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Of the Soul, for the people

De La Soul keep it fresh and from the heart at Zoophorus Who: De La Soul with DJ Maseo Where: Zoophorus and GLC When: Saturday, Aug.

De La Soul keep it fresh and from the heart at Zoophorus

Who: De La Soul with DJ Maseo

Where: Zoophorus and GLC

When: Saturday, Aug. 30

Could De La Soul be urban music’s version of Forrest Gump? They have, after all, been central to the fastest growing musical movement in Billboard history for the last 15 years – a little genre called hip hop, perhaps you’ve heard of it.

The New York native trio practically invented that funky, funny style of hip hop with a heart we’ve all grown to love. And forget six degrees of separation as per Kevin Bacon, De La Soul blows the actor out of the water when it comes to all the musical menage a trois they’ve been having.

Whether it’s B-real from rap masters Cypress Hill, long-time dance floor diva Chaka Khan, the Beastie Boys or even Q-Tip from Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul have had their own hits as well as a hand in developing more of hip hop’s heavyweights than American Idol ever could.

Whether you’re an avid hip hop fan or merely a mild dabbler in "da club", you’d be hard pressed finding someone who hasn’t heard of De La Soul.

As one of hip-hop's most creative groups, they have defied the fast and fickle revolving door of musical trends by staying original, staying true to their roots and all the while, keeping it fresh.

When everybody else is looking at the next handsome hit maker or the big pimpin’ bad boy to sell records, De La Soul is looking in the opposite direction. It is that uniqueness, that versatility, that instinctive need to constantly learn and create, rather than follow the pack, that makes De La Soul who they are.

"We never cared about being No. 1 we just cared about making good records and doing the best we can to stay in the game of this very competitive market," said one-third of De La Soul, DJ Maseo (a.k.a Vincent Mason), on the phone from Florida, with four kids running about the house around him.

"You can never stop learning and the more you learn, the more you grow. We like to take what we learn to the people or extract it into our music because knowledge is power, education is the key," said Maseo.

Maseo, along with fellow MCs Posdnuos (a.k.a Kelvin Mercer) and Dave Jolicoeur, (formerly known as Trugoy) will lay down their favourite De La ditties next Saturday at the open air fundraising ’n hell raising Zoophorus festival.

But wait, there’s more!

Maseo will work in an extra DJ set, paying homage to the passage of hip hop with his very own after-festival nostalgia show at the Garibaldi Lift Company.

"The DJ was the ultimate backbone to begin with. It all started with the DJ so this is our way of honouring the DJ and respecting the role they had in developing the hip hop culture," said Maseo.

De La Soul are excited about coming to North America’s No.1 ski resort – a far cry from the urban music scene of downtown New York – but Maseo embraces the fans no matter who they are.

"It’s a blessing to have so many different types of people enjoy our music. Hip hop’s like any other form of music, there’s good and bad stuff out there. I’m glad De La Soul maybe changes the perception of what some people think about hip hop, or gets people interested that may not have had any desire before, and that’s a unique position to be in.

"We feel great about that position. We feel like we can do anything. Regardless of whatever we do, hip hop will always be our foundation but now we have set ourselves up to explore other types of music and add hip hop flavour to that. We were there at the start and I feel good to be part of the foundation that holds it all up, spreading it across the earth."

De La Soul formed in the late ’80s in Long Island, New York. What started out as a passionate hobby for these rhyming and rapping high school kids soon became a legitimate career carved from making their own demo cassette tapes at Maseo’s house and doing the private party circuit.

The trio had their stuff shopped around by some serious players they met along the way, and eventually they were caught in a label bidding war. Their first album, Three Feet High and Rising , became a runaway success that cemented their no bullshit, keep it real approach forever more, with sales success a virtual guarantee on every De La Soul release.

"It’s all about how you introduce yourself when you start out," said Maseo. "We set our foot down the minute we came out. When we first started making records, it was not about compromise, it was about doing what we felt in our hearts to be true. I think that’s something that we’ve always been known for and probably the biggest reason why we are successful."

As part of the early ’90s Native Tongue movement, De La Soul stood for anti-commercialism and anti-violence in rap. Their classics are not about gansters or being bling bling but about the everyday things we all think about, whether we’re from the streets, the suburbs or even expensive ski resorts. Hits include Say No Go, Me, Myself and I, Ring Ring Ring and A Rollerskating Jam Named Saturdays.

They’ve always tried to spread a message that’s real and on their latest release, part two of the three-volume Art Official Intelligence series, known as Bionix, the theme is no different. Baby Phat is a club hit that praises the regular, everyday woman with curves, not the skinny model always found in music videos. And they confront drug use on Peer Pressure, where B-Real of Cypress Hill and Maseo try to convince Posdnuos to smoke marijuana for the first time.

Their third instalment was due for release this fall but the boys have pushed it back to the new year, once again highlighting their non-monetary motivation.

"You can’t rush creativity. For us it’s a natural progression where we must feel good about the songs we’re releasing," said Maseo.

"Music has become big business. It’s provided a lot of economic opportunity for people who come from a serious struggle in their lives. But the downside is that a lot of the music is now lacking creativity behind the business. Artists are either being forced to put out a record by a certain deadline or they don’t care about the music at all, they just care about making money. For De La Soul, everything has to be pretty much right with each of us before we can say ‘this is what we want to release’ as the final product."

You’d be hard pressed to find somebody who doesn’t recognize De La Soul’s contribution to hip hop. Every album they’ve released is considered by many to be "a classic". Looking back on their influence, Maseo said it all comes down to reflecting situations and experiences people can relate to, while constantly evolving.

"Each record is based around our lives and pretty much what we’re going through. One thing we’ve all accepted gracefully in De La Soul is that change in your life is inevitable. I mean in terms of the group, Three Feet High and Rising was made when we were fresh out of high school. We were kids. Art Official Intelligence on the other hand sees us all in our early 30s with families and responsibilities. In one sense you could say a lot of our innocence has already been snatched and yet being exposed to so much over the last 15 years is now getting implemented in our music. It’s all different and changing as we grow."

The longevity of De La Soul is amazing in itself. In an industry that spits out artists faster than a McDonald’s drive thru, it’s unbelievable these guys are still tight. Maseo reflected: "In all honesty, it’s a blessing. We’re family though and that’s how I like to look at it. Every family has their own personality clashes from time to time sure, but that’s the best thing about being family is being able to work through situations.

"It all comes down to respect. We’ve been able to successfully work through the hard times by talking and coming back to the round table. We can put all the star studded status, the glamour and the glitz to the side and say ‘look man, were human beings. I’m sorry, you’re my brother’ you know, times like that are important."

Tickets to Zoophorus, featuring De La Soul, DJ Didg, Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, Garaj Mahal, Global Funk Council and Hip Hop 420, are $47. Tickets to the after-show DJ Maseo party at the GLC are an extra $20. See www.zoophorus.com for more information.