e-mail this page
Printer Friendly Version

April 16, 2004

Hip-hop’s De La Soul to mix old-school with new in campus concert

Posdnous (Kelvin Mercer), Trugoy the Dove (David Jude Joliceur) and Pasemaster Mace (Vincent Lamont Mason Jr.)

Pioneering New York hip-hop group De La Soul will bring its musical mix of pop samples, comedy and social commentary to California State University, Sacramento in a rare West Coast concert at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, May 6 in the University Union Ballroom.

The trio of Posdnous (Kelvin Mercer), Trugoy the Dove (David Jude Joliceur) and Pasemaster Mace (Vincent Lamont Mason Jr.) shook the hip-hop world with their debut album 3 Feet High and Rising in 1989. With crossover singles like “Me Myself and I” and “The Magic Number,” the group’s funky rhythms and humor stood apart from the harsh “gangsta” rap of the era. De La Soul’s hook-filled, danceable beats coupled with intelligent lyrics were a hit.

The group took a turn with follow-up recording De La Soul is Dead in 1991, moving to a harsher sound that surprised critics and fans alike. With Buhloone Mindstate, released in 1993, the group returned to a sound similar to 3 Feet High and Rising and continued innovating on 1996s Stakes Is High, but commercial success was elusive. A four-year hiatus followed.

In 2000 the group released the first of a trilogy called Art Official Intelligence in collaboration with the Beastie Boys, Chaka Kahn and others. The final recording of the set is to come sometime this year.

Tickets are $15 general, $10 for CSUS students, and are available from the CSUS Ticket Office at (916) 278-4323 or Tickets.com.

For more information, call (916) 278-6997. Media assistance is available from CSUS public affairs at (916) 278-6156.

####