De La Soul

THE comeback of this edition of the festival. The last time De La Soul played in Werchter was back in 2003. Although, that’s not strictly true: the New Yorkers made a guest appearance in 2018 during the Gorillaz concert, performing ‘Superfast Jellyfish’. But what is 100% true is that, 35 years ago, they were the very first hip hop act in the festival line-up. Something that raised a bit of a commotion back then. De La Soul earned that groundbreaking booking thanks to their sensational debut ‘3 Feet High and Rising’ (1989), including the mega hits ‘Me Myself and I’ and ‘Say No Go’. The trio moved away from the gold chains and macho talk to embrace more of a hippie image. That helped them to cross-over to a wide audience. And it’s also proved to be the foundation for a long career, despite the tragic loss of founding member Trugoy the Dove (1968-2023).