Album · De La Soul
3 Feet High and Rising by De La Soul
3 Feet High and Rising is an album by De La Soul, released in 1989. 3 songs from it have charted on rock radio countdowns, with 16 countdown appearances in total. The biggest is “Me, Myself And I”, on 8 lists with a best position of #131.
3 Feet High and Rising, De La Soul's 1989 debut on Tommy Boy, blew the doors off what a rap record was supposed to sound like. Three high school friends from Amityville on Long Island, Posdnuos, Trugoy the Dove and Maseo, had hooked producer Prince Paul with a demo of "Plug Tunin'", and together they built a crazy quilt of samples and eccentric rhymes with a loose, jazzy bounce. Even the title is a wink, bent from Johnny Cash's "Five Feet High and Rising".
"Me Myself and I", "The Magic Number", "Buddy" and "Eye Know" were the singles, and the album turned out to be the high-water mark for both the group and Prince Paul. It went platinum, the only De La Soul record to do so, and joined the National Recording Registry in 2010. The very samples that made it so rich also kept it off digital stores and streaming services until 2023.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs from 3 Feet High and Rising on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Me, Myself And I | 8 | #131 | – | 1991–2026 | |
| 2 | Eye Know | 7 | #34 | – | 1989–2026 | |
| 3 | Say No Go | 1 | #91 | – | 1990 |
Only songs that appear on at least one countdown are listed. Release data from MusicBrainz.