Here’s something a bit new and different…we’re adding a wrinkle to the O.G. Blerd Radio podcast. The team (including me (Big Money), Dr. Z, Michael Parr, The Packet Man, and announcing the return of Mike Duquette) have decided to devote certain episodes to specific albums. So as not to confuse you, the listener, even further, we’ve decided to not re-name the series (because there are enough offshoots of Blerd Radio as is). That said, the first album we’ve decided to spotlight is De La Soul’s 1989 debut, 3 Feet High And Rising.

3 Feet was wildly successful, especially by 1989 hip-hop standards. It topped Billboard’s Black Albums chart, the single “Me, Myself & I” became only the second rap song to top the Black Singles chart, and the album was eventually certified Platinum. It topped critics lists internationally, placing at #1 on the esteemed Village Voice Pazz & Jop Poll. It ushered in a new, creative way to approach sampling, backing away from the prototypical funk and disco loops (with a big exception for the Funkadelic-sampling “Me, Myself & I”) and utilizing Steely Dan, The Turtles and French instructional records. De La had their own language-a few steps removed from hip-hop’s hard, “street” aesthetic. The influence of 3 Feet can be found in not only the music made by the rest of the “Native Tongues” posse (which, in addition to De La, consisted of A Tribe Called Quest, The Jungle Brothers, Queen Latifah, Monie Love, Black Sheep, Chi-Ali, and more), but also in more recent music by Chance The Rapper, Kendrick Lamar, Schoolboy Q, Kanye West and others.

3 Feet High & Rising : incredibly musical, ground-breaking, and influential. So influential, in fact, that it cast a shadow De La Soul has been running from for a quarter century-plus. This is despite the fact that Pos, Dave and Maseo have put together one of the most consistent catalogs in hip-hop history. We discuss all this and more in the podcast. Listen in the player below, or stream on Liberated Syndication. You can also download the show directly to your device, or subscribe to the Blerd Radio family of podcasts on iTunes.