First Serve - Must B the Music

De La Soul has the best, first three-album run of all time. Fight me about it. 3 Feet High and Rising, De La Soul is Dead, and Buhloone Mindstate all in a row. No one else has ever come out of the gate so fully formed and so en fuego that they actually burned down said gate coming through. We’ll have a dedicated De La Soul post in the future, but today, we’re going to talk about one of their side projects. Today, we’re talking First Serve’s “Must B the Music.”

Technically, only two of the De Las: Dave (RIP) and Pos are part of First Serve, rapping over beats by the French production duo 2&4 (Chokolate and Khalid). But 2 & 4 somehow bring back the magic of those first De La Soul albums without sounding like re-treads. The beats are buoyant, melodic with a slightly old school flair, and “Must B the Music” has that throw-everything-in-but-somehow-make-it-all-sound-cohesive touch with a Prince Paul feel. Minus the Schoolhouse Rock samples (3 is the magic number, yes it is). “Must B the Music” also captures that disco party vibe reminiscent of De La Soul’s “A Roller Skating Jam Named ‘Saturday’” with a dash of “Keepin’ the Faith.” Same same but different.

If that wasn’t enough, First Serve is also a concept album. The whole thing’s a story about two childhood friend rappers who break big, break up before finally reconciling. It’s a brilliant conceit because it wraps the whole album in the past tense. This allows Dave and Pos to perform like younger versions of themselves without it sounding desperate, like so many old rock acts that try to recapture earlier fame. And it stands on its own as an underrated gem with lots of great tracks. “Must B the Music” probably won’t be in De La Soul’s pantheon, but saying it’s a worthy addition to their catalog is something we won’t have to fight about.