De La Soul - 3 Feet High and Rising
It was definitely a reaction to the slightly more hardcore area of what was going on in hip hop. As a concept record, it’s probably one of the best ever. It’s like the Pink Floyd of hip hop, their Dark Side of the Moon - the way it musically and sonically moves around, but also the use of language was so unusual and out there. It was an interesting contrast from things being much more hardcore and urban. It was so unusual to have this kind of imagery; it’s a bit of a St. Pepper. It had the cover, the look, it became such a huge influence around what was going on at the time. It broke down a lot of barriers; it crossed into so many different peoples’ lives. The samples, the whole way it was put together, it was so unique. An amazing collage; an amazing painting of a record.