De La Soul – Live At Tramps, NYC, 1996

My first hip hop show was during this 96 De La Soul tour. The LP is an accurate document of that time. Posdnous, Trugoy and Maseo are all in peak form. Plus strong appearances by Native Tongue founders Jungle Brothers, Common’s Ice Cube diss and rookie Mos Def.

Some might have valid issues with the sound quality of the original recording. Sorry but that’s just how a lot of live hip hop sounded then. Many artists were playing small to midsize older venues whose sound systems were not designed with rap in mind. The MC’s vocals dominated the mix and the beats were often distorted. De La Soul and audience both have great energy this night, even it’s not translating as well in the recording.

Highly recommend first owning 3 Feet High, De La Soul is Dead, Buhloone Mindstate and Stakes is High. But then feel free to appreciate this release for the Golden Age artifact it is, rather than get all bothered about what it isn’t given the limitations of the era

Strictly for collectible purposes only. Source is awful…press is fine. Sounds awful.

Dope release. I hope more live hiphop albums get released like this!! Brings a whole new energy. & this got the best version of the bitch in yoo!!!! Hip Hop History shyyyt

This is a perfect example how Record Store Day sometimes scam retail shop, online shop and buyers. On release date this was available for 35-42€ range price.
Well it's a single LP and we have several issue.
The sound it's very mudded full of clicks and pops, and it's not about 90's hip hop (I have mostly hip hop 90's record in my collection) that sounds like that, it's because label sell a record without any quality control and if they listened before release this they can't ask high prices for low and poor quality. And this is the same for the packaging. In a few years you can buy this record for 15-20€ for sure. I mean, I'm very disappointed...I wish they had more care on Hip Hop release.

Sounds like a crowd boot. Excellent pressing of a sub par recording. This is enjoyable if you’re a deep De La fan, but if you’re not really into them or are expecting some top notch production, you may want to leave it be.

Lots of people in here expecting some kind of master-quality production on this release. For a live hip hop recording from the 90s, this sounds exactly like I thought it would. I'm enjoying the raw feel. The vocals are really pronounced, but the trade off is the audience comes through really clean.

If you're expecting a studio mix, or even a super clean live mix this likely isn't the album for you. If you want to experience De La Soul in the raw, dig in.

Released for Record Store Day 2024 as an "RSD First Release".?????

Wasn't their first RSD release "Smell The Da.I.S.Y"?

ABS

It's not one of the best recordings audio-wise. But the performance was great. As someone born after this was recorded, it makes me wish I could have been around to see the golden era of rap. The end almost had me tearing up. Well worth it.

I bought this album on impulse during RSD only because the store I went to didn't have a lot of 90s hip-hop inventory for release. I immediately had buyer's remorse as soon as I got home to play it. Normally, I'm not a fan of live albums because of the sound quality. If the initial recording during the live performance was crap, no digital mastering can ever bring it back to life. The fact they also released it on CD format as well tells me this album was a straight up money grab for RSD.

Kinda sounds like shit. The beats are muddled and the vocals are a bit distorted in the mix.