearing it, which was cool until she dumped you and took it with her, which was not so cool. Anyway, now you're on ebay and there it is. Same tee from the same tour. Still living in your memory. Rent free forever. See the things you love have a way of finding their way back to you. But ebay isn't just for getting what your ex stole back. It's also for that rare championship foul ball you caught, then heroically gave it to the kid next to you. And where else are you going to find your first car? The one you wish you never sold, but now finally get the chance to take back home for good this time. You know, I'm a collector of cars and sometimes I'm looking for the right rim that I had when I was a kid. Yeah, it might have been 20 years ago, but I want that same feeling. And the only way I can find it is on ebay. Shop ebay for millions of finds, each with a story.

[Host]

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[Charlamagne Tha God]

I wasn't. I heard pain in pool but you're different.

[Host]

You sit here at the breakfast club but like a regular person who's just reading like a complex.com a person who's on TikTok a younger kid. Now they're talking about the rakim.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

So I was like rakim changed the way people rap. Like I remember because my sisters was listening to like salt and Pepper. And, you know, there was kidding play and all, but you heard Rakim. You was like, what is that? That?

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Yeah.

[Host]

I have two questions. I just want to get it off my brain before I forget. Well, one's kind of like a comment, but have you ever seen that clip of Aaliyah saying how she has a crush on you?

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Yes.

[Host]

Yeah.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Yes.

[Host]

Pretty.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

My wife's seen it too. She hates it.

[Host]

Oh, sorry.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Sorry.

[Host]

It is iconic, though.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Now you got to play that every now and then. Keep the wife on the toes, you.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

Know.

[DJ Envy]

Listen to Charlamagne.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Get yourself. No, but what was crazy is that we. We've met her throughout the years, and she was such a lovely, beautiful soul. And I. One of the most amazing memories of her is we did, like, a Christmas party. I want to say it was for, like, BET the other day, and her and Missy was at the front of the stage while we're performing. They're trying to pull and untie our sneakers. We like, yo, what are you doing? Like, she was such a fun, fun, lovely queen. So, I mean, like, it's just amazing to hear that. Yeah.

[DJ Envy]

What's the other question?

[Host]

And my other question was because you guys are talking about Tribe, and I know you guys did collaborate with Q Tip on this. Did you guys produce kind of like old times? Like, was it like, let's recreate the feeling that we had back then or.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

No, we. It's a feeling we are. We just keep with each other. It's just like that. If you. You know, if Jay comes to do something in Memphis, it's just a synergy they got that you're gonna be like, I hear it there. And that's what we are. Like, me, him, and Q Tip is in a chat every other day, being silly and bugging out and sending records. And Tip, like, no, I got this record for you. Nah, nah, nah, Tip, you gotta do this. So we always together. Nicks was killing it at that point. He wanted to come to the studio and hear what we was doing. He wasn't supposed to be on the record. He just came through just to listen. And he got caught up in this one song I played, and he's rhyming. I'm like, yo. And he was like, yo, I want to get on this. And that's how it has happened. Yeah.

[Host]

Now go ahead. In this group chat that you guys have, are you guys talking about, like, the headlines that are coming out like, hip hop is dead. Rap hasn't been on Billboard X, Y, and Z.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Like, nah, it's just music. We Just send music.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

Stupid shit. Stupid.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Yeah. Oh, curse back.

[DJ Envy]

For real.

[Host]

Because we wanted to know. We were talking about that before y' all came in, about how all those conversations be happening, but, like, there's so much actually happening. For real. But those headlines are just, like, noise.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Yo, we love music. We have the right as all of us to have our opinion about it. And I mean, all of you, man, y' all are staples. And you have the right to be like, yo, I think this is not it, and whatever. But we. We. We had the benefit of coming out and having our gods say to us, like, look, Dela, your show is whack. You need to do this, you need to do that. And they did it out of love. You know, we didn't have these platforms where they gotta go to, like, write on magazine and something and be like, you know, that De La Soul, they. They got a horrible show. So that's what I don't like. I don't like coming up here and talking bad about someone when I can turn around and talk to them.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

Yeah.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

And out of love. Show them love and be like, yo, man, I love what you're doing, but maybe you should try to do this or do that. And I think that's more what we.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

Need to be with criticism is constructive and not hurting nobody.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

We all. We all have feelings. We. We have egos. And, you know, so, I mean, like, be more constructive. As May said.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Was there ever a time where y' all felt pressure to modernize your sound or y' all just operate outside of that?

