In 1989, three young men from Long Island, N.Y., released an album that would forever transform music. Along with producer Prince Paul, the hip-hop trio known as De La Soul pioneered a new sound comprising samples from other artists, weaving preexisting clips in and out to create innovative, original songs.
The death this year of one of the group’s members, David Jolicoeur (a.k.a. “Trugoy the Dove”) brought renewed interest in how they pulled off their aural magic. Their song “Eye Know” mashes together music samples from the Mad Lads’ “Make This Lady Mine,” Steely Dan’s “Peg,” Otis Redding’s “(Sittin’ on) the Dock of the Bay,” and Lee Dorsey’s “Get Out of My Life, Woman,” creating an entirely new canvas of sound.
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