Still, not everything could be cleared, or was worth the money to do so. The band rerecorded what it says are tiny elements — drumbeats, horn hits, vinyl scratches — and went back to some of the original analog equipment it used more than 30 years ago. In some cases, entire reels of old tape were missing, and elements on them like bass lines had to be recreated.
“Minor replays, but very intricate,” Mason said matter-of-factly, before breaking out into giggles imitating the stuttering time-code pattern on its vintage gear.
One track on “3 Feet High” called “Cool Breeze on the Rocks” — a pastiche of more than 20 fragments in less than a minute by Public Enemy, Jefferson Airplane, Afrika Bambaataa and others using the word “rock” — was too impractical to clear, so it has been “reimagined,” Lafargue said. Close listeners may notice other changes like the disappearance of an Eddie Murphy snippet from “The Magic Number.”
Mercer and Mason said they were still struggling with Jolicoeur’s loss. When De La Soul was formed, he was the oldest — Mercer is now 53, and Mason 52 — and his bandmates said they viewed him as the “heart” of the group, the older brother whose approval they sought. In the early days, he gave them haircuts, chose their distinctive clothes and even refined their name.
“I was like, ‘We should call it From the Soul,’” Mercer recalled. “And Dave was like, ‘No, no — I like the meaning, Merce, but you need to spice it up.’ He looked at us and said, ‘De la.’ And we were like, ‘Yeah, that’s it!’”
Both Mercer and Mason said they were determined to continue despite the loss of Jolicoeur, and reap the benefits of their music’s digital release.
“I’m going to do my best to stay strong and continue to rep my bro’s legacy,” Mason said, “until God says we can’t do it anymore.”