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Nah, we always outside. I mean, think about it, Shawn. I mean, we had us, you know, you had tri with midnight marauders. You had wu tang with 36 chambers. And we come with this calm record called Balloon Mind State. We always was just riding our own path. Like, we loved all that. We could do all that. We could get up next to the. The illest dude and rhyme the way we needed to rhyme. But that was the journey at that point. You know what I'm saying? And we. We unapolog, you know, like, we didn't apologize for any of it. We just did what we did.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

Create successful album. Yeah. You know, and fast forward to today. People go, yo, bloom on State. I get it now.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Yeah.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

Now that they older, it was something you had to grow into, probably, you know. No. So, I mean, music just has a weird place where people. You may not get it now, but you'll get it later, you know?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah.

[DJ Envy]

I want to talk about the iconic song, buddy. Right when it first came Out. Everybody thought it was a sexual song when it first came out, right?

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

It is kind of sort of.

[DJ Envy]

So. So explain, buddy, and how it came about. Because it was banned from a lot of places, Places didn't want to play it. They felt this way about it. So explain where the concept came from.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Jun Jungle Brothers first had a song called Jim Browski, you know, when. And dad was talking about, you know, the male's anatomy. And then we came with a song called Jennifer, and I was just talking about a girl. And so we just was saying, like.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

Yo, if we have Jenny, they become buddies.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

So, I mean, that's really what it was in the most playful sense. Got you. You know, so definitely, I also want.

[DJ Envy]

To know, with all these collabs that Nike does, right? Cause you see the De La Soul dunks and the De La Soul kicks, do y' all get paid for that? Do they get permission before they do it, or do they.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

No, they definitely got permission.

[DJ Envy]

Okay.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

The first run, we didn't get paid for. Nah. Cause that's how. As the first run with sb, obviously, that's how it was. It was like a few. A few amount be put out.

[DJ Envy]

Sneakers was going for, like, 20 grand at one time.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

And then they'll just flood you with, like a. A locker room of sneakers. Like, here, take that. But I mean, the second time around, when they released it, they gave us some money for it.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

But, you know, they say on the idea, the limited edition and all of.

[DJ Envy]

That, and it keeps the name alive.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

Without question, and it's cool to do the first time around, but when we talk about repeating it, then we need to get some break, you know?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

You know, Daylight albums, man, they always feel like worlds, so. So when you're creating now, when you created Cabins in the sky, what world are you building? What's the emotion that was driving the.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

The. The main thing is for our partner who's no longer here, Dave, it was like, yeah, Cabin in the sky was for him. You know, I mean, it's still the normal muscle memory of trying to make a beautiful, great album that has good lyrics, good sound, good themes, as Dela has always done. But it was him. And I jokingly say this, like, you know, and I hope I'm not, you know, saying stuff that people don't. Don't know, but it's this old movie, Outsiders. Matt Dillon is a scene where, like, he's like, they about to have this big fight with that gang, the Socials, and they be like, yo, we got to do this for Johnny. Like, that's how I feel like we got to do this for Dave. Like, it was really big that we represent him and show. Just show his energy on this entire album. The project is for him, you know, and for us, and it's therapeutic for.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

Us to be therapeutic for me, you.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Know, like, the album is basically like we're doing this album with him rhyming from heaven, you know what I'm saying? Like, that's what this is. Cabin in the Sky.

[Host]

Has there been moments you say it was therapeutic? Has there been moments where you guys had to kind of, like, step away and just kind of deal with whatever feelings were brought back up by getting back in this?

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

I stepped right into it. You never know when grief gonna hit you. If I gotta cry in the moment, I cry in the moment.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Yeah.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

One of the biggest things is just now just handling the responsibility of carrying my man's legacy. You know, we got the blessing from his family, all the friends we grew up with, you know what I mean? So at this point, yes, it's more of a responsibility to keep going. And we, We. We had plans, so it's just carrying out the plan, really.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

How do you. How do you honor Dave's spirit creatively without trying to imitate or recreate what he did?

