The Mad Lads - "Make This Young Lady Mine"

Part of the musical DNA of De La Soul's "Eye Know" is right here. Rest in peace, Trugoy.

Lou Rawls - "You've Made Me So Very Happy"

Over the last couple years, I've tried to only pick artists on Friday Video that have never previously been spotlighted. But today is the first time I've chosen a song that's been on here before. I'm giving myself permission because Lou Rawls' version of "You've Made Me So Very Happy" features a melody that De La Soul later sampled for "I Am I Be," and I never knew where it had come from. Enjoy.

Exploring De La Soul's Best Non-Hits

Tomorrow, De La Soul release And the Anonymous Nobody..., their first disc in 12 years. Today for MEL, I explore the trio's back catalogue to find their greatest deep album cuts. Oh man, was this fun. Check out the list here.

de la soul - eye know

You may have read that, among other albums, De La Soul's 3 Feet High and Rising and Steely Dan's Aja were added to the National Recording Registry. Some smart folks immediately thought, "Hey, those albums share a connection!" Sure enough, 3 Feet's "Eye Know" very nicely samples "Peg," which appears on Aja.

jay-z - girls, girls, girls

Happy 40th birthday, Jay-Z. I'll never forget hearing "Girls, Girls, Girls" at the House of Blues in Anaheim the night the Diamondbacks beat the Yankees to win the 2001 World Series. I was there to interview De La Soul prior to a gig they were doing there, and "Girls, Girls, Girls" came over the speakers before their set. Crowd went nuts. Great memory.

de la soul: a roller skating jam named saturdays

After a week of bad financial news, I need something light. So here's this great De La Soul track off of 1991's De La Soul Is Dead, which still might be my favorite album of theirs. Remember when we thought they were going to change the face of hip-hop? It didn't happen, but it was still a thrill to interview the band a decade later. (Fun trivia fact: It was the same night that the Diamondbacks beat the Yankees to win the World Series.)