HardKnockTV interview with De La Soul

Exclusive in-depth interview with De La Soul at Paid Dues. In part 1, De la reminisces about the making of their track “Buddy” and shares that the amazing moments that were captured in videos like Buddy happened because they were not thinking about how much money they were going to make, instead they were enjoying the people around them, making music and having a good time. “The fun comes in when you forget about this being a career and what we are earning. The dollar is evil! -Dave aka Trugoy the Dov. As the interview progresses De La Soul talks about up coming tour with LL Cool J, Ice Cube and Public Enemy called The Kings Of The Mic and how they are looking forward to the competition on stage. Pos goes on to explain that friendly competition is good for keeping everyone on there toes when performing. Pos tells the story of how when Big Daddy Kane performed before LL Cool J he would want to “Crush this shit” even though Kane was cool with LL. LL would be under pressure when he came to perform because Kane had just ripped the crowd. Same with De La when they opened for Tribe Called Quest and Tribe had a hot record out. The competition was always friendly because at the end of the day they all had respect for each other. De la thinks that now days popularity is championed over good music and artists approach performing from a mindset of self gratification instead of challenging each other to see who can get the crowd the liveliest. De la also brings up the point that they hear a lot of hits these days but not too many classics that people are going to be listening 10 years from now. Before we finish part 1 of the interview, De La talks about the chance of a Native Tongues reunion album, tour or something. You will have to watch the video to get their response.

Hit continue reading to watch part 2.

Part 2 starts with De La sharing their thoughts on what has kept them together as a group after all these years. As the conversation progress De La speaks on the new generation of MC’s. Pos points out that although he likes certain songs from Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, Kendrick Lamar, Drake, Joey Badass, etc and he appreciates bits and pieces from them but he doesn’t think that there is one album that is setting the bar. Maseo points out that Hip Hop just turned 39 years old. When it first started most people outside the culture thought it was a fad and wouldn’t be around for too long. “We are in our episode of the 80’s with disco and r&b…but we are coming out of that.” “It became big business.” Dave adds that its about having a balance. We need more platforms like Paid Dues that allow artists like Jean Grae, Tech Nine, Scarface, etc a chance to be seen more than just whats on MTV, Billboard Charts or who is number one on Itunes. “Never forget that there is another side to what is going on than up there on the charts.”