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Well, nothing that we used of him was like, like manipulated in a sense. Like, whatever song you hear Dave on, that's what that was a song that he was on. We didn't grab his vocal and put it on something that he wasn't. His energy and what he felt to write to. Cause that's how Dave was. He. He wrote in a moment, like. And if he didn't like it, it was gone. Like, he didn't. He didn't want to co sign it. So it's music that he was actually on, and there's music on this album that he actually produced. So, like, his intent, his energy is throughout the album, and it's organically him and is authentically him.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

Yeah. You know, when you hear the. The album, the sequence, it sounds like he's working on the record from heaven. Yeah, it really sounds like that.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

When you step on stage now, does performing, you know, the older catalog feel different emotionally?

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

It can. I mean, it took a minute to get used to. It'd be those moments where, you know, I say something, Dave was supposed to come in, and then I would be ready to jump in ad lib mode. And then I'm saying something. All of a sudden I'm waiting for him jumping like, oh, what am I doing? Like, I gotta Jump in because I gotta say the rhyme. So it took us a moment to get that, but we got it down pat. Cause we stay moving, we stay always doing shows. So, yeah, it took a moment for us to get it, but we already there with it. Yeah.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

What's something about Dave as a man, not just an artist, that you want fans to remember forever?

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

Wow, man.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Wow. A man.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

Hey, man, he lived the full life, man. If any body did it their way, he did definitely. He unapologetically. His way.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Yeah.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

You know, when I sit down with the homies and. And we talk about it, like, the ones that aren't a part of this music thing we grew up with, and they're like, yo, man, just know that. Yo, man, he. He did everything the way he wanted to do it.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Yeah.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

You know, so don't, don't, don't, don't fret. They've lived the full life.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

A full life. Yeah. Dave Chappelle kicked that to us as well. Like, he was like, yo, man, Dave lived a life that was so dense because he lived, like, damn it, like, three, four lifetimes. What he got to see, who he got to influence and help. And it's the truth. I mean, like, he had a life that for him to not. We all have. I would feel. I know I do. I have people that is no longer here, and you kind of feel sad that they didn't get to do certain things that they wanted. Wanted to do, or they didn't get to make the mark they wanted to make or change their ways. And Dave lived an amazing life and did so much and evolved as a man, as a father. He did so much for his life.

[DJ Envy]

Dave's son played in the league, right? Did his son play football in the league?

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

I thought, oh, my son play football league. Oh, wow. Yeah. But Dave had the bird's eye view of our whole thing. You know, where I can be on the ground and in the street with it. Pasta's on the. Where he at with it, and. But Dave is up here, you know, always kind of looking at things from a real quirky perspective.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Yeah.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

He brought the real different edge of who we are. Like, that real quirky edge.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

You mentioned, Dave Chappelle. What was the connection between Chappelle and Daylight? Because I know y' all did the show back in the day, but the one time I think I met Dave was at a Dave Chappelle show, but it was in South Carolina.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Yeah. What the hell was.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Why was he all the way in South Carolina maybe three years ago?

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

Well, my family's from Florence.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Oh, okay.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

Yeah, yeah, I got family in Florence.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Yeah, yeah. Now, we've known Dave Chappelle for. For the longest. We did some show in Ohio. I'm talking about a long time ago, some college joint we did, and he was there. I think his pops was a teacher there, and so he was at the show, and we became this cool ever since. This is before Dave even really blew up. So we was just always around Dave Chappelle. And so when he got to where he was and wanted us on the show and anything he needed us for, we was there for it.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

When you look at the landscape of hip hop today, what piece of the original daylight philosophy do you feel the culture needs the most right now?

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

I mean, balance just for me. And I don't know if I. I don't know if I could really say.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

That I feel like the balance is there. It's the platforms that need to present the balance.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

But.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

Well, for some time, you know, it start to look like the industry is only supporting one side of hip hop, and it tends to come off to be a little genocidal, you know, because we got way more variety in our culture. You know, here it is. Everybody's art is real. Everybody's story is real.

[DJ Envy]

Right.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

But the industry can misconstrue the story and tell a really glorify story that people aren't really glorified. Yeah. You know, they're just telling their story. Some of it's from a fun perspective, but some of us, from a very real perspective, let you know, like, don't do this. But there's a perception in marketing that don't really lend to that. There's always just no real variety, period. You got one flavor all the time.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

But, you know, I push back on that a little bit because I just feel like there's. So my thing is that there's just too much music.

