"3 Feet High and Rising": De La Soul's Track by Track Guide to Groundbreaking 1989 LP

"The Magic Number"

Posdnous: "At that point, we were still trying things in Mase's house, just having fun with records. [Schoolhouse Rock's] 'Multiplication Rock' was a record we just had and we were already in love with History of the Hip-Hop I record from Tommy Boy, where Double Dee and Steinski had the beat that was up top there, so we decided to just put those two together on our little Casio machine."
Trugoy: "There was no plan back then. It was just putting songs together and placing them where they belonged. Obviously three of us in the group, '3 is the magic number' became the philosophy, but mostly, it was just a song that we loved and it became part of the album."

"Change in Speak"

Posdnous: "There was a record I found that had a whole bunch of great songs from the Mad Lads on it. Then we just decided to put the 'Bra' song from Cymade on it, we just started mashing things. We all worked together really well as a foursome, just trying to add different things."

"Cool Breeze on the Rocks"

Posdnous: "Honestly, I can't even remember why we decided to make that collage in the first place. When we started, it was just so cool to try to do it, like, 'Yo, how bout "Rocket in the Pocket" ' — everyone was just trying to scroll through their mind for any song that said 'rock' in it. Everyone came to the studio with a different album, whether it was a rap album, a rock album, Michael Jackson."
Trugoy: "We weren't thinking legalities at that time. We were just thinking about putting good music together, and although there was a process — even at that time, we did have clear samples, and turn in information — but our label didn't think that really had to clear the samples because they only expected the album to sell a couple of thousand anyway."

"Can U Keep a Secret"

Posdnous: "That song is a testament to a lot of the stuff we did in the studio in that it wasn't planned out as a song."
Trugoy: "That was just another high moment. And a lot of people there. We had 15 or more people at our sessions at all times and we were always thinking, 'Let's utilize voices, let's utilize personalities.' "

"Jenifa Taught Me"

Posdnous: "The original record was one of my father's, 'Soupy' [by Maggie Thrett], some old doo-wop record. It was definitely Paul who came with the Liberace cassette with 'Chopsticks.' "