De La Soul has already mastered the three j's of postmodernism: juxtapose, juxtapose, juxtapose. Welcome to the first psychedelic hip-hop record.

Throughout twenty-four tracks, the band combines a bewildering variety of sounds culled from sources as disparate as a scratchy French-language-instruction record, Steely Dan's "Peg," Liberace and countless Seventies-soul rhythm tracks (including the obligatory James Brown samples) in ingenious and unexpected ways. Nothing if not zany, 3 Feet High and Rising boasts a serious Cheech and Chong influence, including a running gag of an absurd game show.

The uncanny sonic collages are as catchy as they are clever, and the mellow, bass-heavy grooves are tailor-made for blissful hip shaking. Lyrics range from social consciousness ("Ghetto Thang") to stream of consciousness ("I Can Do Anything"). One of the most original rap records ever to come down the pike, the inventive, playful 3 Feet High and Rising stands staid rap conventions on their def ear.

“Karma Chameleon”

Boy George has said this song was about standing by what you believe in. However, at the time, he was involved in a secret affair with Culture Club drummer Jon Moss. "Now people can understand the songs better," he said. "They were written about my relationship with Jon, and they were also written about being a gay man in a homophobic world." The lines "If I listen to your lies, would you say/I'm a man without conviction/I'm a man who doesn't know how to sell a contradiction," described his life at the time, he said. "I was selling this big lie."