[Host]

Yeah.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

There. What the. With us. And we come from an era where, you know, you tried it in your crib, if people thought you was dope, you. You worked, you maybe scrambled on the street. You made your money, you went to the studio, you can make music from your laptop. Zoom is up. And I just think that so much music and it's good music out, but there's so many places to get it from that it's understandable that this one place only does it this way. But if you go to maybe SoundCloud, they do it this way. But then if you go, the listener has to almost transition into a person that can listen to music in different places, and if they don't, they live in their own echo chamber.

[Host]

But the echo chamber is just what's being programmed, which is the popular thing that you're saying, which can be, yeah, yeah. But is there anything that you guys experience firsthand that you feel like the new generation of MCs are just like hip hop fans in general should study?

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Yo, you're going to learn it when you learn it. You can't make anyone learn anything they don't want to learn. And that's why to say that when. When knowledge or whatever comes towards you, if it's given to you in a humble way, you will listen when someone's trying to force something down your throat, you're not going to eat it. So, I mean, that's how I always try to approach people. And I think young dudes.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I got to pause. You.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Oh, I'm sorry.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I didn't want to pause at such a great point, but that was so egregious. I'm sorry, brother.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

I'm so sorry.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I can't.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Damn.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

That was pretty egregious. I didn't want to interrupt such a profound thought. I did not want to interrupt such a profound thought, but that was just very egregious.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

It was. It was. Sorry, my apologies, gentlemen. No, no, no, no. I know the jokes. I watch this every day. Sorry, sorry, I'm sorry.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

But back the to.

[Host]

If you can get back to it.

[DJ Envy]

Stick some in your throat. Pause, go. No, no, no, no.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

I'm done on you, Macy.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

But, you know, somebody. Somebody in the chat had a good point. They said that they feel like it's too much noise, not enough true art.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

Yeah, yeah, that.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

That is true.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

Because I'm, as a dj, we always want music. It's just with what the Internet has become, we got a lot of wax stuff because people are able to just go ahead and put their music.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

We always have wax stuff.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

Well, but, yeah, you know what I'm saying?

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

I think there is a lot of noise. I'm sorry. I think there is a lot of noise because I think we are artists that know and feel that we have to say, yo, check out what I'm doing. Because it goes back to what I'm saying. There's so many artists that's putting out so much music. Why should I look at you? Well, maybe you should look at me because not only my music is good, but when I show you what I'm doing in my house and how I'm bugging out with my wife, or my girlfriend or my boys. So it's like a whole new thing. It's more than just music. Music's almost disposable. It's the person that they're looking at. So, I mean, it's just like, I watched your show, and I agree with you. Like, yo, yo, Jid, like, where was his rollout? Like, you want to hear him, you want to see him. Because the music was amazing. I needed to have. Now people seeing what he's doing, and then everyone's talking about how Clips rollout was. But Clip was just doing what we come from doing, which is just doing promo.

[Host]

But you know what, too? I think somewhat too, the fans have gotten so used to just being okay with how things are now. Because when he said that about jjid, people were like, y' all crazy. There was a rollout. And I was like, if you're in a certain world or audience, you saw it. But as big as it should have been, there wasn't. But so that might be a part of. Like, it's not even at the bars in hell. It's just people have gotten used to. This is all we get. This is all we know. So they're praising things that are normal, and then when you do things that are under the norm, it's like.

[DJ Envy]

But it has to do as well, though, too. The artist has to want it as much as anybody else.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

Right.

[DJ Envy]

You know, see, Clips comes from a place where they had to do that, right? Because there was no Internet. They had to go to every radio station. They had to go to every mom and pop store. They had to go to every college radio. Cause that was the only outlets. Like, you look at Jid, who we love Jid, but he might not have wanted it as much as clips. And it's harder to say that an artist wanted when they're getting that much money so fast. You know what I mean?

