It felt like a bit of a betrayal not to smoke a joint before or during De La Soul ‘s Saturday night show at the Arsht Center. I remember so many stoned arguments over which of their first four records was their best. I was always on team Buhloone Mindstate. That’s a record I will also sometimes argue is the best hip-hop album of all time as well.
But I’d been dealing with some headaches. I didn’t want anything infringing on my enjoyment of the show. Instead I would rely on the music of my youth to bring me peace and distract me from any pain.
After an opening DJ set by Stretch Armstrong playing 20th century hip-hop tracks by A Tribe Called Quest and The Pharcyde, our hip-hop heroes took the stage. Maceo wearing a Punisher t-shirt stood on the risers behind the turntables. Then came Posdnuos rocking the mic. Of course missing was Trugoy, the third member, who passed away a couple years ago.
I wondered how they would replace his pivotal verses. Posdnuos picked up the slack. He made it almost a one man show, being as emotive and expressive as ever. As I began to wonder how one rapper could make it through the whole set, guest star, Pharoah Monch, hopped on to stage to give Posdnuos a little breather.
No songs from my beloved Buhloone Mindstate made the cut for the ninety minute setlist. De La Soul did manage to play all the hits. From “Oooh” to “Ring Ring Ring ( Ha Ha Hey)” to “Me Myself and I”. The middle aged crowd (that included Luther Campbell from 2 Live Crew to Jarobi from A Tribe Called Quest) might have forgotten all the verses they once had memorized, but they shouted along to all the choruses from “Five days you work/ One whole day to play/ Come on everybody, wear your rollerskates today/ It’s Saturday” to “I know I love you better”.
Throughout the show Posdnuos paid tribute to their fallen bandmate saying Dave (Trugoy’s name) was on stage with them before closing out the night with “Three Is the Magic Number”. Even with only two, the night was still magic, bringing us back to the soundtracks of our misbegotten youths.
