De La Soul

1987
De La Soul officially formed their hiphop trio composed of Posdnuos (Kelvin Mercer), Trugoy (David Jude Joliceour) & Pacemaster Mace a.k.a. Maseo (Vincent Lamont Mason Jr.). They linked with producer DJ Prince Paul after sending him their demo tape, Plug turnin’. Prince Paul immediately helped them sign to Tommy Boy Records and began working on their debut album.
1989
De La Soul released their debut record, 3 Feet High and Rising, during the spring and immediately received critical acclaim. Their slogan, The D.A.I.S.Y. age represents “da inner sound, y’all”, which De La Soul attempted to use to spread love and peace. Critics labeled them hippies, much to their disdain.
1990
De La Soul was nominated for best rap performance for their song, “Me Myself and I” at the 1990 Grammy Awards, but did not win the award.
1991
De La Soul released their second album, De La Soul is Dead, which was significantly more mature and featured De La Soul collaborating with other members of the New York members of the Native Tongues Posse, which included members from a Tribe Called Quest, Queen Latifah and Jungle Brothers. There were several different versions of the physical copy of the album that was originally released.
1993
The group released their third album, Buhloone Mindstate, which would be their last album produced by Prince Paul and their third album since 1989.
1996
De La Soul released their fourth studio album, Stakes Is High, which was their first album that credits the trio with overall production duties. The album features production from rising hiphop producer J Dilla from the group Slum Village and the rapper Common.
2000
During the four year period between 1996 and 2000, De La Soul released select singles and remixes, but ultimately recorded the first installment of a hopeful three part studio album. The album was titled, Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump, and was their fifth studio album that they had released.
2001
The album, Art Official Intelligence, released its second part, AOI: Bionix, in 2001, but a third installment was never created. The group was additionally nominated for the 2001 Grammy Awards for best rap performance by a group or duo for their song, Oooh featuring Redman, but failed to win the award.
2002
During the summer of 2002, De La Soul toured as part of the Unlimited Sunshine Tour and was additionally featured in the video game, PaRappa the Rapper 2.
2004
De La Soul dropped a new studio album titled The Grind Date with the record label Sanctuary/BMG Records as the record deal between Tommy Boy Records and Warner Bros. Records shut down.
2006
De La Soul collaborated with Gorillaz on the single Feel Good Inc., which captured De La Soul’s first Grammy award for best pop vocal collaboration in 2006. This was the group’s first Grammy win after two previous nominations. De La Soul additionally partnered with Nike’s skateboarding division to produce two sneakers that sold out in retail stores almost instantly.
2008
De La Soul embarked on the Rock the Bells Tour with A Tribe Called Quest, Nas, Tech N9ne and The Pharcyde.
2010
The group remixed the song Daylight by Matt & Kim, which was produced by DJ Troublemaker and the song was featured in the popular football video game FIFA 10.
2011
De La Soul garnered a top five ranking on NPR and Soul Train’s best of 2011 list for their production on Fela Soul, which was a mashup remix that featured music from De la Soul.
2012
The group released, De La Soul’s Plug 1 & 2 presents First Serve, which was the first album without Pacemaster Mace (Plug 3). The group remained together, citing scheduling conflicts for the lack of Maseo.
2015
De La Soul announced they were creating a kickstarter for their upcoming studio album, And the Anonymous Nobody, which raised their goal of 110,000 dollars in under 10 hours. The group also confirmed that they would be working with their original producer, DJ Prince Paul. The album faced delays due to scheduling issues with gaining legal permission for features on the album. The group released a 4 track EP before releasing the studio album.
2016
De La Soul released their ninth studio album, And the Anonymous Nobody, August 26th and received critical acclaim for it. The group earned a Grammy award nomination for best rap album, but did not win the award.
The group additionally explained why the majority of their music was not online due to the copyright issues with sampling as their original record deals only allowed for vinyl and cassette release.