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

In his defense, you know, he's missed probably missing that coaching element of artist development because of how it changed so much. And you could easily put your music out from your house.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Correct.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

So artists, you know, Jordan didn't win no game without Phil Jackson. Every great player needed a coach. I feel like that's how it is with artists. You know, look at the success of everybody that was under Dre. Can we not deny that Dre is a great coach?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Oh, absolutely.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

Yeah. Because of the success. And there's was artist development that went with all of that. Right now, we looking at a lot of raw talent that could use just some development, you know, and it comes from the people who come before them. That's where the criticism need to be a little more constructive and not bashing, you know? And then when you got somebody who making a lot of money, he going, like, how can you tell me to do what? Do what's necessary when I'm getting it? You know what I mean?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I think there's a word that has a negative stigma, but you kind of need it. There should be some level of gatekeeping, but. But the. The keep. The keepers of the gate have to be pure in their intentions and their motive. They can't be influenced by, you know, somebody paying them to say otherwise.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Yeah.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Bias to certain regions. It just got to be, is this dope or not?

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Correct. Yeah. Intrigued, I think.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I think that's missing.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

Really getting it. I really say to them, yo, yo, man, you want to be 50 doing this, right?

[DJ Envy]

Yeah.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

I may not could show you much about getting that paper because the times have definitely changed. But I think I could show you something about longevity.

[DJ Envy]

But there's a lot of artists that say, I don't wanna do radio. A lot of artists. I'm not doing a podcast. I'm not doing, like, artists decide. I'm not doing it. Cause they don't want to. You know what I mean? And they get what they get. But the artists that go all out and they do what they have to do, you see it with the success, whether it's a cardi b or it is eclipse, like, you see, and you.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Can see the difference, man. I just know that we definitely benefited as a group, not only being able to come up to a place. We were born in New York and run around, but we run around to this day in the uk, in France, in whatever you want to call it, Dubai, Japan or Australia. And we did. We do press, like, so we understand what it is to touch someone and even have that person be like, yo, man, I ain't really mess with them. But you know what? They're nice guys. Let me listen. And the next thing you know, you've now planted a seed for someone to appreciate what you do. And you know, like you just said, if someone feel like they're getting what they getting, then why do all this? But you just don't know who you will touch. And that'll lend to your longevity, you know?

[DJ Envy]

And you don't know when it stops. You don't know when it starts. Because I always say this. A lot of artists get a benefit of the doubt because of who they are. Right. I always look at and I Hate to bring this up. I always look at 50 and Ja rule, right? When Ja Rule came out and saluted Ja, he never did as much as he was supposed to because Irv did everything for him. So when he got into the beef with Ja, there was no personal relationship. When 50 got into the beef with Ja, there was NO personal relationship. Now 50, on the other hand, went to every DJs house, went to every radio show, did the smaller DJ shows, the bigger DJ show. So you lean towards 50 cent more because you know him more.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Yeah.

[DJ Envy]

I'm from Queens, and I didn't meet Ja until the Breakfast Club, which is crazy. And we're from the same area. We let. We joke about it now, and he understands it now, but that's part of it. Like, 50 did what he was supposed to do.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Yeah.

[DJ Envy]

And he still has those relationships with these DJs to this day.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Y' all got a song on New. I'm called the Package. And you say trendsetters know when to bail from the trend they started?

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Yeah.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

What does that mean?

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

It's what we did. Exactly. From 3fi and rising. We. We. We didn't try to make a trend, but when it became a trend, that was cool. But we was off to what we needed to do. On the second album, De La Soul is Dead. You start something, but you don't start it to make it for something for everyone else to do. And if they latch onto it, that's out of camaraderie, that's out of love for what you presented. But we on to the next. And that's how we've always been as, as. As a group. Just always on to the next to try something else. And it may work, it may not work, but we always saw ourselves knowing.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

For a fact that we can't recreate what we did before.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Yeah. Like it was going to be High Rising Part 2 did before. Not at all. You know, I could.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

There's no way I could capture being 14, 15, 16, when we were actually coming up with those ideas.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Right. Yeah.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

You know what I mean?

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Yeah. It's very important. That's the way I feel.

[Host]

Think about 14, 15, 16.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

Yeah.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Like you sitting on ideas that once you get on, you can put all these ideas you've had all that time into this one project. Now, once you put out a project, you're running around on the road, you're doing whatever, and now those experiences may be going to the next project. So let alone when you get to this place where now you got to put up projects every month, you may hear, like, the red. It's like, it's. It's like redundant creativity. It's like, what is this? It's like you're not allowing yourself a chance to grow and have different experiences. But definitely, as trendsetters, man, you have to be able to know, like, all right, it's time to put this to the side. Let me go someplace else. Right, right.

