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IIATItJE T0ilGUES: A FAMILy AFFATB

'touch€ the fbmily took seemedperfect. le le peu'mean?" The skit Nation of Millions to Hold UsBa&in Afiika and Tip cameup with it: the was the first example of what has a couple of ways.Both worls man-d . virtually become a standardhip 'posse' ifest a black consciousnessmore "The languagewasn't hop device,and it provideda per- 'crew,' ttribe,'" unapologeticthan what is usually or it was says fect frame for 'scombi- available in pop culture. And Posdnuos,Other thingsthe Native nation of an unusually wide range like PE's Millions, De La,s debut Tonguesweren't: a gang like, say, of collected sounds-froma French evinces a distinctly middle-class the Crips, or a political organiza- educationalrecording to a track sensibiliry;both groups take pains tion like,say, the NAACP,or a cor- by the Turtles to a Parliament/ not to be apologeticabout their porationlike, say,Time Warner.A Funkadelic bass line*and the black suburbanupbringing. closer model was the legendary group's offbeat senseof humor. Of courseDe La stripped pE's Zulu Nation, a looseconfederation Songswith titles such ',potholes as self-consciousantiracism of all

of rappers,graffiti artists,and gang- in My Lawn," and "I Can Do ghetto pretensions. lf public stersheaded by Afrika Bambaataa. Anything (Delacratic)"introduced Enemy resurrectedlateJ5os The black JBs saw themselvesas direct the public to De La's cerebralif militance,De La Soul expresseda legateesof Bam's clan; all the sometimes undecipherableprivate form of liberalhumanism. Because Native Tongues had in mind a languagegames, alwaysbalanced their "Afrohumanismoseemed less largefamily made of smallerfami- by a conversational '.A stylesimilar to concernedwith leveling political lies. tribe of fingers all on one theJBs'.j FeetHigh's idiosyncrasies and economicstructures than with hand," rappedPos. couldn't have deliveredits central challenging everyone to respect messagemore plainly. De La Soul and be true to themselves-and wantedeveryone IIL to be themselves. to respect blackness-De La's The album's refreshingaural debut didn't threaten anybody. THp rrnst Toucurs-ena ALBUM complexity led many criticsto hail Especiallywhite listeners.The mes- would become a hip hop land- De La as the harbingersof a brave sagewas renderedespecially palat- mark. De La Soul'sj FeetHigh and new hip hop world.The De La Fab able by the group's noticeable Rising begins with an audience paul) Four's(counting Prince calls appreciationfor music suburban whistling and cheering;an organ for peaceand fidelity to D.A.l.S.y. white kids knew and loved rah-rahsthe excitement.A game (Da Inner Sound, Y'all) under- (see ""'s clever cross- show host enters the scene and standably encouragedcomparisons sampling of SteelyDan and Otis peppers the audience (and three to the daysof FlowerPower and to Redding). Peter Watrous of the weird contestants)with questions: Sgt, Pepper's Lonefu Hearts CIub New YorhTineshailedthe new lads "How many feathers are on a Band. But the album more closely as "solidly middle class"and the Perdue chicken.. . What does echoes Public Enemy's It Takesa Village Voicepatted De La on the

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