De La Soul Bring Out Black Sheep’s Dres at North Coast

De La Soul didn't have to tell the audience at the inaugural North Coast music festival that they've been around for 22 years -- their music proved it. The Long Island, N.Y. trio decided they were "taking it back to the basement" for their set Saturday evening set -- knocking off old school gems like 'Me, Myself and I,' 'Potholes in My Lawn' and 'Buddy' off 1989's critically lauded '3 Feet High and Rising.' Mid-set Black Sheep's Andres "Dres" Titus took over on the mic spitting out the epic lyrics 'You can get with this, or you can get with that' from Black Sheep's 'The Choice is Yours.' Acting as hypemen for a change De La commanded the crowd to get down during Dres takeover. The crowd obliged and sang along 'Engine engine number nine ..." lyrics.

While 'De Le, De La, De La' brought some of that old school hip-hop sound to North Coast, the festival is heavy on hip-hop's newer emcees. Prior to De La's set Jay Electronica played on the nearby North Stage, even inviting amateur rappers from the crowd to the platform.

For most of De La's hour-long set the crowd was in a frenzy. Pos played around with the stage left side of the audience saying they reminded him of Britney Spears fans when compared to the rowdier hip-hop heads on the right. He of course was kidding, but it got everyone paying attention. During the commands of 'Stakes Is High' -- "When we say high, we want you all to say vibration," Trugoy rapped. The crowd chimed in with the appropriate deafening "vibration." Other stand out songs in the set included De La's newer stuff -- "Oooh" off 2000's 'Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump' and the MF DOOM collabo (sadly the masked man was not present) on the closer 'Rock Co. Kane Flow.'Pos, Trugoy and even P.A. Pasemaster Mase on the turntables showcased some topnotch freeze frames in between verses.De La Soul proved not only that they can still throw a party, but above all that hip-hip is indeed timeless.