De La Soul — Live at Tramps, NYC, 1996

Full De La Soul concert filmed on 16 May 1996 at the Tramps club in New York, a document released by the group itself and later issued as a live album. A flagship trio of the Native Tongues collective, De La Soul revolutionised late-1980s hip-hop with a jazzy, playful, conscious sound far removed from the rap clichés of the era. This live capture catches them in full flow, on the eve of the release of Stakes Is High, surrounded by prestigious guests: Mos Def on “Big Brother Beat,” Common on “The Bizness” and “The Bitch in Yoo,” and the Jungle Brothers on “Buddy.” The set strings together classics (“Me Myself and I,” “Potholes in My Lawn,” “Breakadawn”) and more recent tracks, in the warm intimacy of a New York club. The full concert video is a rare and lively testimony to the golden age of alternative hip-hop. Worth discovering for the stage energy, the trio’s chemistry and the authenticity of a filmed live concert that has become a cult favourite.