De La Soul Celebrate 35 Years of ‘3 Feet High and Rising’ with Special Anniversary Edition

De La Soul has announced a special reissue of the group’s debut 3 Feet High and Rising to commemorate the album’s 35th anniversary. On top of the original tracklist, featuring cuts like “Me Myself and I,” “Buddy” and “Eye Know,” this new edition will unveil six previously unreleased songs and demos, including “Freedom of Speak (We Got Three Minutes),” which is available to stream now. This release follows a year after the long-awaited digital release of the iconic hip-hop trio’s early catalog, which was shelved for decades due to sample clearance issues.

With 3 Feet High and Rising, De La Soul exploded onto the scene with a sound unlike anything heard before. Amid the confrontational and controversial gangsta rap boom, De La Soul’s first offering heralded a new horizon in hip-hop, trading in grit for genre-bending psychedelia. With eclectic, highly-literate sampling and production from legendary producer Prince Paul, who layers skits, salvaged drum breaks and even an iconic slice from Steely Dan’s “Peg” like posters wheat-pasted in a pile, the trio made a name for itself as the forerunners for a new alternative movement with boundless potential. All these defining traits come through in technicolor on “Freedom of Speak (We Got Three Minutes),” a funking timepiece released alongside a lyric video in the style of the album’s iconic art design.

3 Feet High and Rising, alongside De La Soul’s next five albums, were stuck in so-called digital limbo for decades before finally seeing release in March of last year, after the artists finally gained ownership of their music. Just weeks prior, member David “Turgoy the Dove” Jolicoeur passed suddenly, prompting an outpouring of love and support for Plug 2 and “The D.A.I.S.Y. Experience,” a moving tribute concert featuring fellow New York golden-age legends like Nas, Chuck D and LL Cool J. On March 3, in alignment with the original 1989 release date of the group’s debut, De La Soul will celebrate “De La Day” with an in-store signing event at Rough Trade Records in New York City.

The 3 Feet High and Rising (35th Anniversary) is set to release digitally on March 1 and is available to pre-save now. Watch the newly released “Freedom of Speak (We Got Three Minutes)” video below.