[DJ Envy]

Well, we appreciate.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

One last question. When history books talk about de la soul 50 years from now, what's. What's the sentence you hope is written?

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

We, like. We did it our way, man. We. We had fun with it.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

And three black men who stuck together.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Done. There you go.

[DJ Envy]

Thank you so much, De La Soul ladies. Thank you.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Thank you for having us.

[DJ Envy]

Cabins in the sky comes out on the 21st.

[Host]

The chat loves y', all, by the way. And I texted 9th and he wanted to tell me.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

I mean, Nah, nah, get out.

[Host]

He said thank you for letting him be a part of y' all tree.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Oh, we love.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

Oh, man, I love you, Knife. I love little brothers, man. All of them for real.

[DJ Envy]

It's the Breakfast Club. It's still I Soul, hold up.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Every day I wake up.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Wake your ass up.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

The Breakfast Club.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

You all finish or y' all done? What a matchup we got, y'.

[Host]

All.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

This is that classic HBCU vibe. Non stop action. The band is rocking and the crowd lit. Chance echo drum beat. Everybody showing that school pride. Game like this. Yeah, it calls for an ice cold Coca Cola. Ah, Crisp and refreshing. That's a game changer right there. Yeah.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

Yeah.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

That taste always hits the right note. Just like the band at halftime. And just like that, we're back at it. Passionate fans, school colors everywhere. And in ice cold Coca Cola, that's a winning combo. No matter the sport, no matter the yard. Everybody knows fan work is thirsty work. So grab a Coca Cola and keep that HBCU pride going. This weekend, one of the homies mentioned he closed on a new crib. While everyone's asking about a housewarming, you're asking the real questions, like who is his State Farm agent? See, homeownership is one thing, but the right coverage is the real game changer. Is how you protect your legacy. A State Farm agent can help you.

[Dave (Dave, member of De La Soul)]

With finding the right coverage for your.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

New place and even help you file a claim over the phone, in person, online, or on the app. They're ready to help you and they don't drop the ball. You know what I mean? Like a good neighbor.

[Host]

State Farm is there host compensated for their time. I know many strong women who are breast cancer patients, so as you might imagine, it's a topic especially near and dear to my heart. Watching them suffer through the challenges of their experiences made me realize I wanted to help other women not only become more comfortable talking about breast health, but also help them learn about breast cancer treatments that may be available to them. That's why I want to tell you about Kiskali. Kiskali ribociclib 200mg tablets are taken with an aromatase inhibitor. It's for adults with HR positive HER2 negative stage 2 or 3 early breast cancer with a high risk of recurrence and it can help reduce the risk of cancer coming back. In a clinical study at three years, 91% of people taking Kiskali plus an aromatase inhibitor were cancer free versus 88% taking an aromatase inhibitor alone. Individual results may vary. Kiskali may cause serious skin reactions, liver problems and low white blood cell counts that may result in serious infections. Life threatening lung problems and abnormal heartbeats can occur. Your doctor should test your heart and blood before and during treatment. Tell your doctor if you have new or worsening cough, chest pain or dizziness before taking Cascali. Tell your doctor all your medical conditions, medicines you take and if you're breastfeeding pregnant or planning to be as it can harm an unborn baby. Common side effects include nausea, headache and tiredness. Defense is important on and off the ice and Kiskali is all about doing more to help protect your tomorrow, so find out how you can too. Visit kiskali.com that's K I S Q A L I.com to learn more and ask your doctor if Kiskali is right for you.

[DJ Envy]

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[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Hey Ryan Reynolds here wishing you a very happy half off holiday because right.

[DJ Envy]

Now Mint Mobile is offering you the.

[Host]

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[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

To be clear that's half price, not half the service.

[Host]

Mint is still premium unlimited wireless for a great price. So that means a half day. You know, Give it a [e-mail] Switch upfront payment of $45 for three month plan equivalent to $15 per month required.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

New customer offer for first three months only.

[Host]

Speed flow 135 gigabytes of networks busy.

[Posdnuos (De La Soul)]

Taxes and fees extra.

[Host]

See mint mobile.com this is an iHeart podcast.