Yo, it's me Jaison comin' through again to serve up another round of hip-hop favorites paired with an oh-so-scrumptious meal in this week's Beats & Eats. Hope you've whet your appetite for beats and beets, jams and jam, or whatever it is I'm throwing at you. If you're not hungry now, you will be very soon. This week I'm bringing back an oldie. But oldies are goodies right? Managing to have withstood the trials of time is one of my favorite hip-hop albums to date. A staple in your typical hip-hop-head's auditory diet. Like rice. Or bread. Or potatoes. Or pasta. It's:

De La Soul's 3 Feet High and Rising3 Feet High and Rising is hip-hop trio De La Soul's debut album, and in my honest and personal opinion, definitely their best. Released way way back in 1989, De La Soul and other golden age era hip hop groups set the standard for what hip hop is today. Being a core member of the Native Tongues collective, De La Soul was unique for it's upbeat, positive, and afrocentric attitude, from their soulful jazzy beat selection to the playful, whimsical subject matter ever so present in their rhymes. This style of hip-hop stood in stark contrast to the aesthetic of gangsta rap. Where gangsta rap was concerned with depicting the struggles/merits of an urban, inner-city lifestyle and keeping it real, De La Soul and the Native Tongues tended to gravitate toward themes of love, camaraderie, and having fun. That said, it only natural that you just gotta listen to something like 3 Feet High and Rising  to--

Chicken Noodle Soup 

The two just make perfect sense. Chicken noodle soup is pretty much the universal feel-good-food. It's just got that quality about it that warms you up inside and out. Likewise, I find that 3 Feet High and Rising has got that same quality. If you're ever feelin' down about anything, I dare you to put on "The Magic Number", "Me Myself and I", or "Eye Know". You know how people say it's impossible to skip while smiling? Well listening to 3 Feet High is kinda like that -- times 400. Put that together with chicken noodle soup and you've got a powerful recipe for a great day.