It is records like this that make me regret sticking with the different-record-every-day format. There is so much going on in De La Soul’s 3 Feet High and Rising—mostly good—that I couldn’t possibly cover it all after a single listen, using 250+ words.
Believe me, I could easily write another one of my trademark “I don’t listen to much hip-hop, so I’m justified in making massive generalizations” posts, but I feel that 3 Feet deserves more than that, even if I can’t do it complete justice in a single day.
Part of this record’s sense of insurmountability comes from its length. With 24 tracks, and clocking in at more than an hour long, there’s a lot to cover. For instance, that ever-changing-but-somehow-recognizable sound. I should probably say that I’ve never listened to anything that sounds like this group. Never before have I heard hip-hop so relaxed and laid back. Instead of the hate-filled rhymes that I’ve come to expect from the genre, these songs make it sound like it would be pretty easy to have a conversation with these guys.
Granted, it would probably be a pretty…uh…lucid conversation, and one that involved the dudes referencing their names a lot. However, it would definitely be a lot of fun.
As unusual as it is, 3 Feet can’t escape the cliché skits that plague far too many hip-hop records. The good news is that here, they usually come in five-second snippets at the tail end of songs, so you’re never completely overloaded. I guess I’ll never get what those are about.
Regardless, listening to this album was a lot of fun. I would go as far as to say that there isn’t a single awful song on the disc. Sure, there are some head scratchers, but even those serve a purpose within this enigma.
Swole Ear 
Mr. Ear: I had a feeling back around Day 183 that this record might be one you would like.
In case School House Rock has not survived in the collective consciousness to present-day, high school seniors, here is the tune that the linked song is built around:
Mr. Ear: Just discovered this new track that reminds me of De La Soul in all of the right ways. Might be something that you would enjoy: