De La Soul

Hip hop innovators, De La Soul played a key role in extending the parameters of rap with adventurous samples and clever rhymes which had a major impact on subsequent rap artists, notably Black Eyed Peas and Mos Def. They first got together in high school when they were heard by producer Paul Huston (Prince Paul), who went on to work on their 1989 debut album 3 Feet High And Rising, which completely re-wrote the rap formula with classic tracks like Me Myself and I, The Magic Number and Buddy. Unlike most other rap artists, De La Soul rarely swore and propagated love and peace rather than violence, tackled drug abuse and poverty and sampled the likes of The Turtles, Johnny Cash, James Brown and The Monkees. Second album De La Soul Is Dead in 1991 went even further in attacking the violent messages of hip hop and they went on to broaden their style further but never recreated the success of 3 Feet And Rising. In 2005 they collaborated with Gorillaz on the hit single Feel Good Inc., and hooked up with them again on 2010's Superfast Jellyfish.